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16-Key Capacitive Touch Unit (MEGA328P)
The M5Stack 16-Key Capacitive Touch Unit is a Makey Makey-inspired input device built around an ATmega328P microcontroller. It detects capacitive touch acros...
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The M5Stack 16-Key Capacitive Touch Unit is a Makey Makey-inspired input device built around an ATmega328P microcontroller. It detects capacitive touch across 16 key pads, allowing you to turn everyday objects — fruit, foil, water, or anything conductive — into touch-sensitive buttons. A built-in buzzer provides audio feedback for each key press.
The unit connects to M5Stack Core devices via the Grove A port (I2C, address 0x51) and is programmable using Arduino IDE or UIFlow (Blockly/Python). Two Lego-compatible mounting holes are included for easy integration into builds.
Key Features
- 16 Capacitive Touch Keys – Each key responds to conductive objects or skin contact
- ATmega328P Controller – Onboard processing with upgradeable firmware
- Built-in Buzzer – Audio tone feedback for each key (fruit piano, etc.)
- Grove A (I2C) – Connects to M5Stack Core via I2C at address 0x51
- Multi-Platform Development – Arduino IDE and UIFlow (Blockly/Python)
- Lego Compatible – Two mounting holes for Lego integration
Pin Mapping (Grove A)
- GPIO22 – SCL
- GPIO21 – SDA
- 5V – Power
- GND – Ground
Ideal For
- Fruit pianos and interactive music projects
- Creative input devices using everyday objects
- STEM education and capacitive touch experiments
- M5Stack-based interactive installations
Package Contents
- 1× 16-Key Capacitive Touch Unit (MEGA328P)
- 1× Grove cable
Resources
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- ATmega328P
- An 8-bit microcontroller chip used on many Arduino Uno-compatible boards. Knowing the controller uses an ATmega328P helps you understand its memory, speed, pin compatibility, and the Arduino sketches it can run.
- GND
- GND is the ground or reference connection (0 V) for a circuit. When connecting two devices together, their grounds must be joined so both agree on what counts as a low or high signal.
- Grove
- Grove is a standardised 4-pin plug-in connector system for sensors and modules that avoids soldering and jumper wires, with different cable types carrying I2C, UART, analogue or digital signals. When a product is Grove-compatible it can be quicker to connect supported modules, provided the connector type, signal and voltage all match.
- I2C
- I2C is a two-wire communication bus used by many sensors and small modules. It matters because several I2C devices can share the same two wires, but each device needs a compatible address and your controller must support I2C.
- IDE
- Short for Integrated Development Environment, a program used to write, run and manage code. It matters because some learners prefer a traditional coding workspace instead of a guided notebook-style lesson.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a single chip that runs a stored program and controls connected inputs and outputs such as buttons, sensors, displays and communication interfaces. In a device built around one, it is the part that executes the code and coordinates the device's behaviour.
Find this product in
Sensors & Input
Related Tutorials
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