Robust Capacitive Touch Switches Survive Harsh Environments

NXP^® has introduced a complete family of self-calibrating capacitive touch and proximity switches designed for harsh environments. The PCF8883 and PCF8885, along with the automotive-grade PCA8885 and PCA8886, enable robust sensing despite dust, moisture, grease and other types of contamination building up on the touch area, and offer high immunity to sudden temperature changes and to electromagnetic interference. Using digital signal processing to detect changes in capacitance on a remote sensing plate, NXP's capacitive touch switches eliminate the need for a microcontroller and firmware for post-processing. With very low power consumption -- typically 3 μA per channel -- NXP's capacitive touch and proximity switches can also run continuously, with no complicated power-down and wake-up schemes required. http://www.nxp.com/news/press-releases/2013/09/robust-capacitive-touch-switches-survive-harsh-environments.html