UI reference designs simplify 2D/3D gesture control

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

Renesas Electronics Corp. has released two touch-free user interface (UI) solutions to simplify the design of 2D and 3D control-based applications. The reference designs, based on Renesas’s capacitive sensor microcontrollers (MCUs), enable the development of UIs that allow users to operate home appliances as well as industrial and OA equipment without touching the devices.

The new 2D and 3D gesture solutions detect motion in a 2D coordinate system and in 3D space, respectively. Each solution is provided with design materials including circuit diagrams, board design data files, and a parts list that deliver the reference hardware for the capacitive touch-key MCU and coordinate calculation middleware, sample programs, application notes, and an evaluation tool for monitoring the detected coordinates.

The touch-free UI solutions have passed Class B (Note 3) testing for the IEC 61000 4-3 Level 3 (Note 1) and 4-6 Level 3 (Note 2) noise immunity standards and can achieve stable operation (Note 4).

The 3D gesture solution is available in three different sizes, depending on the application:

• Standard version (160 × 160 × 100 mm) with the RX231 MCU
• Miniature version (80 × 80 × 80 mm) with the RX130 MCU
• Slim version (100 × 100 × 20 mm) with the RX130 MCU for additional space saving

Renesas also offers touch-key solutions for devices designed to operate with challenging or non-traditional touch materials such as wood or that are required to operate in wet or dirty environments such as a kitchen or a factory floor. Development tools include QE for Capacitive Touch, Workbench6, solution kits and evaluation systems specialized for capacitive touch-key development.

The 2D and 3D touch-free UI solutions are available now for download here. To learn more about the Renesas’s capacitive touch-key solutions, visit https://www.renesas.com/solutions/proposal/touch-key.html.

Notes:
Note 1: IEC 61000-4-3 Level 3 — Immunity test for radiated electromagnetic energy for electronic equipment: Under an electromagnet field of 10 V/m.

Note 2: IEC 61000-4-6 Level 3 — Conducted immunity test for radiated electromagnet interference for electronic equipment: Under a voltage of 10 V.

Note 3: Class B — Equipment of this class must provide functions that can recover independently even if a temporary drop or loss occurs.

Note 4: See the application notes for the test conditions.