Microcontrollers are also called embedded controllers or single chip microcomputers. Microcontroller is simply a computer on a chip. Microcontrollers find applications in environment where personal computers (PC) cannot be used. Following are some of its applications.
Important applications of in microcontrollers are
1. Used to measure and control the temperature of a furnace and ovens, speed of an electric motor, pressure of boilers etc.
2. Used in automobiles for automatic control of fuel and air mixture, ignition system, to test various conditions of engine, brakes etc.
3. Used in military equipments, RADAR, missiles etc.
4. Used in medical instrumentations like patient monitoring in ICU, pathological analysis, measurement of physiological parameters etc.
5. Used in home appliances like washing machines, microwave ovens etc where some physical parameters are monitored and controlled.
6. Used in electronic toys making them more entertaining and easy to use.
7. They are widely used in controlling pumps, alarms, and other power applications. It is also used in communication equipment.
8. The Microcontroller output is binary values, but application equipments display, motor, speakers etc. work in analog signal.
9. There are many applications where you have to display numbers. The most popular display device used for displaying number is seven segment LED displays.
10. Microcontroller keeps the speed of the motor as constant. It adjusts the speed of the motor by changing the duty cycle of the signal applied to it. Hence constant speed can be maintained.
11. The electro mechanical relays have been used for many years in industry to control high dc or ac voltages and currents. Relays also provide isolation between the controller and the circuit under control.
12. It helps in Keyboard interfacing. When a key is pressed, the microcontroller identifies the pressed key by using either a software based or hardware based technique and then performs the assigned operation.
13. It helps in Stepper Motor interfacing. In order for getting accurate position control of rotating shafts, the Microcontroller 8051 is connected to it for constant speed.