Use the power of touch to control the show!

Animus is a beautiful music visualizer for mac os made with Processing. There are a number of keyboard shortcuts to adjust the visualizations, but instead of a computer keyboard, you can use a custom touch controller you design and build yourself. Coded with CircuitPython.

This project uses the MPR121 12-key cap touch sensor STEMMA QT breakout as input for a QT Py, which will act as a USB keyboard device for your computer.

The great thing about this project is there's NO soldering required - you can plug-and-play the capacitive touch board into the QT Py using a simple cable connection - and then use copper tape to make the pads!

 

You can adapt this project for any OS and any software that uses keyboard shortcuts. So long as it is a USB HID keystroke, combo, or consumer control (e.g., volume) you can build it!

Parts

Adafruit MPR121 12-Key Capacitive Touch Sensor Gator Breakout connected to a Feather. A finger presses alligator pads on breakout and OLED displays which pads are touched.
Add lots of touch sensors to your next microcontroller project with this easy-to-use 12-channel capacitive touch sensor breakout board, starring the MPR121. This chip can handle up to...
$6.95
In Stock
Animation of Adafruit QT Py with onboard NeoPixel in a rainbow swirl.
What a cutie pie! Or is it... a QT Py? This diminutive dev board comes with our favorite lil chip, the SAMD21 (as made famous in our GEMMA M0 and Trinket M0 boards).This time it...
$7.50
In Stock
Angled shot of STEMMA QT / Qwiic JST SH 4-pin Cable.
This 4-wire cable is a little over 100mm / 4" long and fitted with JST-SH female 4-pin connectors on both ends. Compared with the chunkier JST-PH these are 1mm pitch instead of...
Out of Stock
Top-down view of 6 pairs of short wire alligator clips.
Connect this to that without soldering using these handy mini alligator clip test leads. Approximately 4.5" overall cables with alligator clip on each end, color coded. You get 12...
Out of Stock
Roll of Copper Foil Tape with Conductive Adhesive - 6mm wide
Copper tape can be an interesting addition to your toolbox. The tape itself is made of thin pure copper so it's extremely flexible and can take on nearly any shape. You can solder...
$4.95
In Stock

Other Parts

You'll also need some cardboard or other surface to affix the controller. I used a 18cm wooden disc from a craft store (shown here with copper tape applied).

Glu Dots or double stick adhesive tape works well to secure the QT Py to the board.

If you want to print a graphic overlay, you can use some spray mount adhesive to secure it.

This guide was first published on Feb 02, 2021. It was last updated on Mar 14, 2024.

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

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