Omron Electronic Components Business is now offering its touch sensor technology in fully custom form, allowing the creation of rotary and linear slider controls as well as simple on-off switches. The touch control technology allows a non-conducting surface of any shape to be used as an electrical control.

According to the company, 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 4, 8 and 16 channel versions, with each channel being able to manage an independent control surface. This service is subject to a minimum order quantity.

Omron has also introduced a new, higher performance version of its 8-channel touch sensor. The new B6TS-08LF features higher sensitivity and faster response than the existing version. The existing 8-channel device, B6TS-08NF, 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 audio / video systems, claims Omron, as well as of vending machines, lift controls and security panels.

In consumer electrical goods the controls are normally designed to match the cosmetic appearance of the unit. The B6TS offers users 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 specific touch panel (Man-Machine-Interface MMI).

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 non-conducting 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 back light touch keys for graphics and special lighting effects.

See http://www.omroncomponents.co.uk