At present, microcontroller penetrates into various fields of our life, and it is almost difficult to find which field has no trace of microcontroller. Missile navigation devices, aircraft control of a variety of instruments, computer network communication and data transmission, industrial automation process of real-time control and data processing, the widespread use of a variety of intelligent IC cards, civilian limousine safety and security systems, VCR, video cameras, automatic washing machine control, as well as programmable toys, electronic pets, and so on, which can not be separated from the microcontroller. Not to mention the automatic control field of robotics, intelligent instrumentation, medical equipment and a variety of intelligent machinery. Therefore, the study, development and application of microcontroller will create a number of computer applications and intelligent control of scientists and engineers.
Microcontroller is widely used in instrumentation, home appliances, medical equipment, aerospace, special equipment, intelligent management and process control and other fields, can be roughly divided into the following categories: microcontroller has a small size, low power consumption, strong control functions, flexible expansion, miniaturization and ease of use, etc., is widely used in instrumentation, combined with different types of sensors, such as voltage, current, power, frequency, humidity, and so on. Combined with different types of sensors, it can realize the measurement of physical quantities such as voltage, current, power, frequency, humidity, temperature, flow, speed, thickness, angle, length, hardness, element, pressure and so on. The use of microcontroller control makes the instrumentation digital, intelligent, miniaturized, and more powerful than the use of electronic or digital circuits.
For example, precision measurement equipment (voltmeter, power meter, oscilloscope, various analyzers). Certain specialized microcontrollers are designed to perform specific functions and thus modular applications in a variety of circuits without requiring the user to understand their internal structure. Such as music integrated microcontrollers, seemingly simple functions, microscopic in a purely electronic chip (as distinct from the principle of the tape machine), it requires complex computer-like principles. Such as: music signals in the form of digital stored in memory (similar to ROM), read by the microcontroller, converted to analog music electrical signals (similar to the sound card).
In large circuits, this modular application greatly reduces the size, simplifies the circuit, reduces the damage, error rate, but also convenient for replacement. Microcontroller is widely used in automotive electronics, such as the engine controller in the car, CAN bus-based automotive engine intelligent electronic controller, GPS navigation system, abs anti-lock system, braking system, tire pressure detection, etc..
In addition, microcontrollers have a very wide range of uses in the fields of industry and commerce, finance, scientific research, education, electric power, communications, logistics, and defense and aerospace.