I’m working on an introductory article related to building IoT devices. With that I’m trying to use simpler and non-threatening language that is reasonably accurate. Since I’ll be referencing some common open source hardware as a way of getting started learning, I’m having a hard time with how to classify the microcontroller. Before you say “Just call it a microcontroller!” I’d like to point out that this can be very technical to those starting to learn, it also isn’t 100% accurate for the types of hardware I’ll be mentioning. For example, I consider the Raspberry Pi boards to be Single Board Computers or SBCs.

I also considered “Mainboard” (since “Motherboard” is not correct), but wikipedia defines this as describing “a device with a single board and no additional expansions or capability.” This is far from accurate (if not contrary) when you mention Ardunio or Raspberry Pi systems.

I’ve also got “ECU” in my head, but that actually refers to “Engine Control Unit.” Must be stuck in my head from my racing days. (Although the Electromotive ECU was my first introduction to General Purpose IO . . . which helped me set a world record. But that’s another story.)

I’ve also seen SoC come up when reading about ESP32 systems. That refers to a System-on-a-Chip. I know that Raspberry Pi systems leverage SoC technology, but I’ve considered those to be SBC since there are other chips on there.

What are your thoughts? What term can be used to refer to systems like the Raspberry Pi, Arduino and ESP32 that is also accurate when we speak of IoT?