4. ADC

Most sensors take analogue measurements.  This means that the measurement can have a wide range of values or be on a continuous scale.

All computers need digital data in order to be able to understand it and process it.  Digital data only has two values either 0 and 1 or On and Off.

In order for the data collected by the sensor to be understood by the computer, it needs to be converted from an analogue signal to a digital signal.  To do this, a special piece of hardware is needed called an analogue-to-digital converter or ADC.

The ADC is connected between the sensor and the computer’s input-output port and it is called an ‘interface’.