Common industrial microcontrollers are chosen for long-term availability, wide temperature range, safety/security features, robust comms (CAN/Ethernet/RS-485), and strong vendor support. Here are the families you’ll see most often:
Widely used MCU families in industry
STMicroelectronics
STM32 (Cortex-M0/M3/M4/M7/M33)
Used in PLC I/O modules, motor control, HMIs, sensors, gateways. Huge ecosystem and good cost/performance.
LPC / i.MX RT (Cortex-M)
Popular in industrial HMIs, real-time control, high-speed comms, and “MCU-like” applications that need a lot of performance.S32K (automotive-grade, also used in harsh industrial)
Great when you want high reliability and functional-safety-friendly features.
- MSP430 (ultra-low-power industrial sensing, meters, 4–20 mA transmitters)
- TMS320F28x C2000 (motor drives, inverters, power conversion—very common in industrial motion/power)
- PIC16/18/24/dsPIC33 (cost-sensitive controllers, power supplies, motor control, industrial I/O)
- SAM D/E/C/L (ARM Cortex-M) (connectivity, control, general embedded)
RA (Cortex-M), RX (Renesas core), RL78
Strong in factory automation, drives, sensors, and long-life industrial products; good supply longevity.
- XMC (Cortex-M) for industrial control
- AURIX (TriCore) when higher safety/robustness is needed (often automotive, but also high-end industrial and drives)
Nordic / Silicon Labs (industrial wireless & IIoT)
- Nordic nRF52/nRF53 (BLE, Thread/Matter, low power)
- Silicon Labs EFM32 / SiWx (BLE/Zigbee/Thread, low power, strong industrial wireless modules)
Espressif (seen in IIoT, not “heavy” industrial control)
ESP32 for gateways, data loggers, Wi-Fi/BLE connected sensors—popular where cost and connectivity matter more than strict industrial certifications.
Where each shows up (quick mapping)
- Motor drives / servo / inverter / power conversion: TI C2000, Microchip dsPIC33, ST STM32G4, Infineon XMC/AURIX
- PLCs, remote I/O, general control: STM32, NXP LPC, Renesas RA/RX, Microchip PIC/SAM
- Meters / 4–20 mA / low-power sensing: TI MSP430, Renesas RL78, STM32L, Silicon Labs EFM32
- Industrial gateways (Ethernet + security): NXP i.MX RT, STM32H7, Renesas RA, ESP32 (cost-sensitive)
- Industrial wireless nodes: Nordic nRF52, Silicon Labs, STM32WL (LoRa), ESP32 (Wi-Fi)
Industrial features people care about
- Operating temperature (−40 to 85/105/125°C)
- Longevity programs (10–15 years availability)
- Isolation-friendly interfaces (UART/SPI/I²C to isolated transceivers)
- CAN / RS-485 / Ethernet (MAC+PHY support), sometimes TSN
- Security: secure boot, key storage (HSM/TrustZone), crypto accelerators
- Functional safety: self-test, ECC RAM/flash, lockstep cores (high-end)
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