A microcontroller is a small, low-cost, integrated circuit designed to manage a specific task in an embedded system. Essentially a tiny computer on a chip, a standard microcontroller has a processor, memory, and input/output (I/O) peripherals on a semiconductor integrated circuit chip. Developed and put to use by an engineer at Texas Instruments in the early 1970s, microcontrollers are used in an assortment of computer-linked systems and devices. In some devices, there are usually several microcontrollers that work together to handle the specific tasks within a device.
In cars, for example, several microcontrollers often communicate to manage processes like fuel injection, anti-lock braking systems, suspension, or traction control. In doing so, they provide instructions to these devices to accomplish individual tasks.‎
