Android Touch Sensor Board

Android Touch Sensor Board and supporting equipment.      Priced at  $595 

(including S&H inside the US, see below for overseas shipping).

 

     1 full kit includes the following:

 

      a)  1 - Android touch sensor board (assembled & tested)

      b)  35 - Force sensing resistors (FSRs)

      c)  1 - 25 pin parallel printer cable (male - female)

      d)  1 - 26 pin to 25 pin parallel interface cable (5 inches)

      e)  4 - 20 pin ribbon cables.

      f)   1 - Variable voltage power transformer.

      g)  1 - Power adaptor cable & 2 connectors.

      h)  8 - spare SIPs (different resistors yield different sensitivity)

      i)   1 - CD includes all software, documentation, & instructions

      j)   1 - Hardware assembly guide. (printed copy)

      k)  1 - Software development guide. (printed copy)

      l)   2 - free support calls

                Board & FSRs                   Board & cables

   DATA SHEET

Full kit just $595

    $100 discount available for Educational Institutions - just $495 

   Overseas Shipping Costs

    Air Parcel Post (US Post Office)   7 - 10 days  -  $25

    Fed Ex / UPS   3 days  -  $95

We have manufactured some two pin connectors which make the connections to the board much easier.  These connectors have 18 inch wires (1/4" stripped) and fit tightly on the 20 pin headers with .1 inch spacing.

They are available now at $3 each. 

FSR Theory and History

A Force sensing resistor (FSR) is somewhat similar to a strain gauge with two major differences. First, since most strain gauges are made of ceramic material, they will break if deflected very much. An FSR is made from a polymer so it can withstand greater deflection. Second, the response of most strain gauges is linear so that its sensitivity is limited. However, the response of an FSR is logarithmic so that its response covers a wider range with more accuracy. FRSs are an offshoot of the music industry. When musical keyboards first appeared, the keyboards had no sensitivity so that when you hit a key, you always got the same response. Musicians wanted to get a variable response which depended on how hard they hit the keys. Hence the FSR was developed to satisfy that demand.

The size of the FSR shown here is about 1/4" (6mm) wide and about 1 5/8" (40 mm) long. It would be nice if they were smaller. The manufacturer has told me that I need to buy at least 10,000 a month for 6 months in order for them to make a customized model for us.

FSR DATA SHEET

    Want to try out some FSRs?   $4 each

Touch Sensor Board Customer Comments

From:  Mr. Morten Strandberg in Sweden,    5/31/01

    Hi Chris,

    As a matter of fact I tried it (his touch sensor board) out yesterday and I was REALLY IMPRESSED with the sensor's performance! No hysteresis whatsoever when unloaded, little drift during static load, logarithmic response. IT WAS REALLY GREAT!

General Information: crwillis@androidworld.com