Touch control handles varying switches

Designers using Omron B6TS technology can now select different styles of control for each of up to 16 available channels, allowing one chip to manage rotary, slider and on-off switches.

Omron Electronics has released rotary and linear slider controls as well as simple on-off switches.

The company's flexible touch control technology allows a nonconducting surface of any shape to be used as an electrical control.

Designers using Omron B6TS technology can now select different styles of control for each of up to 16 available channels, allowing one chip to manage a combination of rotary, slider and on-off switches.

The B6TS is offered in four, eight and 16-channel versions, with each channel being able to manage an independent control surface.

This service is subject to a minimum order quantity.

At the same time Omron has also introduced a new, higher performance version of its eight-channel touch sensor.

The new B6TS-08LF features higher sensitivity and faster response than the existing version.

The existing B6TS-08NF eight-channel device will continue to be offered.

The Omron B6TS family of touch control ICs has added a new dimension to the styling of upmarket home appliances and audiovideo systems as well as of vending machines, lift controls and security panels.

The technology is easy to integrate and highly tolerant of its working environment, offering features such as self-teaching, auto threshold and intelligent filtering simplify system design and improve performance.

B6TS compensates continuously for long-term drift, to help ensure a long service life and is designed to be tolerant of EMC interference.

In consumer electrical goods the controls are normally designed to match the cosmetic appearance of the unit.

It offers users the freedom to build their own circuits around the sensor chip using their own defined electrode configuration.

Omron offers an evaluation kit called the T-SIS (Touch sensor Smart Installation System) or B6TWorkbench, allowing designers to experiment with user-definable settings to achieve desired sensing performance and accommodate anticipated environmental changes in the custom touch panel.

To minimise the cost of the finished system, cost-effective commercial single-sided PCB materials such as FR-2 or CEM-1 can be applied.

B6TS is suitable for use with almost all nonconducting materials such as plastic, rubber, glass, marble and wood.

It can also be used with ITO (Indium-Tin-Oxide) and other transparent and conductive materials to create backlit touch keys for graphics and special lighting effects.

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