4 Summary

There are many different applications for HMI in an automotive environment and a variety of technology designers can use to implement them. Each application has key factors to consider and every use case for one of these applications can have different requirements. Designers need to identify the main concerns of their designs and understand how the HMI application are used by the end user to pick the best technology. In general, mechanical implementations are cheap but prone to wear and tear which can lead to a loss of functionality. Hall-effect sensors can provide some design freedom and are easy to incorporate, but the sensors can be susceptible to external magnetic fields. Capacitive sensing is great for seamless touch panels, but require a few extra considerations in specific applications. Inductive sensing can be used in touch sensing and removes some of the concerns with capacitive sensing, but has other drawbacks. Additionally, inductive rotational sensors can provide a design that are immune to nearby DC magnetic fields and work with existing metals in a design, but can be limited by space for the sensor coils. Whatever the implementation choice is, there are tools available to assist in the design process. Please see the Resources section for a list of helpful tools and support content TI offers.