How to make own Touch Sensor (DIY)

Step 1: Gather all the necessary parts

1. QT113 - can be ordered at Digikey DigikeyDigikey. Each one costs around $2.
2. 10mF capacitor
3. Wires
4. LED
5. breadboard or perfboard (if you choose to perf, you will obviously need a soldering iron and some solder)

Step 2: Build your circuit

wire up your circuit according to the following diagram:

pin 1: Power (3.3-5V)
pin 2: Output (in this case I used a red LED)
pin 3: Ground
pin 4: Power
pin 5: Power
pin 6-7: 10 micro Farad capacitor. These pins also connect to the input wire.
pin 8: Ground

Step 3: Input wire

Strip the tip of the wire and embed it into or behind an object or the surface which you want to act as a touch switch. when connected to a conductive metal sheet, or mesh this works really well. When doing multiple switches, it is important to make sure the surfaces are surrounded by ground, so as to protect each distinct touch surface.

Step 4: Connect to a microcontroller

In this case I used the MAKE controller - connected the output wire from Step 2 (which was an LED there) into the 4th Input pin of the controller board. When touched, the pin goes low, otherwise its state is high.
In this example, I used the NET connect software to create a flash animation that changes its shape according to a user's touch.

Good Luck!

#touch sensor

#diy

#microcontroller

#touch

#robotics

#augmented reality