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Glossary
NI 951x User Manual
G-2
ni.com
D
dedicated
Assigned to a particular function.
Direction output
Command signal for stepper motors, indicates the commanded direction of
motion, either forward or reverse.
drive
Electronic signal amplifier that converts motor control command signals
into higher-voltage signals suitable for driving motors.
driver
A hardware device that provides signals or electrical current to activate a
transmission line.
E
encoder
A device that translates mechanical motion into electrical signals; used for
monitoring position or velocity in a closed-loop system.
encoder resolution
The number of lines per unit of measure. Units can be inches, centimeters,
revolutions, and so on.
F
filtering
A type of signal conditioning that removes unwanted noise from the signal
being measured.
full-step
The coarsest mode of stepper motor driving that occurs when fully
energizing the windings.
H
half-step
A stepper motor mode. For a two phase motor, half-step mode is done by
alternately energizing two windings and then only one. In half step mode,
alternate steps are strong and weak but there is significant improvement in
low-speed smoothness over the full-step mode.
high
An input or output is high if the voltage is higher than the specified digital
logic high level.