The capacitive touch button was created as a follow-up to the Platteville button, a mechanical “click” button created at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville by the authors. Its creation was prompted by a request from a speech therapist who tested the Platteville button and was seeking an alternative to the commercially available capacitive touch buttons. Capacitive touch buttons require no pressure to activate, which makes them ideal for young children or individuals that have difficulty with fine motor controls, or who need to reduce extraneous stimuli such as the audible “click.” Few capacitive touch buttons exist on the market, and those that do are expensive. From the need for a cheaper alternative that could be readily ordered and assembled by anyone with a little 3D printing and soldering experience, the Capacitive Touch Button was born. With a price of approximately $15 per unit, it is much more affordable than commercial alternatives. The goal of this project was to make “no touch” button technology available to more individuals with disabilities, with the hope that it can improve their ability to interact with the world.

The capacitive button uses the AT42QT1011 capacitive touch sensor to detect the presence of a human hand to control toys. It is powered by two AAA batteries. The capacitive button is tuned to sense the presence of a few fingers at minimum. The button has an optionally-activated LED light to indicate when the sensor is triggered; the button can be used with or without it by moving the power switch to the left or right. A 2-inch by 2-inch version and a 4-inch by 4-inch version of the button exist to accommodate different size preferences.

The Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) can be ordered online. The PCBs use very small electronic components (“surface mount”), and so we present two options for fabrication since these can be challenging to solder: • They can be assembled by hand (see instructions below), or • They can be assembled by the same company from which they are ordered. See the “Assembly Instructions” section for more information on the two fabrication processes.

*Updated Jan. 30, 2026: removed extra orientation dots that were confusing the PCB manufacturer.