The best definition I could find online is:
These handy boards provide a simple method to interface a low level control output from a control system such as the FSR Flex Gpio ports to higher level loads such as a low voltage screen controller. They can also be used to reverse control output logic if necessary
**can someone break this down in layman’s terms?**
In: Technology
A relay is a physical switch that is controlled by an electric current. So a relay have two different sides to it. There is the control side and there is the switched side. The control side have two pins while the switched side typically have three pins but can have a different number of pins depending on what kind of switch it uses. The relay is used to seperate two circuits from each other. As there is no electronic connections between the controll side and the switched side nothing on the switched side can affect the signals on the controll side. The circuit is galvanically seperated. That is of course assuming you stay within the limits for voltage and current of the relay.
Relays are often used in control circuits to allow a low current low voltage signal control a high current high voltage load. For example the GPIO pins on a microcontroler might not output enough voltage or current to power motors, heaters, lights, etc. However they might have enough output for a relay which can then switch the load on or off. For example you can apply a 3.3V 100mA signal on the control side to switch on a 24V 5A light on the other side of the relay. It is also possible to use the relay the other way around, having a high voltage signal power the relay to give a low voltage signal to the microcontroller. This is an alternative to a voltage divider or an optoisolator but offers greater degree of isolation so you are guaranteed that the high voltage never reaches your microcontroller.
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