Low-power, low-cost, high-resolution contactless sensing technique for variety of applications

Capacitive sensing is a low-power, low-cost, high-resolution contactless sensing technique that Texas Instruments say can be applied to a variety of applications ranging from proximity detection to gesture recognition. The sensor in a capacitive sensing system is any metal or conductor, allowing for low cost and highly flexible system design. The main challenge limiting sensitivity in capacitive sensing applications is noise susceptibility of the sensors. With the FDC2x1x-Q1 innovative EMI resistant architecture, performance can be maintained even in presence of high-noise environments. The device is a multi-channel family of noise and EMI-resistant, high-resolution, high-speed capacitance-to-digital converters for implementing capacitive sensing solutions. The devices employ an innovative narrow-band based architecture to offer high rejection of noise and interferers while providing high resolution at high speed. The devices support a wide excitation frequency range, offering flexibility in system design.