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Looking for company who can make custom membrane button boards for a project. — Parallax Forums

Looking for company who can make custom membrane button boards for a project.

eagletalontimeagletalontim Posts: 1,399
edited 2009-01-26 09:06 in General Discussion
I am designing a new project that has a menu system and I was wondering if anyone knows a company who can build a membrane or tactile button board. I only want to order small quantities since my budget is extremely low. There are basically 4 buttons in a vertical line. The buttons need to labeled : Menu, Up, Down, Enter (or Save). I found a few companies on google, but the average cost was going to be $2000 + for 100 boards....ouch! If anyone has any links or companies I can call, I would greatly appreciate it!

Comments

  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2009-01-24 14:06

    Instead of a custom keypad, look into a custom adhesive overlay to stick on top of an off-the-shelf keypad.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2009-01-24 14:30
    Use the Microchip mTouch system:

    www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2599

    Also, Freescale has some new touch sensor chips that can be interfaced via I2C - all you need is a PCB with a plastic overlay.

    Leon

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  • Erik FriesenErik Friesen Posts: 1,071
    edited 2009-01-24 16:54
    @leon-If you can make the mtouch solution work as well as qtouch I would like to know.

    I have used the Quantum touch chips which work very well. Quantum touch 60160 is a little hard to use in a mlf32 but its performance out of the box is very good. Something in their firmware creates a chip that takes the fooling around part out of using capacative touch.

    I used cubbison to make my overlays. They did around 100 for about $300. Check out label companies as there are some that are cheaper if you don't need a window. These are essentially the same overlays that go on top of a membrane keypad. You will have to have some sort of cad/publishing program like Corel or Adobe as these companies may not want to mess with dxf etc.
  • Erik FriesenErik Friesen Posts: 1,071
    edited 2009-01-24 16:59
    In fact I suspect that Microchip would like to use atmel's license to the qtouch technology if they could buy it out. I tried getting support for the mtouch solution and found little help from Mchip with it. They have a another new technology called inductive touch that looks interesting.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2009-01-24 17:51
    I keep meaning to try mTouch, but haven't got round to it.

    Leon

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
    Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2009-01-26 04:43
    The Quantum QT140 is a good choice. Very easy to get going, they used to carry DIPs of these in Digikey.

    You would use the AKS mode to eliminate false triggers. Quantum has a number of application notes. I am programming the QT60160 at the moment, they are more difficult for a home brew operation if you don't have experience with tiny SMT parts, plus there is quite a bit of code to get it setup and dialed. The 140 just requires you change out the caps to find the right sensitivity.
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,935
    edited 2009-01-26 09:06
    If you are looking at the non-keypad options, I would recommend to start with the QT240 eval board. search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=427-1113-ND

    You could also try Cypress' line of capsense PSoC devices. A little more complicated, but much more powerful.


    Also, another solution to the keypad, is the use of snapdomes under an overlay label. www.snaptron.com/domesmainxxzxqma297.cfm

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    Andrew Williams
    WBA Consulting
    IT / Web / PCB / Audio

    Post Edited (WBA Consulting) : 1/26/2009 9:20:49 AM GMT
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