Embedded Systems & its Applications

CAPACITIVE TOUCH SENSING

Amit Verma (CSE.06.204)
CAPACITOR
 A capacitor or condenser is a passive electronic component consisting
of a pair of conductors separated by a dielectric. When a voltage
potential difference exists between the conductors, an electric field is
present in the dielectric. This field stores energy and produces a
mechanical force between the plates.
TOUCH SCREEN
 A touchscreen is a display that can detect the presence and location of a
touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touch or
contact to the display of the device by a finger or hand. Touchscreens
can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus. However, if the
object sensed is active, as with a light pen, the term touchscreen is
generally not applicable. The ability to interact directly with a display
typically indicates the presence of a touchscreen.
TECHNOLOGIES
 A touch screen enables one to interact with what is
displayed directly on the screen.
 As far as Touch screens go, there are 2 main technologies
that dominate the market:
 Resistive Touch Screen
 Capacitive Touch Screen
Resistive Touch
 A RESISTIVE touchscreen panel is composed of several layers, the
most important of which are two thin, metallic, electrically conductive
layers separated by a narrow gap. When an object, such as a finger,
presses down on a point on the panel's outer surface the two metallic
layers become connected at that point: the panel then behaves as a pair
of voltage dividers with connected outputs. This causes a change in the
electrical current which is registered as a touch event and sent to the
controller for processing.
Capacitive Touch
 A capacitive touchscreen panel consists of an insulator such as
glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin
oxide (ITO). As the human body is also a conductor, touching the
surface of the screen results in a distortion of the local electrostatic
field, measurable as a change in capacitance. Different
technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch.
The location can be passed to a computer running a software
application which will calculate how the user's touch relates to the
computer software.
Design of a Capacitive Touch
Sensor
 Diagram shows the top view of a printed
circuit board (PCB) which implements one of
the capacitive sensor buttons in this design
example.
 The button diameter is 10 mm, the average
size of an adult fingertip.
 The sensor pad is isolated from the ground
plane by a uniform gap. The size of the gap is
an important design parameter.
Implementation of Capacitive
Sensing
 It is beyond doubt that the real credibility to Capacitive
Sensing technology was provided when Apple first
implemented it in its iPod family of music players. The
Capacitive Sensing Clickwheel redefined the way people
used MP3 players to browse their Music Collection. The
iPhone gave the Capacitive touch technology a shot-in-the-
arm with its Multitouch display that changed the history of
mobile computing.
 Let us learn the implementation of Capacitive Touch
Sensors by studying the iPhone prototype.
iPhone Touch-screen

 The iPhone's screen detects touch through one of two

methods:
 Mutual capacitance
 Two distinct layers of material. One houses current and the
other senses current.

 Self-capacitance
 One layer of individual electrodes connected with
capacitance-sensing circuitry.
Mutual Capacitance

There are two sets of distinct materials

comprising the Driving Lines or the
Current Lines and the Sensing Lines or
the Detecting Lines.

Image Courtesy HowStuffWorks.com

Self Capacitance

One layer of electrodes coupled with

capacitance sensing circuitry.

The capacitive sensors are placed upon

the LCD screen with a glass substrate in
between. The sensing circuitry is also
protected by a protective cover and anti-
reflective coating to prevent damage.

Image Courtesy HowStuffWorks.com

How the iPhone Display Works
How the iPhone Display Works II
 iPhone registers touch.

 Raw data captured in Hex.

 Algorithms to reduce/remove background noise to the

maximum extent possible.
 Pressure points are analyzed to determine touch region.

 Touch area is determined.

 Exact co-ordinates are calculated.

Now that we know how a capacitive
display works, let us take a look at what it
can do…
Capacitive Touch : The Possibilities
Here is a small video detailing the capabilities of capacitive
touch using the Microsoft Surface.
IMPLEMENTATIONS OF
CAPACITIVE TOUCH
TECHNOLOGY
Let us take a brief look upon some of the implementations
of Capacitive display that we have seen thus far. While it is
not possible to enumerate all the developments within the
domain, we should be able to look at a few of them.
The iPhone

 It would have been impossible for a large

percentage of people to know about the capacitive
displays, had Apple not made the wonderful
iPhone.
 The 320x480 pixel touchscreen incorporates
capacitive sensors which allows it use multi-touch
capabilities.
The iPod
The Click Wheel is a touch-sensitive ring that
you use to navigate through all of iPod's menus
and control all of its features. It provides two
ways to input commands: by sliding your finger
around the wheel and by pressing buttons
located under and in the middle of the wheel.
MacBook

After the success of iPod and iPhone, it was the turn of

their line-up of laptops called the Macbook, to get a taste of
Capacitive Touch Sensors. The trackpads of these notebook
computers were made Multi-touch capable to enable the
users to control many aspects of their Macs with the help of
gestures, which took the Human Interface dimension to the
next level.
Magic Mouse
It began with iPhone. Then came iPod touch. Then
MacBook Pro. Now Apple has reached another milestone
by bringing gestures to the desktop with a mouse that’s
unlike anything ever before. It's called Magic Mouse. It's
the world's first Multi-Touch mouse.
Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface is a revolutionary multi-touch computer that

responds to natural hand gestures and real-world objects, helping
people interact with digital content in a simple and intuitive way.
With a large, horizontal user interface, Surface offers a unique
gathering place where multiple users can collaboratively and
simultaneously interact with data and each other.
The PC
After all the Macintosh devices utilizing the power of
Capacitive Screens, how can PC be far behind? Many PC
manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Lenovo etc.
have launched capacitive display PCs that takes human
interface to an altogether different level.
Sony Ericsson Motion Sensing Earphones

This might look like an odd-entry in the category of

Capacitive Touch Sensing applications, but a little
research upon these wonderful earplugs leads us to find
out that, they, in fact, use Capacitive Touch technology to
Stop or Resume music playback when they are taken out
of the user’s ears.
 Well, to conclude…
Capacitive Touch Sensing has come a long way since the
Apple Click Wheel. It is now powering devices, which
were very far from its domain of application. Faster
embedded systems controllers are being developed that
make the process far more accurate and efficient.
Companies like Synaptics are developing Capacitive
displays with embedded Haptic Feedback technology that
reverbs a feedback to the user upon touch.
 It was a pleasure sharing my knowledge of the subject.
There is a lot more to this topic, but time is the enemy here.
Readme?

 If you want to gain more knowledge about this or any

related topic, I would suggest the following sources:
 http://www.howstuffworks.com
 http://www.engadget.com
 http://www.gizmodo.com
 http://www.apple.com
 http://www.microsoft.com/surface/pages/product/WhatIs.aspx
 http://www.wikipedia.org
Thank You for listening.
 Disclaimer:
 The iPhone LCD images are courtesy HowStuffWorks.com.
 Images and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
 Apple, iPod, iPhone, MacBook, Magic Mouse etc. are trademarks of Apple
Computers, Inc.
 Surface is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.