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Acronyms and Terms

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Gabe Soares edited this page Oct 16, 2019 · 8 revisions

Here are some of the common terms and acronyms we use. Click the links to learn more.

  • ADC Analog to Digital Converter, this allows us to read analog voltages from sensors and use them in a digital form the microcontroller likes.

  • AIR - Accumulator Isolation Relay, this is a big power switch that separates the high voltage battery from the motor controller.

  • BMS - Battery Management System, this ensures our battery cells are running safely.

  • CAN - Controller Area Network, this is a really reliable and robust 2-wire serial communication protocol used in almost every car today.

  • DAC - Digital to Analog Converter, this allows the microcontroller to send out analog voltages.

  • HALCoGen - Hardware Abstraction Layer Code Generator, this is a GUI-type interface that allows us to select all the drivers and pin initializations we want (i.e. GPIOs, ADC, SPI, CAN, etc..). It then auto-generates the low-level driver code for us to use in Code Composer.

  • HV - High Voltage, per the SAE rules this is any voltage greater than 60V.

  • I2C - Inter-Integrated Circuit, this is a 2-wire serial communication protocol, used often for small sensors and LCDs.

  • J-Link - This is a debugger from Segger, it allows us to debug code on our microcontroller.

  • JTAG - Joint Test Action Group, this is the protocol used by debuggers to interact with the microcontroller.

  • Logic Analyzer - Testing device that acts as a digital oscilloscope. It is used for testing communication protocols mostly.

  • LV - Low Voltage, per the SAE rules this is any voltage below 60V.

  • MCU - Marvel Cinematic Universe (MicroController Unit)

  • SPI - Serial Peripheral Interface, this is a 4-wire serial communication protocol, very commonly used due to its high speed.

  • TMS570 - TI's Hercules line of microcontrollers, it is a ARM Cortex R4 and is automotive safety certified.

  • UART - Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter, this is a 2-wire serial communication protocol, our team uses it for BMS communication and displaying data on a laptop serial port.

  • VCU - Vehicle Control Unit, this is the main microcontroller in our vehicle.

  • XDS110 - This is a debugger from TI, it is built in to the TMS570 launchpad.

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