Which of the following modern products doesn’t have a computer inside? Pick from a washing machine, a stove, a can opener, a TV remote, a lawn mower, a refrigerator or a coffee maker. Think again, because there’s really nothing that would give away whether a product has a computer inside except that it has no electric power. The only one you can be sure of is the can opener (non-electric). The rest could have something called an embedded system, a computer designed for a very specific purpose.

Early Computers Went to the Moon

When the Apollo missions headed for the moon, they contained one of the earliest embedded systems. NASA created a computer which had only one purpose: to ensure the success and safety of the mission. It didn’t do word processing. It would have been useless on a banker’s desk. For the astronauts, it was the perfect helper. These helpers are everywhere in the twenty-first century.

Hidden Windows and Linux

Sometimes an embedded system is the same PC system, all on a small circuit board, that you have at home. These can run a version of Microsoft’s Windows or the Linux operating system. Electronic signs in train stations, sports arenas and shopping malls sometimes reveal it by accidentally showing familiar Windows error messages. Movie or train ticket vending machines and Redbox DVD dispensers may also be running Windows.

Really Simple Minds

Another type of embedded system runs a specialized processor, often with software on the same chip. It usually doesn’t have a hard drive, display or keyboard. Your car probably has one of these. Some machinery has these. If you have a “Roomba” vacuum cleaner, you’ve seen a little embedded system scooting around your floor.

School Kids Program Robots

Students in elementary school are now programming robots. They start with special Lego robot kits. High school kids enter the FIRST robotics competition where students design and build sophisticated robots and program the embedded controller. FIRST robots are similar to those in factories, where industrial robots use a collection of embedded computers working together to manufacture items from consumer electronics to cars.

Embedded Systems Basics

Controllers, like all digital computers, receive input, process information, and send output. The input can be sensed information like scanned bar codes, motion detectors, or key presses. Output can be lights flashing, motors speeding up and slowing down, or door locks releasing. The processing consists of decisions and math. For instance, if any two buttons are pressed, flash a light. If one or three are pressed, don’t do anything. To see even more examples of this and other embedded systems read this from Dell.com.

A Handyman’s Nightmare

Home appliances are no longer fair game for a practical home repairman. Tracing the wires will bring you to a “controller board” which contains a special computer. Symptoms of a “confused computer” from a failed part might not be so obvious. So it is with cars, home entertainment systems, washing machines and telephones. Embedded computers make their inner workings invisible.

Tiny Systems in Your Shoe or Your Chest

One of the latest applications for miniature systems is running shoes, where a tiny controller senses pressure and uses an equally tiny motor to adjust absorbent material in the shoe’s sole. Type 1 diabetics can use insulin pumps with computer chips calculating and delivering doses. Heart patients can have devices literally embedded inside their body which stand ready to save their lives.

Future-thinking Technologies

Nanotechnology and light-based circuits are two ways that embedded systems will shrink even more in the future. There’s no telling what tiny objects may be “thinking” a few years from now. To learn more about on embedded systems and industrial technology click here.

Author Bio: Brian Jensen works with Dell and has a passion for learning and writing about all things technology. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, cooking and spending time with his family.