What is a microcontroller?

A microcontroller by its name is something small (micro) which can control things (controller). It can basically help us to control any device or gadget which runs on electricity. Let us see how it does this.

Just imagine a fan at your home. You can switch it on when you want it to work and switch it off when you want it to stop. Now imagine a fan in your classroom. Generally, people switch on the fan when they enter the classroom for a class and switch it off when they leave it. However sometimes everyone forgets to switch the fan off. If I tell you to create a system for a fan which automatically switches itself off after say one hour (the duration of the class), how will you do so? You would need a device attached to the fan which can keep a track of time and control the flow of electricity to the fan. A microcontroller can do both these tasks easily.

Now suppose we need the same setup for a science lab, where the classes are for two hours instead of one, or for another school where the classes are for 45 minutes. It will be very difficult and costly to create different microcontrollers for all the different requirements of different people. Therefore, most of the microcontrollers are general purpose and are programmable. Programmable means you can instruct the microcontroller according to the job you want it to do and another person can use the same model of microcontroller to program it according to his or her needs. You can also reprogram the same microcontroller if you want to later use it for another job. With the same microcontroller, one can make many different things.

You can think of a microcontroller as a collection of switches which we can instruct to go on or off automatically. We can use a microcontroller to switch things on and off just like the decorative festive lights which keep on blinking. We can connect any device which works on electricity such as lights, fans, doorbells etc. and switch them on or off at the right time based on a certain logic. With a microcontroller, we can control switches to work automatically.

Moreover, we can also take in inputs in a microcontroller. The input can be from a button as seen in microwave oven or a washing machine. The input can also be from a sensor. For example, you can connect a temperature sensor so that the fan switches on whenever it is too hot in the room. You can create such intelligent gadgets by using sensors and microcontrollers.

A microcontroller is basically a programmable device which can control gadgets by taking inputs and giving outputs. However, it is up to us to instruct a microcontroller as to how it is supposed to function.

Feb 26, 2017