Capacitive touch-sense XY matrix detection algorithm development

The Touch-Sense module allows user to easily implement capacitive based touch interface. First introduced in the XC82x and the XC83x series of microcontrollers, it is a good alternative of physical buttons, since there are no moving parts. The XY matrix touchpad is one area where the Touch-Sense module can be applied. An attempt was done before, but due to the limited resource the XC82x and the XC83x had, it was shelved away. Now with the new XMC4500 having the improved Touch-Sense module and more computational power and resources, one is able to implement the XY pad with great ease. Thus this research serves to implement the XY matrix hardware and to program the XY matrix function using the XMC4500 microcontroller. The boards were simulated using Sonnet EM Simulation Software to predict the performance of the design, which in the end, although not near to the final results due to resource limitation, comes close to predicting the behavior of the actual hardware. The end product was a XY matrix software module that can be implemented in different hardware, without too much modification and using too much microcontroller resources, and a computer interface that is able to read the sensor value, and more importantly the finger position that can be plotted on the program visually. It is also able to handle the edge sensors without any issues. The conclusion ends with using simulation data to predict the behavior of the PCB so as to save resources on the real hardware, by producing the actual hardware that works in the simulation test. It also recommends increasing the Touch-Sense module or pins so that larger XY matrix boards can be done.Bachelor of Engineerin