These breakout boards are a simple way to add capacitive touch to your project. Just power with 1.8 to 5.5VDC and touch the pad to activate the sensor. These touch switches interface easily to any project - with or without a microcontroller.

When a capacitive load (such as a human hand) is in close proximity to the sense-pad, the sensor detects the change in capacitance and activates the switch. Custom sense-pads can be made from nearly any conductive material and these sensors can detect touch through thin layers of non-conductive materials such as glass, plastic, fabric or even wood.

The breakouts come in three styles:

Momentary

This sensor has a built-in sense-pad and is active for as long as the sensor area is touched.

The sense-pad can be extended with wire and almost any conductive material.

Toggle

This sensor also has a built-in sense-pad. It becomes active when touched and remains active until it is touched again.

As with the momentary sensor, the sense-pad can be extended with wire and almost any conductive material.

5-Pad Momentary

This version combines 5 momentary switches into one breakout. There are 5 pins for attaching wires to up to 5 external sensor pads.

This guide was first published on Jun 29, 2013. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

Text editor powered by tinymce.