To help enhance and ease today’s driving experience, automotive manufacturers are implementing additional touch displays beyond the center infotainment display (CID). To this end, Microchip Technology Inc. announced the extension of its maXTouch portfolio with the new MXT288UD touch controller family, the industry’s smallest automotive-grade packaged touchscreen controllers.

The MXT288UD-AM and the MXT144UD-AM devices offer low power mode, weatherproof operation and glove touch detection in multi-function displays, touchpad and smart surfaces for vehicles, motorcycles, e-bikes, and car-sharing services.

Secondary touch surfaces can be placed in both the interior of cars and the exterior of a motor vehicle, such as handlebars, doors, electronic mirrors, control knobs, the steering wheel, between seats, or in an armrest.

With the MXT288UD family’s small 7×7 mm automotive-grade VQFN56 package, tier-one suppliers can now reduce board space by 75 percent and greatly minimize the overall Bill of Materials (BoM) for these compact applications — all while exceeding the requirements for excellent and reliable touch performance in the market.

The family’s low-power, wait-for-touch mode consumes less than 50 µA, remaining responsive for the user, even if the display switches off to save power or to avoid disturbing the driver at night. The system will wake by a touch event anywhere on the touch surface. 

Additionally, the MXT288UD-AM and the MXT144UD-AM devices enable detection and tracking of multi-finger thick gloves through a wide variety of overlay materials and thicknesses, like leather, wood, or across uneven surfaces, even in the presence of moisture. Typically, the dielectric constant of these overlay materials would limit the detection of the touch, however, these devices provide a unique solution to reliably detect and track multi-fingers with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and through a proprietary differential mutual acquisition scheme.

For example, in car-sharing applications, this reliable touch functionality helps users access a car from the outside by tracking touch coordinates on an exterior display in any environment, like rain, snow, or extreme heat. Motorcycles and other motorbike vehicles also benefit from such weatherproof designs. As a turnkey solution, the MXT288UD family provides proven firmware, developed according to Automotive SPICE processes, and is AEC-Q100 qualified, making it easy for today’s automotive manufacturers to integrate into existing systems at a lower risk with faster time to market.

“Automotive OEMs are looking to enhance the user experience through smart surfaces and multi-function displays, while still providing a convenient and distraction-free environment,” said Fanie Duvenhage, VP of Microchip’s human-machine interface and touch function group. “Addressing these needs in the market, Microchip is building on its already leading portfolio of automotive touchscreen solutions with the new MXT288UD touch controller family — bringing increased performance and cost savings to the industry’s smallest package of automotive-grade touch controllers.”