Industrial Electronics Glossary

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ac-coupled amplifier An amplifier with a capacitive-coupled input to filter out the dc component of the input signal.

ac input circuit A circuit on a PLC I/O module that converts ac signals from a pilot switch voltage level to backplane logic-level dc signals.

ac input module An I/O module for a PLC or other controller that contains circuits that convert ac signals to backplane logic-level dc signals.

ac output circuit A circuit on a PLC UO module that converts backplane logic-level dc signals to field-level ac voltage.

ac output module A PLC I/O module that contains circuits that convert backplane logic-level dc signals to field-level ac voltage.

across-the-line starter A motor starter that allows full voltage to be applied to a motor when the contacts of the starter are closed.

actuator A device that converts an electrical signal into motion.

address A character string that uniquely identifies a memory location in a PLC, computer, or other programmable system.

alternating current Current that changes from a positive level to a negative level periodically. Example: a 60 Hz alternating current change from positive to negative 60 times per second.

ambient temperature The temperature of the medium (air, water, earth).

American wire gauge (AWG) A standard used for identifying the size of electrical conductors. Gauge numbers have an inverse relationship to size: larger numbers have a smaller cross-sectional area.

analog circuit A circuit in which the signal can vary continuously between specified limits from some minimum to some maximum.

analog input module A PLC UO module that contains circuits that convert analog dc input signals to digital values.

analog output module A PLC UO module that contains circuits that convert digital values to an analog dc signal.

analog-to-digital conversion (A/D conversion) A circuit that converts analog values to digital (numerical) values.

angstrom Unit of measure for the wavelength of light. 1 ångström (Å) = 10^–10 meters = 0.1 nm

ANSI American National Standards Institute. An organization in the United States that develops standards for industry.

armature The moving part of a magnetic circuit, such as the rotating part of a motor or a generator or the movable iron part of a relay.

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is a seven-bit code with an optional parity bit used to represent alphanumerics, punctuation marks, and control-code characters.

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