Reach out and touch someone, or something, with the MPR121 capacitive touch sensor and a Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black!  This breakout provides 12 capacitive touch inputs and all the logic to read them over a simple I2C communication bus.  For example you can make your own buttons, detect if someone touched a device, create a fun plush game controller, or even a wacky devices like a banana piano!

With the MPR121 python library you can now easily use the MPR121 capacitive touch sensor with a Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black.  Follow this guide to learn how to connect the MPR121 to a development board, install the python library, and start using the MPR121 with your own programs on the Pi or BeagleBone Black.  I'll even show you how to create a 'virtual keyboard' to send key presses when inputs are touch on a Raspberry Pi--great for making a fun controller kind of like the Makey Makey!

Before you get started you'll want to be familiar the MPR121 breakout and connecting to your development board's Linux terminal.  Check out the following guides if you need a little more information:

• Adafruit MPR121 12-Key Capacitive Touch Sensor Tutorial
• Adafruit Raspberry Pi Lesson 6: Using SSH or SSH To BeagleBone Black Over USB

In addition you'll want to make sure your Raspberry Pi is running the latest version of the Raspbian or Occidentalis operating system, or your BeagleBone Black is running the latest Debian operating system.

When you're ready to start, continue on to learn what hardware you'll need and how to wire it together.