The world runs on microcontrollers

How many microcontrollers (MCUs) have you interacted with today?

This morning, you likely woke to an alarm, brewed coffee in an automated machine, adjusted your home’s temperature through a smart thermostat, and drove to work. If you work in an office, you may have interacted with building access technology upon arrival and then met with colleagues in a climate-controlled meeting room outfitted with videoconferencing technology. By the time you grab your lunch from the break-room refrigerator, you’ve already interacted with hundreds of MCUs, tiny computers embedded within everyday devices that operate mostly unnoticed.

With more than 34 billion MCUs shipped globally in 2024, they have become the invisible backbone of modern society. These compact computing marvels, which can be smaller than a flake of pepper, execute crucial functions in everything from credit cards to earbuds to complex industrial systems such as robots. Yet despite their ubiquity and importance, most people are unaware of just how reliant they are on these devices.

MCUs are everywhere

The utility of MCUs will only continue as they gain more processing capabilities while remaining cost- and energy-efficient. At this rate of innovation, it’s not unfathomable that we may soon get to a point where nearly everything has an MCU in it. We’re already seeing this in everyday objects such as wearable health trackers and smart appliances and lighting switches. Taking this concept further, more capable, affordable MCUs could make it more practical to integrate more advanced features (interactive displays, for example) into more appliances – expanding the potential of human-machine interactions.

We have seen this cycle of progress play out across industries in the past. Just think of cars. It wasn’t that long ago that you needed a hand crank to manually move a window up or down. Advances in automotive components including MCUs helped make that process electronic, with simple motor control that was affordable to implement across all vehicle makes and models.

With the affordability, ease of use and low power consumption of MCUs, the potential for new electronics feels limitless. And as design engineers push for smaller, smarter and more connected products, MCUs increasingly serve as the foundation enabling future breakthroughs.

How MCUs became the core of innovation in modern electronics

To understand what’s next, though, it’s important to first ask, “How did we get here?”

Engineers have long used MCUs for use cases such as controlling motors and actuators and turning real-world analog data into ones and zeroes with an analog-to-digital converter. Initially, MCUs could only perform simple 8-bit control tasks – for example, getting an indicator light to blink. Even then, engineers found creative ways to make them indispensable in everything from household electronics to industrial systems.

We continue to develop capable MCUs and intuitive software and development tools that you can leverage to get the full potential impact of your product. It started with TI’s invention of the first commercially available MCU, the TMS1000, in 1971, and continues to current MCUs like those in our Arm Cortex-M0+ MCUs portfolio.

From humble beginnings, MCUs have not only proliferated but also evolved into an almost endless array of permutations in terms of computing power, integrated components and packaging. Some newer MCUs also now support edge artificial intelligence (AI) through software or specialized hardware accelerators built right into the MCU. Edge AI involves running AI models in the real world on low-power applications instead of relying solely on cloud computing resources. This means higher levels of responsiveness and even inference from low-power, affordable devices.

It’s exciting to consider that MCUs are no longer just enabling system functions but are now enabling localized decision-making. As edge AI devices become more capable and scalable, we will see MCUs have an even greater impact, expanding the potential of everyday and high-end electronics.

Innovation in MCUs has also extended to the software that runs on them, the real intelligence of MCU-based systems. I like to think of embedded processors such as MCUs and software as inseparable parts of progress – software being the layers of code, tools and frameworks that connect MCUs to their environments, enabling designers to convert ideas into physical systems.

Where MCUs go from here

The proliferation of MCUs represents one of the most significant technological revolutions of our lifetime. They have transformed virtually every aspect of modern life, enabling electronics all around us to respond to our needs, often without our awareness.

The next time you interact with an electronic device – whether adjusting your home’s lighting, starting your vehicle, or checking a fitness device – take a moment to appreciate the invisible intelligence working behind the scenes. Our world runs on MCUs, and their continued evolution promises to make our environment even more responsive, efficient and capable in the years ahead.