JavaScript - Multi Touch Bricklet

This is the description of the JavaScript API bindings for the Multi Touch Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the Multi Touch Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.

An installation guide for the JavaScript API bindings is part of their general description.

Examples

The example code below is Public Domain (CC0 1.0).

Callback (Node.js)

Download (ExampleCallback.js)

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
var Tinkerforge = require('tinkerforge');

var HOST = 'localhost';
var PORT = 4223;
var UID = 'XYZ'; // Change XYZ to the UID of your Multi Touch Bricklet

var ipcon = new Tinkerforge.IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
var mt = new Tinkerforge.BrickletMultiTouch(UID, ipcon); // Create device object

ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT,
    function (error) {
        console.log('Error: ' + error);
    }
); // Connect to brickd
// Don't use device before ipcon is connected

// Register touch state callback
mt.on(Tinkerforge.BrickletMultiTouch.CALLBACK_TOUCH_STATE,
    // Callback function for touch state callback
    function (state) {
        var s = '';
        if(state & (1 << 12)) {
            s += 'In proximity, ';
        }
        if((state & 0xfff) === 0) {
            s += 'No electrodes touched';
        }
        else {
            s += 'Electrodes ';
            for(var i = 0; i < 12; ++i) {
                if(state & (1 << i)) {
                    s += i + ' ';
                }
            }
            s += 'touched';
        }
        console.log(s);
    }
);

console.log('Press key to exit');
process.stdin.on('data',
    function (data) {
        ipcon.disconnect();
        process.exit(0);
    }
);

Simple (Node.js)

Download (ExampleSimple.js)

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
var Tinkerforge = require('tinkerforge');

var HOST = 'localhost';
var PORT = 4223;
var UID = 'XYZ'; // Change XYZ to the UID of your Multi Touch Bricklet

var ipcon = new Tinkerforge.IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
var mt = new Tinkerforge.BrickletMultiTouch(UID, ipcon); // Create device object

ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT,
    function (error) {
        console.log('Error: ' + error);
    }
); // Connect to brickd
// Don't use device before ipcon is connected

ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_CONNECTED,
    function (connectReason) {
        // Get current touch state
        mt.getTouchState(
            function (state) {
                var s = '';
                if(state & (1 << 12)) {
                    s += 'In proximity, ';
                }
                if((state & 0xfff) === 0) {
                    s += 'No electrodes touched';
                }
                else {
                    s += 'Electrodes ';
                    for(var i = 0; i < 12; ++i) {
                        if(state & (1 << i)) {
                            s += i + ' ';
                        }
                    }
                    s += 'touched';
                }
                console.log(s);
            },
            function (error) {
                console.log('Error: ' + error);
            }
        );
    }
);

console.log('Press key to exit');
process.stdin.on('data',
    function (data) {
        ipcon.disconnect();
        process.exit(0);
    }
);

Callback (HTML)

Download (ExampleCallback.html), Test (ExampleCallback.html)

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <head>
        <title>Tinkerforge | JavaScript Example</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div style="text-align:center;">
            <h1>Multi Touch Bricklet Callback Example</h1>
            <p>
                <input value="localhost" id="host" type="text" size="20">:
                <input value="4280" id="port" type="text" size="5">,
                <input value="uid" id="uid" type="text" size="5">
                <input value="Start Example" id="start" type="button" onclick="startExample();">
            </p>
            <p>
                <textarea readonly id="text" cols="80" rows="24" style="resize:none;"
                          >Press "Start Example" to begin ...</textarea>
            </p>
        </div>
        <script src="./Tinkerforge.js" type='text/javascript'></script>
        <script type='text/javascript'>
            var ipcon;
            var textArea = document.getElementById("text");
            function startExample() {
                textArea.value = "";
                var HOST = document.getElementById("host").value;
                var PORT = parseInt(document.getElementById("port").value);
                var UID = document.getElementById("uid").value;
                if(ipcon !== undefined) {
                    ipcon.disconnect();
                }
                ipcon = new Tinkerforge.IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
                var mt = new Tinkerforge.BrickletMultiTouch(UID, ipcon); // Create device object
                ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT,
                    function(error) {
                        textArea.value += 'Error: ' + error + '\n';
                    }
                ); // Connect to brickd
                // Don't use device before ipcon is connected

