Hardware

UART

UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter) is a serial communication peripheral that exchanges data over two wires without a shared clock, framing each byte with start and stop bits at a preagreed baud rate. It is among the simplest and most ubiquitous interfaces in embedded robotics, linking microcontrollers to GPS receivers, IMUs, servo controllers, and debug consoles, though its point-to-point nature and modest speeds cede demanding applications to buses like CAN and Ethernet.

Why it matters for physical AI

Low-level sensor and actuator plumbing still runs through interfaces like UART, and understanding their latency, bandwidth, and framing limits matters when integrating hardware whose data feeds real-time control loops.