The user interface of personal electronics has become critical to the success of the product. Capacitive touch sensing has become the user interface technology of choice. Designers face challenges ...

In Part I of this series, we explored the differences between user interfaces based on mechanical buttons and those utilizing capacitive touch sensors. In Step 1 we discussed the look and feel of a ...

Electromechanical switches are simple, cheap, and widely available (Fig. 1). However, they’re also plagued with a number of disadvantages, including wear with repeated use, and the potential for ...

This PLL-based circuit implements a touch-switch circuit using the PC board or small metal pads as sensors; it is radiometric and thus insensitive to changes in temperature and supply voltage.