                // Register touch state callback
                mt.on(Tinkerforge.BrickletMultiTouch.CALLBACK_TOUCH_STATE,
                    // Callback function for touch state callback
                    function (state) {
                        var s = '';
                        if(state & (1 << 12)) {
                            s += 'In proximity, ';
                        }
                        if((state & 0xfff) === 0) {
                            s += 'No electrodes touched\n';
                        }
                        else {
                            s += 'Electrodes ';
                            for(var i = 0; i < 12; ++i) {
                                if(state & (1 << i)) {
                                    s += i + ' ';
                                }
                            }
                            s += 'touched\n';
                        }
                        textArea.value += s;
                        textArea.scrollTop = textArea.scrollHeight;
                    }
                );
            }
        </script>
    </body>
</html>

Simple (HTML)

Download (ExampleSimple.html), Test (ExampleSimple.html)

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <head>
        <title>Tinkerforge | JavaScript Example</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div style="text-align:center;">
            <h1>Multi Touch Bricklet Simple Example</h1>
            <p>
                <input value="localhost" id="host" type="text" size="20">:
                <input value="4280" id="port" type="text" size="5">,
                <input value="uid" id="uid" type="text" size="5">
                <input value="Start Example" id="start" type="button" onclick="startExample();">
            </p>
            <p>
                <textarea readonly id="text" cols="80" rows="24" style="resize:none;"
                          >Press "Start Example" to begin ...</textarea>
            </p>
        </div>
        <script src="./Tinkerforge.js" type='text/javascript'></script>
        <script type='text/javascript'>
            var ipcon;
            var textArea = document.getElementById("text");
            function startExample() {
                textArea.value = "";
                var HOST = document.getElementById("host").value;
                var PORT = parseInt(document.getElementById("port").value);
                var UID = document.getElementById("uid").value;
                if(ipcon !== undefined) {
                    ipcon.disconnect();
                }
                ipcon = new Tinkerforge.IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
                var mt = new Tinkerforge.BrickletMultiTouch(UID, ipcon); // Create device object
                ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT,
                    function(error) {
                        textArea.value += 'Error: ' + error + '\n';
                    }
                ); // Connect to brickd
                // Don't use device before ipcon is connected

                ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_CONNECTED,
                    function (connectReason) {
                        // Get current touch state
                        mt.getTouchState(
                            function (state) {
                                var s = '';
                                if(state & (1 << 12)) {
                                    s += 'In proximity, ';
                                }
                                if((state & 0xfff) === 0) {
                                    s += 'No electrodes touched\n';
                                }
                                else {
                                    s += 'Electrodes ';
                                    for(var i = 0; i < 12; ++i) {
                                        if(state & (1 << i)) {
                                            s += i + ' ';
                                        }
                                    }
                                    s += 'touched\n';
                                }
                                textArea.value += s;
                            },
                            function (error) {
                                textArea.value += 'Error: ' + error + '\n';
                            }
                        );
                    }
                );
            }
        </script>
    </body>
</html>

API

Generally, every function of the JavaScript bindings can take two optional parameters, returnCallback and errorCallback. These are two user defined callback functions. The returnCallback function is called with the results as arguments, if the function returns its results asynchronously. The errorCallback is called with an error code in case of an error. The error code can be one of the following values:

  • IPConnection.ERROR_ALREADY_CONNECTED = 11
  • IPConnection.ERROR_NOT_CONNECTED = 12
  • IPConnection.ERROR_CONNECT_FAILED = 13
  • IPConnection.ERROR_INVALID_FUNCTION_ID = 21
  • IPConnection.ERROR_TIMEOUT = 31
  • IPConnection.ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER = 41
  • IPConnection.ERROR_FUNCTION_NOT_SUPPORTED = 42
  • IPConnection.ERROR_UNKNOWN_ERROR = 43
  • IPConnection.ERROR_STREAM_OUT_OF_SYNC = 51
  • IPConnection.ERROR_NON_ASCII_CHAR_IN_SECRET = 71
  • IPConnection.ERROR_WRONG_DEVICE_TYPE = 81
  • IPConnection.ERROR_DEVICE_REPLACED = 82
  • IPConnection.ERROR_WRONG_RESPONSE_LENGTH = 83
  • IPConnection.ERROR_INT64_NOT_SUPPORTED = 91

The namespace for the JavaScript bindings is Tinkerforge.*.

