SparkFun
Bare Conductive Touch Board
The Touch Board from Bare Conductive is an easy-to-use Arduino@Heart board that gives you the ability to turn almost any material or surface into a sensor...
The Touch Board from Bare Conductive is an easy-to-use Arduino@Heart board that gives you the ability to turn almost any material or surface into a sensor. Each Touch Board offers 12 electrodes for your a conductive ink or other type of connector that can be drawn or attached to create light switches, musical instruments, or custom interactive surfaces all through the Arduino IDE. The Bare Conductive Touch Board is even equipped with an onboard MP3 player making each board capable of turning your favorite song into a MIDI tune. Simply put: if you can do something with an Arduino or Arduino-compatible device, you can do it (and more) with the Touch Board and some conductive ink as well!
The Touch Board has been specifically designed to be a microcontroller board with dedicated capacitive touch and MP3 decoder ICs. Each board has a 3.5mm audio jack and micro SD card holder (for file storage), as well as its own 128MB micro SD card. The Touch Board has been based around the ATmega32U4 and runs at 16MHz from 3-5.5VDC. It has everything you would expect to be on an Arduino-type device including, a micro USB connector, a JST connector for an external lithium polymer (LiPo) cell, a power switch and a reset button. It should be known that there is limit of 32GB to the microSD card sized used with this board.
The Bare Conductive Touch Board is similar to the Arduino Leonardo and can be programmed using the Arduino IDE (1.5.6 or later). To power the Touch board simply attach it to a micro USB connection or from a 3.7V lithium polymer (LiPo) cell connected to the 2-way JST PH series connector. The onboard ATmega32U4 can appear to a connected computer as a mouse or a keyboard, serial port, or USB MIDI device.
Note: The Touch Board does NOT include a micro USB cable or LiPo battery. These items will need to be purchased separately and can be found in the Recommended Products section below.
Includes:
- 1x Touch Board
- 1x microSD Card (128MB)
Features:
- Arduino compatible (recognized as an Arduino Leonardo in IDE)
- Atmel ATMega32U4 Microprocessor
- Freescale MPR121 dedicated touch interface
- VLSI VS1053B audio processor
- Arduino Shield Compatible (check pins available)
- 32 KB of Flash Memory of which 4 KB is used for bootloader
- 5V operating voltage (automatic voltage selector for USB or battery operation)
- Built in LiPo battery charging with onboard boost circuit for 5V operation
- 16 MHz clock speed
- Can be powered and programmed over USB
- 20 digital I/O pins (3 used for Touch IC and 5 for MP3 IC – can be disabled)
- 7 PWM channels
- 12 analog input channels
- 12 Touch electrodes of which 8 can be configured as extra digital inputs or outputs with PWM capability
- 84mm x 62mm foot print with maximum height of 10mm (audio connector)
- Up to 32GB via micro SD card
- HID Capable
Documents:
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- Bootloader
- Small starter software on a microcontroller that lets new code be uploaded before the main program runs. Knowing how to enter bootloader mode matters when you need to program the board or recover it after a faulty sketch.
- Flash memory
- Non-volatile memory that keeps stored data even when power is removed. In this sensor, it matters because enrolled fingerprint templates can remain saved after the project is turned off.
- HID
- Human Interface Device is a USB device class used for keyboards, mice, gamepads and similar controls. If a board supports HID over USB, it can act like an input device to a computer without needing a custom driver.
- 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.
- JST PH
- A small keyed plug-and-socket connector with 2 mm pin spacing, often used for low-power electronics connections. You need the correct JST PH cable, and its current rating limits how much power should be passed through it.
- LiPo
- A lithium polymer rechargeable battery commonly used in portable electronics projects. It matters because LiPo batteries need correct charging circuitry and care, and this board includes hardware intended for that battery type.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a chip that runs your program and controls connected inputs and outputs. For this product, it is the part that reads buttons and sensors, drives the display and speaker, and communicates over Bluetooth.
- microSD card
- A microSD card is a small removable memory card used to store files such as audio tracks. For this product, the card is where the sound files live, so its capacity and formatting can affect how many sounds you can use.
- MIDI
- MIDI is a standard way for electronic instruments, controllers, and software to send musical control messages such as notes, velocity, and timing. If a board supports MIDI, it can be triggered from keyboards, drum pads, sequencers, or other music gear rather than only from buttons or code.
- PWM
- Pulse Width Modulation is a way for a digital pin to simulate variable output power by switching on and off very quickly. It matters for controlling things like LED brightness, motor speed, or servo-style signals from a microcontroller pin.
- Shield
- An add-on board that plugs into a main controller board to give it extra features such as sensing, motor control or communication. Knowing a product supports shields helps you judge whether it can connect neatly into an existing maker-board setup.
- USB MIDI device
- A USB MIDI device connects to a computer or USB host and sends or receives MIDI messages over USB. This matters because it lets the board work with music software or a controller setup where another device is in charge.
Find this product in
Sensors & Input
STEM & Education
Bare Conductive Touch Board Datasheet
Datasheet · 216.6 KB · Click any page to view full size
Bare Conductive Touch Board Schematic
Schematic · 107.5 KB · Click any page to view full size
Supplier page — sparkfun.com
Supplier Description · 802.5 KB · Click any page to view full size
Resources & Downloads
Guides, code examples, and more
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
