Speed and resolution can be customized to meet design requirements

ams announced the launch of PCap04, a new front-end product that provides capacitive sensing capabilities that sensor manufacturers can customize by adjusting speed and resolution characteristics to meet their design requirements.

When speed is optimized, PCap04 can perform up to 50,000 sensor measurements per second and quantify the values. When the sampling rate is lowered to optimize precision, PCap04 can achieve a measurement resolution of 8 aF.

Through the product's various condition setting functions, sensor manufacturers using this product can obtain power consumption characteristics optimized for measurement speed or set measurement conditions optimized for target power consumption values. In low-power mode, PCap04 consumes a low current of 4.0µA. ams has developed a demo board without an external power supply, in which PCap04 operates using energy harvested from the RF field generated by an NFC reader, similar to a smartphone.

PCap04 is designed to be used with various types of sensing elements with varying capacitance values. It is highly suitable for use with capacitance sensor elements that measure pressure, force, position, tilt, humidity, weight, water level, and many other parameters using six capacitance measurement channels.

The output of PCap04 is provided as a value converted from the original measured capacitance value into PWM or PDM. In addition, it has a built-in DSP that processes sensor measurements, converts them into digital values, and transmits them via an ^I2C or SPI interface. This DSP can process input capacitance values over a wide range from as little as 1 pF to as much as 100 nF.

PCap04 offers various built-in configuration options, including ground, floating, differential, and differential ground sensor connection methods. This DSP can run on ams' open-source code as well as user-created code for measurement linearization and conversion functions. ams provides evaluation kits and easy-to-use software development tools that enable design engineers to easily develop, test, and debug code running on PCap04.

Jose Vinau, Marketing Director for Medical and Specialty Sensors at ams, stated, “PCap04 offers sensor manufacturers a more flexible alternative compared to other sensor front-end products whose operating characteristics are fixed within a specific range. It also provides a unique advantage, allowing sensor manufacturers to meet the specific characteristics required for their particular applications through the precise tuning of front-end operation.”