Although typically Microchip designs these low-power, water-tolerant touch solutions with appliances and industrial equipment in mind, the new turnkey device is also a great solution for audio products, particularly control surfaces and portable designs, as well as all sort of home audio and smart home systems.
The new Microchip MTCH2120 is the first of what will be a family of I2C-based touch controllers with a comprehensive design-in ecosystem. The MTCH2120 is integrated with Microchip's unified development ecosystem, allowing for an easier design process and facilitating transitions between other turnkey solutions and MCU-based touch implementations.
The MTCH2120 provides a robust touch experience independent of noise events and moisture, while offering high flexibility to adapt to individual product requirements. Low-power features allow buttons to be grouped, which reduces scan activity and lowers power while enabling the buttons to remain fully operational. Of note are the Easy Tune feature that automatically adjusts sensitivity and filters levels based on real-time noise assessment, removing the need for cumbersome threshold tuning.
The MPLAB® Harmony Host Code Configurator plug-in removes the need to implement the I2C protocol on the host and allows for a straightforward connection to Microchip MCUs and MPUs. New designs can be validated via the MPLAB Data Visualizer and there are I2C port expander capabilities.
Developers have access to, and compatibility with, Microchip's touch library, which minimizes the need for complex software engineering and firmware handling by the designer, helping reduce design cycles. Also available is the MTCH2120 evaluation board, which comes with a SAM C21 host MCU on board for out-of-the box integration into prototypes.
"The MTCH2120 brings together decades of touch experience with Microchip’s comprehensive ecosystem of support and development tools to deliver an easy-to-use, advanced touch experience," says Rodger Richey, vice president of development systems and academic programs at Microchip Technology. "It’s a win-win solution. Developers can implement the highest level of touch robustness and great design flexibility, without the hassle of tuning or programming."
The MTCH2120 is the first in Microchip’s MTCH family to incorporate I2C, with the recently released MTCH1010, MTCH1030 and MTCH1060 offering the same robust touch performance and an uncomplicated GPIO interface. The MTCH2XXX family will add more solutions with bus-controlled flexibility, making the ease of use provided by the design-in ecosystem available to additional markets.
www.microchipdirect.com
www.microchip.com
