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The AR11xx series is a legacy product suite not recommended for new designs for analog resistive touch.

Introduction to Resistive Touch


Analog resistive technology is popular because of its:

  • Low-cost sensors
  • Acceptance of finger, glove or stylus-pen inputs
  • Overall ease of manufacturing and integration into applications

Suitable applications for analog resistive include:

  • Mobile phones, industrial automation, retail point-of-sale, gaming/entertainment and automobile navigation systems

How Does Resistive Touch Work?


An analog resistive touch screen is comprised of two layers, the flex and the stable layer. These layers are coated with a thin electrically conductive coating of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO). These two layers are separated by the spacer layer. When touched, the flex layer comes in contact with the stable layer. The point of contact creates a voltage divider in the X and Y directions. This voltage is then used to find the relative position of the touch activation.

Selecting a Touch Sensor


There are three basic analog resistive sensor constructions:

  • Most cost effective: 4-wire
  • Most durable: 5-wire
  • Most flexible: 8-wire

AR1000 Series Touch Controllers


  • Turnkey touch solution
  • Built-in decoding and advanced filtering
  • Controller-driven calibration
  • Low cost with few external components
  • Universal 4-, 5-, and 8-wire support
  • Fast time to market
  • Small footprint
  • Low power
  • SPI, I2C, UART support
  • Developed by touch experts

Resistive Touch Screen Controller Comparison


  Microchip Benefit
Other Touch Screen Controllers
Touch Solution Turnkey touch solution - easy integration for an accelerated development cycle Incomplete, require significant engineering to decode, filter and calibrate
Touch Coordinates Delivers accurate touch coordinates with built-in decoding and advanced filtering
Not provided, require customer to become a "touch" expert
Software Driver Support Controller-driven callibration - no software drivers needed! Incomplete, require that users write calibration drivers
Design Cost Low - including few required components
High - including required components
Sensor Support Universal sensor support for all 4-, 5- and 8-wire screens (wide tolerance range) Typically support 4-wire only (tolerance variation may require redesign)
Design Time to Market Fast - no learning curve, works out of the box
Slow - long learning curve, trial and error development
PCB Real Estate Small footprint, minimal real estate Large footprint
Touch Expertise 15+ years of touch expertise
Minimal
Integration Easy Difficult

Driver and Design Support


For support please contact the Microchip support ticket system.

Up until June 2022, Touch-Base provided Windows®, Linux®, CE and macOS UPDD touchscreen drivers for AR1xxx controllers for new deployment on systems. Installers downloaded will remain installable until September 2022.

Please contact Touch-Base to request an UPDD driver installer for ongoing system maintenance (useable for systems deployed before June 2022) or to align purchasing UPDD drivers for systems deployed after June 2022.

You can also download seven-day trial drivers for AR1xxx controllers.

Important Links


Analog Resistive Legacy Products


Software


Title Downloads
AR1100 Windows XP Win7 Win8 UPDD v5.X Downloads
AR1100 WinCE ARM x86 Drivers Downloads
AR1100 CaliFirmware Download Utility Downloads
AR1100 Calibration Utility Downloads
AR1020 SPI I2C WinCE 6.0 Driver Downloads
AR1020 AR1021 Linux SPI I2C Driver (Android Support) Downloads
AR1010 UART WinCE 6.0 Driver Downloads
AR1010 AR1011 AR1100 UART Open Source Linux Driver Downloads
AR1000 AR1100 Configuration Utility Downloads

Documentation


Legacy: Analog Resistive


Title
AR1000 Touch Controller Download

Legacy: Analog Resistive


Title
AR1100 Resistive USB and RS-232 Touch Screen Controller Data Sheet Download
AR1000 Series Resistive Touch Screen Controller Data Sheet Download

Legacy: Analog Resistive


Title
AR1000 FAQs Download

Legacy: Analog Resistive


Title
AR1100 Controller Board User's Manual DS41604A Download
AR1100 Calibration Utility User's Guide DS41598A Download
AR1100 Calibration Templates for Development Kit DS41596A Download
AR Configuration Utility (ARCU) User's Guide Download