Greetings,

I am currently designing a small material handling control system to use in SC fabs and would like to use a 6" LCD flat panel with a resistive touch screen. I have been hearing mixed stories regarding their suitability due
to the electrostatic discharge (ESD) issues in cleanrooms. On one hand I hear that touch screens are not robust enough to handle ESD and yet I see new equipment with touch screens. I would appreciate any comments regarding their use in such an environment.

Thanks.

 

There are various touchscreen technologies, the surface-wave-based technology can use any glass type (including bullet-proof windows or windows with integrated RFI shielding). Also the surface is glass, not a film material. For a low resolution just using 4 strain gages and a simple (safety) glass panel works too (used in a ticket distributor for example).
Ref:
Surface wave: http://www.elotouch.com
Strain gages: http://www.hbm.com.