Glossary
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National Instruments Corporation
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trigger
the trigger generated by the switch card when scanning. The trigger occurs
after the switch card has closed a switch and the switch has settled.
sensor
a device that responds to a physical stimulus (heat, light, sound,
pressure, motion, flow, and so on), and produces a corresponding
electrical signal
settling time
the amount of time required for a voltage to reach its final value within
specified limits
soft front panel
a graphical program included with NI-SWITCH that you can use to
interactively control the switch
T
thermistor
a semiconductor sensor that exhibits a repeatable change in electrical
resistance as a function of temperature. Most thermistors exhibit a
negative temperature coefficient.
thermocouple
a temperature sensor created by joining two dissimilar metals. The
junction produces a small voltage as a function of the temperature.
trigger
any event that causes or starts some form of data capture
TTL
Transistor-Transistor Logic
V
V
volts
varistor
an electrical resistor whose resistance depends on the applied voltage
VDC
volts, direct current
VI
virtual instrument—(1) a combination of hardware and/or software
elements, typically used with a PC, that has the functionality of a classic
stand-alone instrument (2) a LabVIEW software module (VI), which
consists of a front panel user interface and a block diagram program