Infineon MCU Adds Liquid Sensing

Infineon Technologies is building on its capacitive and inductive sensing capabilities by adding liquid sensing in a single device with the introduction of its PSoC 4000T MultiSENSE low-power microcontroller (MCU).

Along with the upcoming PSoC 4100T Plus, which will feature higher memory and more I/Os, this MCU integrates Infineon’s CAPSENSE technology as well as MultiSENSE capabilities that include proprietary inductive sensing and non-contact liquid sensing capabilities. In a briefing with EE Times, Vibheesh Bharathan, Infineon’s Touch HMI marketing lead, said these latest MCUs are designed for advanced human-machine interface (HMI) applications, such as touch-over-metal, hover touch and accurate liquid-level detection.

Infineon has been in the touch sensing business for two decades, Bharathan noted, which is why CAPSENSE is now its in fifth generation. “All the first four generations were mainly focused on HMI.” Touch sensitive buttons on everything including washing machines, dishwashers, watches and earbuds have likely been enabled by Infineon’s HMI technology, he added.

CAPSENSE was last updated in 2022 with substantial performance improvements, including signal-to-noise ratio and reducing power consumption, both by a factor of 10, which are critical for supporting smaller form factors, Bharathan said. The sensing engine has also seen significant improvements, and these updates allow for additional HMI as well as non-HMI capabilities, he noted.