Meet the Arduino: Physical computing

2. Physical computing

We have already the term physical computing when introducing the Arduino. So what does mean?

Physical computing refers to computer systems that interact with the physical world around, by using inputs (switches, buttons, sensors) and outputs (LEDs, screens, sound etc.).

In these systems, the role of the Arduino is to be the “brain” of the operation, to process the information coming in and the response going out. It is a small computer, striped down to the bare basics of computing power and memory, in the form of a single board.

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Instead of peripherals such as screens, keyboards etc., it features ports for input and output. This way it can take information from the physical world with sensors that measure temperature, light and sound levels, and convert them into motion, sound, light, and more. And instead of a processor it features a micro-controller, which runs the programs that we write and controls these inputs and outputs accordingly.