STMicroelectronics and Fieldscale, a provider of simulation software, have announced a partnership to simplify the development process for adding touch interfaces to embedded systems. Their work adds the technology to smart devices containing ST’s STM32 microcontrollers (MCUs). Specifically, support is included on ST’s Arm Cortex-based 32-bit MCUs for Fieldscale’s Sense development platform.

Fieldscale Sense is an end-to-end solution for the design, schematic capture, and system-level simulation of capacitive touch sensors. The latest version lets STM32 users quickly design the touch sensor and PCB layout for virtual system simulation purposes.

Touch-sensitive controls are becoming more popular, especially for smart consumer devices as well as industrial platforms. However, developing such systems can be a challenge for a designer. By laying the groundwork for the designer, the process is greatly simplified, and can be done with cloud-based tools that are already familiar.

Before committing to building physical prototypes, with developers can design or import capacitive touch sensor layout as a standard DXF or Gerber file(s). They can also create 3D models of the sensor by clicking their way through material and connections assignment. Fieldscale Sense automatically applies the appropriate boundary conditions.

Fieldscale Sense is available now as an online service and comes with a flexible pricing model based on specific needs.