A load cell is a transducer that is used to create an electrical signal whose magnitude is directly proportional to the force being measured. The various types of load cells include hydraulic load cells, pneumatic load cells and strain gauge load cells.
 
This is a standard load cell for measuring weight upto 40 Kg. The output of the load cell is in mili-volts and cannot be directly measured by a micro-controller. So an ADC with high resolution or an instrumentation amplifier is required to make the output of the load cell readable to a micro-controller.