This Could Be the Perfect Touch Sensor Button Module

If you want to add a touch sensor button to your project, you may be able to use a spare analog pin on your microcontroller and some fancy code. But if you want it to work more predictably and reliably, without taking up an analog pin, you can get a touch button module. However, those have shortcomings. That’s why LeftyMaker set out to build the perfect touch sensor button module.

The typical TTP223-based touch sensor button modules have a number of disadvantages:

• Sensitivity isn’t adjustable and you have to touch the board directly
• They are only momentary
• They are small
• They can’t pass very much current

They’re really intended to replace physical momentary buttons connected to microcontrollers, with the code doing some action after it detects a touch. That’s fine for many projects, but LeftyMaker wanted something more versatile.

His touch sensor board is huge, giving users a big area to touch. And it has adjustable sensitivity, so it will work through thin material — users don’t have to touch the board itself. On top of that, it can be set to act like a momentary switch, a toggle switch, or as a dimmer with four positions. LeftyMaker’s board has a MOSFET and a voltage regulator, so it can handle a wide range of applications.

For example, you can make a touch-controlled LED lamp without using a microcontroller at all. Just connect the LED(s) to power with the switch inline.

If you like this idea and want to get some of these boards yourself, LeftyMaker published his design on Patreon.