The Keypad class constructs an object that represents a single Keypad attached to the board. Touchpad is an alias for Keypad.

Supported Keypads:

Parameters

  • General Options

    PropertyTypeValue/DescriptionDefaultRequired
    controllerstringAT42QT1070, MPR121, MPR121_* (variants below), QTOUCH, VKEY, ANALOG. The Name of the controller to useANALOGYes
    keysarrayMapping of key valuesBy DeviceNo
    holdtimeNumberTime in milliseconds that the button must be held until emitting a "hold" event.500msno

  • MPR121 Options (controller: "MPR121" | "MPR121_*")

    In addition to the General Options, the MPR121 supports the following:

    PropertyTypeValue/DescriptionDefaultRequired
    sensitivityObject{ press: 0-1, release: 0-1 }. Use a generic sensitivity for all pads*no
    sensitivityArrayAn array of { press: 0-1, release: 0-1 } objects*no

* Sensitivity

The sensitivity setting allows the calibration of the keypad to compensate for factors such as humidity, temperature, etc. A too high sensitivity % might result in false positives; in some cases, just getting close to it might be enough to trigger a press.

TypeDefault
press0.95
release0.975

Note: release should always have a higher sensitivity than press.

MPR121 Variants
For this MPR121 variant...Use this controller
MPR121
MPR121
MPR121_KEYPAD
MPR121_SHIELD
MPR121QR2_SHIELD

  • VKEY Options (controller: "VKEY")

    PropertyTypeValue/DescriptionDefaultRequired
    pinnumber, stringAnalog pinYes

  • ANALOG Options (controller: "ANALOG")

    PropertyTypeValue/DescriptionDefaultRequired
    pinnumber, stringAnalog pinYes
    lengthnumberNumber of keys (required only if keys is not specified)Yes

Shape

Property NameDescriptionRead Only
valueIndex of the pressed keyNo
targetMapped key value of pressed keyNo

Component Initialization

ANALOG

new five.Keypad({
  pin: "A0",
  length: 16
});

VKEY

new five.Keypad({
  controller: "VKEY",
  pin: "A0",
});

MPR121

new five.Keypad({
   controller: "MPR121"
});

MPR121QR2_SHIELD

new five.Keypad({
   controller: "MPR121QR2_SHIELD"
});

MPR121_KEYPAD

new five.Keypad({
   controller: "MPR121_KEYPAD"
});

QTOUCH / AT42QT1070

new five.Keypad({
  controller: "QTOUCH", // or "AT42QT1070"
});

Note: the Adafruit: Standalone 5-Pad Capacitive Touch Sensor Breakout - AT42QT1070 will not work with the Keypad class, it has i2c disabled and must be used with the Button class instead.

3x4 Keypad

This requires using a Nano Backpack. It's possible to use a 3x4 membrane, as long as it's pins are connected correctly:

RowNano Pin
17
22
33
45
ColNano Pin
16
28
34
 
new five.Keypad({
  controller: "3X4_I2C_NANO_BACKPACK"
});

4x4 Keypad

Similar to the 3x4 Keypad, this requires a Nano Backpack. However, it uses an extra pin for the 4th column of keys. Connect the pins according to the rows and columns to get the correct output.

RowNano Pin
17
22
33
45
ColNano Pin
16
28
34
49
 
new five.Keypad({
  controller: "4X4_I2C_NANO_BACKPACK"
});

Usage

var five = require("johnny-five");
var board = new five.Board();

board.on("ready", function() {
  // MPR121 3x4 Capacitive Touch Pad
  var keypad = new five.Keypad({
    controller: "MPR121",
    keys: [
      ["!", "@", "#"],
      ["$", "%", "^"],
      ["&", "-", "+"],
      ["_", "=", ":"]
    ]
  });

  ["change", "press", "hold", "release"].forEach(function(eventType) {
    keypad.on(eventType, function(data) {
      console.log("Event: %s, Target: %s", eventType, data.which);
    });
  });
});

A Note About The keys Option

The keys option allows the assignment of any value to any key/button on the device. The value of keys may be a flat array of strings, or an array of arrays where the nested array are "rows" on the device. The values given in the keys array are the values that the instance will report for key/button presses.

Using the MPR121QR2 to illustrate keys:

The buttons are labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. If the instance of Keypad is created without an explicit keys property, the output will be exactly those numbers; ie. pressing 1 will result in an event whose data object's which property is the value 1 (and so on):

var keypad = new five.Keypad({
  controller: "MPR121QR2"
});

keypad.on("press", function(event) {
  console.log("Which button?", event.which);
});

However, the keys property allows a program to assign any value to be the resulting value (because who knows—you may want to use symbols!)

var keypad = new five.Keypad({
  controller: "MPR121QR2",
  keys: [
    ["", "△", ""],
    ["◁", "☐", "▷"],
    ["", "▽", ""]
  ]
});

keypad.on("press", function(event) {
  if (event.which) {
    console.log(event.which);
  }
});

Pressing 2, 8, 4, 6, 5 would result in the following output:

$ node eg/keypad-symbol-MPR121QR2.js
1448040971577 Device(s) /dev/cu.usbmodem1411
1448040971586 Connected /dev/cu.usbmodem1411
1448040975171 Repl Initialized
>> △
▽
◁
▷
☐

If your program prefers a flat array, the equivalent program would be:

var keypad = new five.Keypad({
  controller: "MPR121QR2",
  keys: ["", "△", "", "◁", "☐", "▷", "", "▽", ""]
});

keypad.on("press", function(event) {
  if (event.which) {
    console.log(event.which);
  }
});

Events

  • change Emitted for hold, down, up

  • hold The key or keys have been held for holdtime milliseconds

  • down, press The key or keys have been pressed.

  • up, release The key or keys have been released.

The following data object is emitted with each event:

Key NameDescription
whichAn array containing keys of which buttons or pads are pressed.
timestampTimestamp at time of event

Examples

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