Basic elements of physical computing systems

In this section, you will learn what physical computing systems are composed of. First, we will see the basic structure of input and output elements and how to act and react, followed by the structure of it based on the electrical, electronic, and software aspects, including the input and output of the system. At the end, we will try to get a much clearer picture of the same concepts with examples.

The basic structure of a physical computing system comprises sensors, which can be either analog or digital, that will take input from the physical world using input sensors that are connected to the hardware of the physical computing system, as shown in the following diagram:

These inputs will be read by the software running on the electronic microprocessors and controllers on the physical computing system. Based on that software, a decision will be taken to provide the output and this output is converted from digital to analog form or makes a change...