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There are only 4 questions tagged with controller. Is this tag really necessary?

Shouldn't this be synonymous with [control]? The term is also related to [driver]. It can also stand for an abbreviation of [microcontroller].

Or leave it as is?

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I would say control is more about control theory - what do P/I/D gains do, how do I implement state space, observers, etc., where a controller is the device on which a control system is implemented - MSP430, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc. A driver is the software on a PC that enables the PC to correctly communicate with the controller.

I'm all for using 'controller' as a synonym for 'microcontroller' - I think that's exactly what people mean when they use it.

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  • $\begingroup$ "driver" can also be the electrical circuit that controls the voltage/current of the motor, thus being the hardware part of the implementation of the control. Usually part of a low level/inner control algorithm. $\endgroup$ Aug 13, 2015 at 12:10
  • $\begingroup$ True, but I would consider the word 'driver', with no other context, to refer to the PC software. 'Stepper driver' or 'TTL driver' or other instances of 'driver' that refer to circuits usually have a descriptor that goes along. $\endgroup$
    – Chuck Mod
    Aug 13, 2015 at 12:12
  • $\begingroup$ Ok, I've merged controller into microcontroller and created a tag synonym. $\endgroup$
    – Mark Booth
    Nov 16, 2015 at 14:19

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