Basic Functions

new BrickletMultiTouch(uid, ipcon)
Parameters:
  • uid – Type: string
  • ipcon – Type: IPConnection
Returns:
  • multiTouch – Type: BrickletMultiTouch

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

var multiTouch = new BrickletMultiTouch("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon);

This object can then be used after the IP Connection is connected.

BrickletMultiTouch.getTouchState([returnCallback][, errorCallback])
Callback Parameters:
  • state – Type: int, Range: [0 to 213 - 1]
Returns:
  • undefined

Returns the current touch state. The state is given as a bitfield.

Bits 0 to 11 represent the 12 electrodes and bit 12 represents the proximity.

If an electrode is touched, the corresponding bit is true. If a hand or similar is in proximity to the electrodes, bit 12 is true.

Example: The state 4103 = 0x1007 = 0b1000000000111 means that electrodes 0, 1 and 2 are touched and that something is in the proximity of the electrodes.

The proximity is activated with a distance of 1-2cm. An electrode is already counted as touched if a finger is nearly touching the electrode. This means that you can put a piece of paper or foil or similar on top of a electrode to build a touch panel with a professional look.

BrickletMultiTouch.recalibrate([returnCallback][, errorCallback])
Callback Parameters:
  • undefined
Returns:
  • undefined

Recalibrates the electrodes. Call this function whenever you changed or moved you electrodes.

BrickletMultiTouch.setElectrodeConfig(enabledElectrodes[, returnCallback][, errorCallback])
Parameters:
  • enabledElectrodes – Type: int, Range: [0 to 213 - 1], Default: 213 - 1
Callback Parameters:
  • undefined
Returns:
  • undefined

Enables/disables electrodes with a bitfield (see getTouchState()).

True enables the electrode, false disables the electrode. A disabled electrode will always return false as its state. If you don't need all electrodes you can disable the electrodes that are not needed.

It is recommended that you disable the proximity bit (bit 12) if the proximity feature is not needed. This will reduce the amount of traffic that is produced by the CALLBACK_TOUCH_STATE callback.

Disabling electrodes will also reduce power consumption.

Default: 8191 = 0x1FFF = 0b1111111111111 (all electrodes and proximity feature enabled)

BrickletMultiTouch.getElectrodeConfig([returnCallback][, errorCallback])
Callback Parameters:
  • enabledElectrodes – Type: int, Range: [0 to 213 - 1], Default: 213 - 1
Returns:
  • undefined

Returns the electrode configuration, as set by setElectrodeConfig().

BrickletMultiTouch.setElectrodeSensitivity(sensitivity[, returnCallback][, errorCallback])
Parameters:
  • sensitivity – Type: int, Range: [5 to 201], Default: 181
Callback Parameters:
  • undefined
Returns:
  • undefined

Sets the sensitivity of the electrodes. An electrode with a high sensitivity will register a touch earlier then an electrode with a low sensitivity.

If you build a big electrode you might need to decrease the sensitivity, since the area that can be charged will get bigger. If you want to be able to activate an electrode from further away you need to increase the sensitivity.

After a new sensitivity is set, you likely want to call recalibrate() to calibrate the electrodes with the newly defined sensitivity.

BrickletMultiTouch.getElectrodeSensitivity([returnCallback][, errorCallback])
Callback Parameters:
  • sensitivity – Type: int, Range: [5 to 201], Default: 181
Returns:
  • undefined

Returns the current sensitivity, as set by setElectrodeSensitivity().

Advanced Functions

BrickletMultiTouch.getIdentity([returnCallback][, errorCallback])
Callback Parameters:
  • uid – Type: string, Length: up to 8
  • connectedUid – Type: string, Length: up to 8
  • position – Type: char, Range: ['a' to 'h', 'z']
  • hardwareVersion – Type: [int, ...], Length: 3
    • 0: major – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 1: minor – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: revision – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]
  • firmwareVersion – Type: [int, ...], Length: 3
    • 0: major – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 1: minor – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: revision – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]
  • deviceIdentifier – Type: int, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]
Returns:
  • undefined

Returns the UID, the UID where the Bricklet is connected to, the position, the hardware and firmware version as well as the device identifier.

