Chapter 2: Your Boe-Bot's Servo Motors
Milliamp
1/1000 of an amp
Breadboard
A circuit board for wiring temporary circuits.
Battery
A device that converts chemical energy to electrical energy.
Voltage Regulator
A device that maintains a constant voltage level for either AC or DC electrical energy.
Byte
An 8-bit string of data, needed to represent any one alphanumeric character or simple mathematical operation.
Counter Clockwise Rotation
In a direction opposite to that in which the hands of a clock move.
Electrons
Negatively charged particles acting as the primary carrier of electricity in solids.
Bit
Short for binary digit (0s and 1s), the only data that a CPU can process.
Current
The rate of flow of charge
Vss
The supply voltage for a circuit. Like connecting to the negative terminal of a battery.
Calibrate
To determine the accuracy of a machine or piece of equipment.
Timing Diagram
With Boe-Bot a graph that relates high(Vdd) and low(Vss) signals to time.
Resistor
a device having a designed resistance to the passage of an electric current.
Wiring Diagram
a drawing using symbols to show the arrangement of wires and other devices in a circuit.
Variable
a holding place for data in a program
Do...LOOP
a section of computer code in which an instruction or group of instructions is executed repeatedly depending on the value of a Boolean condition.
LED (light-emitting diode)
a semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it.
Diode
a semiconductor device with two terminals, typically allowing the flow of current in one direction only.
Pulse train
a series of pulses
Continuous Rotation Servo
a servo that does not have a limit on its range of motion.
Pulse
a single vibration or short burst of sound, electric current, light, or other wave.
Schematic
a sketch which shows a system in a simple way using abstract, graphic symbols.
Width Modulation
a technique used for encoding the amplitude of a signal right into a pulse width or duration of another signal.
Word
a unit of data that is sixteen binary digits long, with a value of 0 to 65535.
Argument
a value of data that is part of a command .
Nib
a variable that can store values of 0 to 15, four bits, half-byte.
Electric Charge
an electrical property of matter that creates electric and magnetic forces and interactions.
Voltage
an electromotive force or potential difference expressed in volts.
PULSOUT
generates a pulse of a given length of time.
Microsecond
millionth of a second
Comments
notes in programs that describe what is happening, to document the code.
Millisecond
one thousandth of a second
RPM
revolutions per minute
Vdd
stands for High or positive. On the robot it is like connecting to the positive terminal of a 5V battery.
Circuit
the complete path of an electric current, including the generating apparatus, intervening resistors, or capacitors.
Electric Resistance
the measure of how difficult it is for electrons to flow in an object.
Subsystem testing
the practice of testing the individual components before they go into the larger device.
Diagnostic
the practice or techniques of identifying causes of systems, problems, and solutions.
Duration
the time during which something exists or last.
Mitigate
to make less severe
