Microchip’s PIC32 GUI Development Board with Projected-Capacitive Touch facilitates cost-effective multi-touch displays

In combination with Microchip’s free graphics and multi-touch software, this board enables rich, modern user interfaces for cost-sensitive designs in a broad range of markets, such as consumer, industrial and medical.

Following the proliferation of smartphones, users now expect similar touch and graphics interfaces in everything they use. However, the cost structure of most products cannot support the BOM of a typical smartphone, nor do designers have the time or desire to become user-interface experts. Microchip makes it easy and cost-effective to add rich user interfaces to nearly any product, by providing what is essentially a “GUI in a box” that can be inserted, as it is, into most designs. In fact, the “PIC32 GUI Development Board with Projected-Capacitive Touch” enables bezel mounting and connections between LCD displays and most of the PIC32’s on-chip peripherals. The board also provides ready-to-use PCB pads for common serial and analogue connections. Additionally, the PIC32 has processing power to spare for additional tasks, such as communication, control and audio.

With turnkey touch controllers, high-performance PIC32 microcontrollers and free software, Microchip reduces total system cost, speeds development and increases design flexibility for the creation of high-impact graphical displays with advanced multi-touch and gesture interfaces.
The MTCH6301 controller’s sophisticated combination of Self and Mutual capacitive scanning for XY touchscreens and touchpads enables a host of features, including: single and dual-touch drawing, the reporting of 11 single-finger gestures and the detection of up to 10 touches. Additionally, the MTCH6301 supports sensor designs with up to 13 x 18 channels and cover lenses up to 5 mm.

The PIC32 GUI Development Board with Projected-Capacitive Touch (DM320015) is available today for $249. Microchip’s Graphics Library and Graphics Display Designer Utility are both available today via free download from here. The turnkey touch controller MTCH6301 and supporting software is available today.