Glossary
ADC
Analog-to-Digital Converter. A microcontroller peripheral which measures analog voltages.
BMS
Battery Management System. A vehicle device responsible for consistently and safely drawing power from the accumulator / battery.
BMS
Battery Management System.
CAN
Controller Area Network. A vehicle bus protocol standardizing communication between ECUs.
CLI
Command line interface, also known as the terminal or command prompt.
DBC
DataBase CAN. A file format for describing CAN messages.
ECU
Electronic Control Unit. A microcontroller in a vehicle.
EV5
Mac FSAE's 5th Electric Vehicle. Created during the 2023-2024 season.
EV6
Mac FSAE's 6th Electric Vehicle. Created during the 2024-2025 season.
FSAE
Formula SAE. A student design competition to build a Formula-style racecar.
GPIO
General-purpose Input Output. A pin on an integrated circuit that can function as a digital input or output.
gRPC
gRPC Remote Procedure Calls. A open source framework for remote procedure calls.
HAL
Hardware Abstraction Layer. A programming layer that abstracts away the internal workings of a microcontroller.
HIL
Hardware-In-the-Loop. A test setup where an actual ECU and its board are connected to a hardware simulator.
HV
High Voltage. The vehicle circuit which powers our motors. Contrast with LV.
JTAG
Joint Test Action Group. Usually refers to a standardized connector for programming and debugging microcontrollers.
LV
Low Voltage. The vehicle circuit that powers all non-motor electronics. Contrast with HV.
MCAL
MicroController Abstraction Layer.
MCU
MicroController Unit
MPU
MicroProcessor Unit
PCB
Printed Circuit Board.
PWM
Pulse Width Modulation. A method for generating an analog voltage by rapidly pulsing digital signals while varying the duty cycle.
SAE
A professional association involved in the automotive, transport, and aerospace industries. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers.
SIL
Software-In-the-Loop. A test setup where the ECU and external conditions are simulated.
SoC
State of Charge. The amount of charge left in the accumulator (100% = full charge).
SSH
Secure Shell.
TMS
Thermal Management System. Responsible for measuring and reporting the vehicle's battery temperature.
TSSI
Tractive System Status Indicator. A light on the vehicle which indicates when the vehicle has power or errors. Required by FSAE rule EV.5.11.5.
This file was autogenerated by docs/includes/gen_glossary.py.