Connectors are used to join subsections of circuits together. Usually, a connector is used where it may be desirable to disconnect the subsections at some future time: power inputs, peripheral connections, or boards which may need to be replaced.
USB-Micro Connectors
USB-Micro is a fairly recent addition to the USB connector family. As with USB-Mini, the primary concern is size reduction, but USB-Micro adds a fifth pin for low-speed signalling, allowing it to be used in USB-OTG (On-the-go) applications where a device may want to operate as either a host or a peripheral depending on circumstances.
USB-Micro female is found on many newer peripherals, such as digital cameras and MP3 players. The adoption of USB-micro as a standard charge port for all new cellular phones and tablet computers means that chargers and data cables are becoming increasingly common, and USB-Micro is likely to supplant USB-Mini in the coming years as the small-factor USB connector of choice.
Audio Connectors
Another familiar connector group are those used for audio-visual applications–RCA and phono. While these can’t truly be considered to be of the same family, as the various USB connectors are, we’ll consider both of them to be in the same vein.
RCA Connectors
Familiar as the home-stereo connector of choice for many decades, the RCA connector was introduced in the 1940s by RCA for home phonographs. It is slowly being supplanted by connections like HDMI in the audio-visual realm, but the ubiquity of the connectors and cables makes it a good candidate for home-built systems. It will be a long time before it is obsolete.
Power Connectors
While many connectors carry power in addition to data, some connectors are used specifically to provide power connections to devices. These vary widely by application and size, but we will only focus on some of the most common ones here.