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Capacitive Touch Sensor

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Capacitive Touch Sensor

As the name suggests, a capacitive touch sensor uses the human sense of touch to

perform intended functions. Technology has made it easy for devices like computers to be able to

execute tasks by leveraging touch sensors to perform a myriad of tasks for example input and

drawing. Touch sensing is gradually replacing mechanical devices and in a couple of years to

come, keyboard and mouse may become obsolete when everything will have paved way for the

touch sensors. This article will explore capacitive touch sensors in details by expounding on the

technicalities surrounding how they work.

Capacitive touch sensors are used as a user interface to electronic equipment such as

tablet computers, mobile phones, portable media players, calculators, cash registers, etc. for

input, display and control functionalities. Some applications also deploy touch sensors to interact

with system users through touch or proximity with objects such as soft keys, icons and menus on

the screens. The capacitive touch sensor responds to a change in capacitance when an object, e.g.

a human finger touches the sensor pad to accomplish a process.

Capacitive touch sensors advanced from being either single-touch or multi-touch. As the

name suggests, single-touch sensor detects and responds to the position of one object in contact

or close proximity with the touch sensor. A multi-touch responds to the position of one or more

objects in contact or close proximity with the sensor, at the same time. The multi-touch system

determines the position of the object (s) before taking an appropriate action.

One similarity between these two touch sensors is that they are both made using one or

more layers of electrodes insulated from each other. Other than that, the two varieties are

different in some ways. The electrodes in the multi-touch system can be fixed closely but still
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insulated in between. These electrodes can be aligned in any coordinate system such as the X-Y

or grid system. The arrangement of the electrodes in a two layer multi-touch sensor may assume

an orthogonal dimension in defining the coordinate system. The closeness of electrodes in a

single-touch electrodes in the two layers determines the coordinate system.

Presently, there are two types of capacitive touch sensors which include surface

capacitive touch sensor and projected capacitive touch sensor. A surface capacitive sensor

consists of an insulator with a conductive coating on one side of its surface. A thin layer of

insulator is fixed on top of the conductive coating then current is supplied to the corners of the

conductor. When a finger touches the surface, there is a buildup of capacitance between them

thus drawing away current from the corners. The ratio of current from each corner is then used to

determine the difference in capacitance. In projected capacitive sensing, no current is passed at

the surface; an X-Y grid of conductive material is placed between two insulators. An IC is then

used to charge the grid. Upon touch, the grid calculates the location of the finger on the surface

in terms of X and Y coordinates. Touch sensors made from this technology can double up as

proximity sensors.

The operation of a capacitive touch sensor is based on a capacitor’s response to change in

capacitance. The role of a capacitor in an electric circuit is to acquire charge and then discharge

it at a specific rate to the rest of the circuit. A simple capacitor is made up of two parallel plates

of conductors with an insulating material called a dielectric in between them. Capacitance is

calculated by the following formula:

A
C=
d
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A
 = 0 * 1 hence C = 0 * 1 *
d

Where C is the capacitance, 0 is the permittivity of free space, 1 is the dielectric constant

(relative permittivity) of the insulating material, A is the area of the plates and d is the distance

between the plates. From the formula, it is deducible that capacitance is directly proportional to

the area and inversely proportional to the distance.

In a capacitive touch sensor, the electrode represents one of the conductor plates of the

capacitor. The remaining plate corresponds to two materials: (1) The surrounding of the sensor

electrode which forms a parasitic capacitor (C0) and (2) A conductive object which forms a touch

capacitor (CT). The sensor electrode is connected to a measuring circuit and the capacitance is

measured from time to time. When a conductive object such as a human finger touches or gets

closer to the sensor electrode, the measurement of capacitance increases. The change is detected

by the circuit and converted into a trigger signal.

Figure 1: Illustration of the Effect of Area, a and Distance, d on Capacitance

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From the figure, if the area of the sensor electrode is larger and the thickness of the

material is small, the touch capacitance CT will be significantly large. Consequently, the

capacitance difference between the touching pad and the untouched pad becomes large.

Therefore, the size of the sensor electrode and the protective cover affects the sensitivity of the

touch sensor.

The block diagram figure 2 shows a model of measuring RC- delay lines. It consists of

two RC-delay lines connected with a clock signal CLK, and a time. One line measures the

internal capacitance CR and the other measures the external capacitance CM. the clock signals

CLK are delayed function to the capacitance values CR and CM of the RC lines. The delay in time

is proportional to overall capacitance in the circuit. The signals from the two lines are fed into

digital delay lines from where they emerge simultaneously depending on the status of digital

control values DR[0:N] and DM[0:N]. By comparing the values of these control values the

difference between internal reference capacitance and the measured capacitance can be

calculated.

Figure 2: Block Diagram of RC Delay Measurement

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Figure 3: Circuit diagram of a RC circuit

When the sensor is touched with a finger, more capacitance may be added to the capacitance of

the conductor near the place of touch. This additional capacitance is denoted by Cf in the figure 3

above. The resistors 548 and 550 represents the natural resistance of each conductor in a sample

node while capacitance Cpx and Cpy may correspond to the natural capacitance of each

conductor in a sample node.

The advantages and disadvantages of capacitive touch sensors can be easily pointed out. To

begin with the advantages, a touch sensor is durable. When compared to other input or control

methods, touch sensors are likely not to experience wear and tear and breakages since they lack

mechanical parts. If used properly, these sensors can serve for an extend period of time. These

touch sensors do not require application of force to operate; it is a simple act of touching and the

system responds as needed. Some devices such as door knobs, push buttons, etc. may need force

to be exerted on them so that they work. This can be exhausting, repetitious and annoying to

some users. Both the single and multi-touch sensors are very robust when they are handled
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correctly. They are capable of giving reliable feedback within short durations. Turning to the

disadvantages, there is a possibility of touch systems malfunctioning when exposed to elements

such as water, moisture, dust and heat among others. When that happens, the sensors are likely to

issue false or unwanted triggers to the systems. Severe cases may cause them to stop working

completely hence stalling the operations which rely on them. On this account, touch sensors need

a lot of care and caution. Designing touch systems may mean considerable amount of both

financial investments in purchasing the requirements, and effort to drive the project to

completion.

In conclusion, the application of capacitive touch sensors in various spheres of human life

is becoming commonplace. They are being adopted in computer devices such as tablets and

personal computers, mobile phones and in various businesses and industries for a variety of

purposes e.g. access control. The touch sensors are being favored because of the high level of

efficiency and robustness with which they satisfy the needs of their users. They are relatively

durable because they do not experience wear and tear, neither do they break easily. With more

investments on advanced technology of designing more complex touch sensors, the future of

capacitive touch sensors and other touch sensors is promising and will bring more sophisticated

solutions targeted at solving user needs.

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References

Electronics Hub. (2019, April 20).Introduction to Touch Sensors | Working, Capacitive and

Resistive. https://www.electronicshub.org/touch-sensors/#Capacitive_Touch_Sensor