The document discusses embedded systems. It defines embedded systems as computing systems that are integrated into larger devices and dedicated to a specific task. Examples include systems found in appliances, vehicles, medical equipment, and many other devices. The document outlines key characteristics of embedded systems like size, cost, power and performance constraints. It also covers embedded system applications, development cycle, challenges, example projects and differences between Arduino and mbed platforms. The future of embedded systems is predicted to include more connectivity through technologies like IoT.