OMRON Technology Review Vol.5 | OMRON Electronic Components Web

Both the Sensors and sales engineers continue to advance through close customer support

-- I understand that the sales engineer's role is very important in Touch Sensors.
Fujita
The most important part of the sales engineer's job is to provide close customer support, from prototype PCB design to mass production, and right through to post-production.

Even though the IC and development tools have made Touch Sensor development much easier, there are still many customers who are building-in Touch Sensors for the first time. They naturally run into a lot of problems that cannot be solved without specialized know-how, and that's where the sales engineer's support comes in.

Even in the prototype PCB design, we need to give advice because the performance can vary greatly depending on the user's know-how. There are also cases where accurate advice cannot be given without understanding a wide range of circuits, in addition to the Touch Sensor circuit.

With this in mind, I even need to gain more knowledge in circuit technology myself, and continue to learn.
-- Finally, could you tell us what the future holds for Touch Sensors?
Tanabe
By mobilizing their PCB design and filter insertion know-how for customer support, sales engineers can solve a lot of customer problems. This also helps to accumulate new know-how, which will advance the Touch Sensor itself, and will allow us to create Touch Sensors that are even simpler and easier to use.

The Touch Sensor IC is more of a flexible, microcontroller-based component than a finished product itself. This fact alone gives it the potential to rapidly evolve.