The position can be 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g' or 'h' (Bricklet Port). A Bricklet connected to an Isolator Bricklet is always at position 'z'.

The device identifier numbers can be found here. There is also a constant for the device identifier of this Bricklet.

Callback Configuration Functions

BrickletMultiTouch.on(callback_id, function[, errorCallback])
Parameters:
  • callback_id – Type: int
  • function – Type: function
Returns:
  • undefined

Registers the given function with the given callback_id.

The available callback IDs with corresponding function signatures are listed below.

Callbacks

Callbacks can be registered to receive time critical or recurring data from the device. The registration is done with the on() function of the device object. The first parameter is the callback ID and the second parameter the callback function:

multiTouch.on(BrickletMultiTouch.CALLBACK_EXAMPLE,
    function (param) {
        console.log(param);
    }
);

The available constants with inherent number and type of parameters are described below.

Note

Using callbacks for recurring events is always preferred compared to using getters. It will use less USB bandwidth and the latency will be a lot better, since there is no round trip time.

BrickletMultiTouch.CALLBACK_TOUCH_STATE
Callback Parameters:
  • state – Type: int, Range: [0 to 213 - 1]

Returns the current touch state, see getTouchState() for information about the state.

This callback is triggered every time the touch state changes.

Virtual Functions

Virtual functions don't communicate with the device itself, but operate only on the API bindings device object. They can be called without the corresponding IP Connection object being connected.

BrickletMultiTouch.getAPIVersion()
Returns:
  • apiVersion – Type: [int, ...], Length: 3
    • 0: major – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 1: minor – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: revision – Type: int, Range: [0 to 255]

Returns the version of the API definition implemented by this API bindings. This is neither the release version of this API bindings nor does it tell you anything about the represented Brick or Bricklet.

BrickletMultiTouch.getResponseExpected(functionId[, errorCallback])
Parameters:
  • functionId – Type: int, Range: See constants
Returns:
  • responseExpected – Type: boolean

Returns the response expected flag for the function specified by the function ID parameter. It is true if the function is expected to send a response, false otherwise.

For getter functions this is enabled by default and cannot be disabled, because those functions will always send a response. For callback configuration functions it is enabled by default too, but can be disabled by setResponseExpected(). For setter functions it is disabled by default and can be enabled.

Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following constants are available for this function:

For function_id:

  • BrickletMultiTouch.FUNCTION_RECALIBRATE = 2
  • BrickletMultiTouch.FUNCTION_SET_ELECTRODE_CONFIG = 3
  • BrickletMultiTouch.FUNCTION_SET_ELECTRODE_SENSITIVITY = 6
BrickletMultiTouch.setResponseExpected(functionId, responseExpected[, errorCallback])
Parameters:
  • functionId – Type: int, Range: See constants
  • responseExpected – Type: boolean
Returns:
  • undefined

Changes the response expected flag of the function specified by the function ID parameter. This flag can only be changed for setter (default value: false) and callback configuration functions (default value: true). For getter functions it is always enabled.

Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following constants are available for this function:

For function_id:

  • BrickletMultiTouch.FUNCTION_RECALIBRATE = 2
  • BrickletMultiTouch.FUNCTION_SET_ELECTRODE_CONFIG = 3
  • BrickletMultiTouch.FUNCTION_SET_ELECTRODE_SENSITIVITY = 6
BrickletMultiTouch.setResponseExpectedAll(responseExpected)
Parameters:
  • responseExpected – Type: boolean
Returns:
  • undefined

Changes the response expected flag for all setter and callback configuration functions of this device at once.

Constants

BrickletMultiTouch.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER

This constant is used to identify a Multi Touch Bricklet.

The getIdentity() function and the IPConnection.CALLBACK_ENUMERATE callback of the IP Connection have a device_identifier parameter to specify the Brick's or Bricklet's type.

BrickletMultiTouch.DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME

This constant represents the human readable name of a Multi Touch Bricklet.