December 23, 2024 /SemiMedia/ — Microchip Technology is providing designers with an easy upgrade path from mechanical buttons to modern touch buttons or displays with the launch of its 12-button MTCH2120 touch controller. This low-power, water-tolerant turnkey touch device is integrated with Microchip’s unified ecosystem, streamlining the design process and enabling seamless transitions between other turnkey solutions and MCU-based touch implementations. The MTCH2120 is the first in a family of I2C-based touch controllers, offering a comprehensive design-in ecosystem to simplify development.

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.

The MTCH2120’s features and ecosystem include:

  • Easy Tune feature that automatically adjusts sensitivity and filters levels based on real-time noise assessment, removing the need for cumbersome threshold tuning
  • An MPLAB® Harmony Host Code Configurator plug-in that removes the need to implement the I2C protocol on the host and allows for a straightforward connection to Microchip MCUs and MPUs
  • Design validation via MPLAB Data Visualizer
  • I2C port expander capabilities
  • 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
  • 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,” said 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. Visit the website to learn more about Microchip’s full portfolio of turnkey touch solutions. For more information, please visit https://www.microchip.com/en-us/product/MTCH2120