Microchip announces a new addition to its PIC12/16F15XX 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) family. The low-cost, low pin-count PIC12LF1552 is Microchip’s smallest (2×3 mm UDFN package) and lowest-cost PIC® MCU with hardware I2C™ support, and includes a four channel 10-bit Analogue-to-Digital Converter (ADC) with hardware Capacitive Voltage Divider (CVD) support for capacitive touch sensing. In addition, this new MCU features 3.5 KB Flash programme memory, 256 Bytes RAM, a 32 MHz internal oscillator, low-voltage operation from 1.8V to 3.6V, and low power consumption for active and sleep currents of 50 µA/MHz and 20 nA, respectively. The hardware CVD enables a more efficient implementation of capacitive sensing for touch applications. This “Core-Independent Peripheral” includes additional control logic that enables automated sampling, which reduces software size and minimises CPU usage. It also provides automatic control of guard-ring drive and a programmable sample-and-hold capacitance, to better match larger touch or proximity sensors. These capabilities, combined with the low cost and small footprint of the PIC12LF1552, make it well suited for applications which include temperature-monitoring devices; small remote controls for garage doors, window blind and other products; cell-phone buttons such as input interfaces for Android™ and Windows® 8 utilising the hardware CVD; room light control for switching and dimming, both taking advantage of hardware CVD; and in coffeemakers for the input interfaces and water-level monitoring, which both could utilise the hardware CVD and the integrated communication capabilities.
Microchip Technology
www.microchip.com/get/LFWT