Knowledge / Electronics & Embedded Systems

Sensors and Actuators

The interfaces through which embedded systems perceive and influence the physical world.

By Siddhant Krishna · Published 2026-10-06 · Updated 2026-10-06

Sensors

Temperature sensors.
Pressure sensors.
Inertial sensors.
Magnetic sensors.
Light sensors.
Distance sensors.
Microphones.
Cameras.
Force and tactile sensors.

Signal Conditioning

Sensor outputs often require amplification, filtering, level shifting, isolation, linearization, or biasing before conversion and processing.

Actuators

DC motors.
Brushless motors.
Stepper motors.
Servos.
Solenoids.
Relays.
Pneumatic actuators.
Hydraulic actuators.

Actuator Drivers

Microcontrollers generally cannot drive high-power actuators directly. Driver circuits provide the voltage, current, switching, isolation, or control interface required by the physical actuator.

References

MIT OpenCourseWare, undergraduate foundations of analog and digital electronic circuits.
https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-002-circuits-and-electronics-spring-2007/
Arm Developer documentation covering Cortex-M microcontroller architectures and embedded processor resources.
https://developer.arm.com/Processors/Cortex-M

MicrocontrollersSelf-contained computing devices integrating a processor core, memory, peripherals, timers, communication interfaces, and GPIO.Analog ElectronicsContinuous-valued circuits including diodes, transistors, amplifiers, filters, oscillators, and signal conditioning.

Sensors

Signal Conditioning

Actuators

Actuator Drivers

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