Hi there Buccaneers! I have been searching this forum to see if anyone ever extended the capacitive touch on the PianoHat. What I’m trying to search for is if it’s possible to extend the keys of the pianohat to like create bigger keys (outside of the HAT). I was thinking of using copper tape to extend them onto a laser cut acrylic board for each key. This way, I can extend and project the capacitve touch of each key to any material and keep the pi and the pianohat safe on a display.
Would extending the capacitive touch with a copper tape or maybe a 22 AWG silicone wire would work? Any insights you can provide or shed light on this topic would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
I’m not an expert, but theoretically it should work just like it would with an Adafruit Touch Hat or a Bare Conductive Pi Cap.
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Thank you @andywarburton for the reply. That is exactly what I perceived as well. I guess thing for me to do is to experiment. I will come back once I get results on this.
I’ve tried extending the capacitive touch pads on a flotilla touch pad. I did it with pieces of copper tape a few centimetres long. Unfortunately it wasn’t as reliable as I liked. I was connecting pads together to get multiple touches. But it should be possible with the piano hat too (i think its the same sensor chip or very similar).
Thanks @veryalien for that insight. I’m thinking of extending it to at least a foot but that might be pushing it. Maybe I can use wire for the extension and then solder those on to the copper tape at the other end. The conductivity will lessen greatly. Anyway, I will report back once I get to experiment on this.
Just wondering, would humidity affect on the capacity on the Pianohat?..