Capacitive Touch Slider (CAP1203) Hookup Guide

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Contributors: andreadevo
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Introduction

Do you want to replace a slider or a button on your art project or science experiment with a more interesting interface? The SparkFun Capacitive Touch Slider - CAP1203 (Qwiic) is a Qwiic and easy way to add capacitive touch to your next project. With the board's built in touch pads, you can immediately start playing with the touch capabilities as three unique touch inputs or as a slider. You can also enable a touch input to act as a power button, customize the sensitivity for your own touch pads, and play with the interrupt alert LED. Since the sensor supports I2C, we've added a Qwiic connector for easy integration into the Qwiic environment. We've also added breakout pins for the capacitive touch inputs, so you can connect to your own touch pads.

SparkFun Capacitive Touch Slider - CAP1203 (Qwiic)

SparkFun Capacitive Touch Slider - CAP1203 (Qwiic)

SEN-15344
$6.50

Required Materials

To follow along with the example code used in this tutorial, you will also need the following materials. You may not need everything though depending on what you have. Add it to your cart, read through the guide, and adjust the cart as necessary.

SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic

SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic

DEV-15123
$21.50
19
Qwiic Cable - 50mm

Qwiic Cable - 50mm

PRT-14426
$0.95
USB Micro-B Cable - 6 Foot

USB Micro-B Cable - 6 Foot

CAB-10215
$5.50
15

If you need different sizes of Qwiic cables, we offer a kit that contains many sizes but we also carry them individually.

SparkFun Qwiic Cable Kit

SparkFun Qwiic Cable Kit

KIT-15081
$8.95
20
Qwiic Cable - 100mm

Qwiic Cable - 100mm

PRT-14427
$1.50

Qwiic Cable - 500mm

PRT-14429
1 Retired
Qwiic Cable - Breadboard Jumper (4-pin)

Qwiic Cable - Breadboard Jumper (4-pin)

PRT-14425
$1.50

Suggested Reading

If you aren't familiar with the Qwiic system, we recommend reading here for an overview.

Qwiic Connect System
Qwiic Connect System

We would also recommend taking a look at the following tutorials if you aren't familiar with them.

Button and Switch Basics

A tutorial on electronics' most overlooked and underappreciated component: the switch! Here we explain the difference between momentary and maintained switches and what all those acronyms (NO, NC, SPDT, SPST, ...) stand for.

Capacitors

Learn about all things capacitors. How they're made. How they work. How they look. Types of capacitors. Series/parallel capacitors. Capacitor applications.

I2C

An introduction to I2C, one of the main embedded communications protocols in use today.

How to Work with Jumper Pads and PCB Traces

Handling PCB jumper pads and traces is an essential skill. Learn how to cut a PCB trace, add a solder jumper between pads to reroute connections, and repair a trace with the green wire method if a trace is damaged.

RedBoard Qwiic Hookup Guide

This tutorial covers the basic functionality of the RedBoard Qwiic. This tutorial also covers how to get started blinking an LED and using the Qwiic system.