Reference of a “touch slider” electronic part?

General
#1

Hey,
I’m searching on Mouser but I can’t find the reference of a “touch slider”, something similar to the ones found on DSI synth or Push 2. Do you think this is something that is custom made or do you know the reference of the part ? I’m not sure this is the correct term, maybe it’s called capacitative surface or something…

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I was thinking I could use one on a module belonging to the Teletype ecosystem (8hp, 8 buttons and a touch fader + Teensy)

Thanks

#2

Uncertain of the exact part name or part number, but I think this may also be labelled by some places as a “ribbon controller.”

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#3

I’m not sure it’s the same technology but you could achieve this with a membrane potentiometer like this:


@caelmore is right about them being called ribbon controllers but I’ve never seen this term used outside of synths so it’s not much use when looking for for parts (or hasn’t been for me anyway).
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#4

Thanks @caelmore and @oot I will search in this direction. These ribbon sensors from Adafruit are really interesting. I could also try to open the DSI pro 2 and see if it uses something similar or if it uses a series of small capacitative sensors but the sliders on this synth are also pressure sensitive, so it might be something a bit more complex, but I like the idea of a ribbon controller. Now that I think of it, the Tetrapad uses a similar tech as DSI. But for the sake of simplicity, the Adafruit sensors could be just fine for a small module I guess.

More generally, I wish I knew what kind of parts/sensors are used in MPE devices like Roli, Linnstrument, KMI, most probably very custom parts etc but that’s another story haha :slight_smile:

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#5

Force Sensitive Resistor (FSR) is probably what you’re thinking for something with velocity or pressure

Otherwise the soft pots above would also be called touch potentiometers.

I think soft pots (And fsr’s?) can also be combined/overlaid with some capacitive sensing material… ?

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#6

Ah, yes ! Thanks @okyeron this seems to be the kind of « smart fabric » used for MPE devices. That’s an option I should investigate. This combined with the ribbon controllers mentioned earlier. Really interesting. Now that you mention the term FSR, it reminds me of the FSR 1U made by Intellijel. This part is also used on the Tapographic Delay made by 4ms. I’ll try to source the part :slight_smile:

#7

The FSR matrix that @okyeron posted is very fancy (yes, smart fabric and can be used for MPE) but FSRs like the one in the intellijel module are very simple and inexpensive.

The “slider” is, yes a ribbon controller, aka linear soft potentiometer, and also is an example of an FSR.

#8

possibly maybe relevant

https://bela.io/products/trill/

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#9

This is my understanding, that you just lay them on top of each other.

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#10

Based on your suggestions, I’ve found

  • this product made by Ohmite in the Mouser catalog. Looks like the FSR used on 4ms modules etc.

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https://www.mouser.fr/datasheet/2/303/res_fsr-1590094.pdf

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The BELA product is also very interesting, perhaps a bit large for a euro module but definitely worth considering for another project that I have

And of course Peratech mentioned by Okyeron, they make multi touch sensors but also simple pressure sensors https://www.peratech.com/qtc-single-point-sensors/ But not sold at Mouser or Farnell but available at Robotshop https://www.robotshop.com/eu/fr/capteur-force-single-point-5mm-onglet-soudure.html

Thank you all : )

Edit: FSR used on 4ms Tapographic delay are http://www.taiwanalpha.com/en/products/21

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#12

Thanks! I’ve found some good results using this term, some small capacitive sliders with LED included, some development boards.

This one for example:
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https://www.mouser.fr/ProductDetail/Seeed-Studio/101020552?qs=MLItCLRbWsyE9lbAYIseDw%3D%3D

Good to know about the Bela ! I didn’t know they can be cut to size