Terminology/Definitions

This page is a constant work in progress as the hobby is constantly changing.

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A

AC — alternating current. An electrical current that reverses directions at regular intervals. Wall power, or mains, is AC and in North America, it cycles 60 times per second, while in England and Australia, it cycles 50 times per second.

Arduino. An Open Source system for developing microprocessor-controlled projects, including a reference design for a project board, as well as an integrated development environment (IDE) and linking to the Atmel firmware development chain. Further, a series of printed-circuit boards that can plug into the Arduino board — called “shields” — have been development for the project boards, extending the capabilities of the project environment.

ATmega. A brand of microcontroller developed and sold by Atmel Corp. The Arduino line of project boards uses ATmega microprocessors (the 168, 328p, 1280 and 2560, depending upon the Arduino model). ATMega chips have an entire different firmware development chain than chips from Microchip Technology and therefore can’t share code.

Amps (amperes). A unit of electrical current, an amp is the amount of electricity being drawn through the power system. A product that draws 10 amps uses twice as much electricity as a product that draws five amps. See also Electricity basics.