Capacitive Touch Sensor with Arduino
We will use the touch sensor to turn an LED on and off
Written By: Cherie Tan
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![Dash icon](https://fast.littlebird.com.au/static/guides/dash.webp)
Difficulty
Easy
![Steps icon](https://fast.littlebird.com.au/static/guides/steps.webp)
Steps
8
Capacitive sensors detect touch, force, or pressure on its surface. When there is contact, the circuit closes inside the sensor, and there is a flow of current.
Follow this guide to learn to turn an LED on and off with a touch sensor and an Arduino. In this guide, we will be using a capacitive touch sensor for Arduino and a Little Bird Uno R3 development board.
The completion of this guide will give you a better understanding of how touch sensors work, as well as how to use them in your own Arduino projects!
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Insert LED into Breadboard with the Cathode (short leg) on the left hand side.
![](https://files.littlebird.com.au/guides/560_img1.png)
Insert 220 Ohm Resistor into the Breadboard.
Ensure that it is inline with the LED's anode (longer leg).
int touch = 10; // pin for touch sensor int ledPin = 13; // pin for the LED void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); pinMode(touch, INPUT); } void loop() { int touchValue = digitalRead(touch); if (touchValue == HIGH){ digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); Serial.println("touched"); } else{ digitalWrite(ledPin,LOW); Serial.println("not touched"); } delay(500); }
Upload this code to your Arduino.
When you touch the blue area on the sensor the LED on Pin 13 should turn on. Also a red light switches on the sensor.