| A/D | Analog to Digital, the conversion of analog signal to digital binary information. |
| a | Acceleration, the rate of change in velocity. Generally measured in metres per second per second (m/sec2) |
| BGA | Ball Grid Array, a type of surface mount packaging. Used for integrated circuits, the device has a grid of pads, with balls solder, that will attach to a printed circuit board through a specialised soldering process. |
| CofG | Centre of gravety, also known a centre of mass. The point thru' which gravitational force will act on an object, regardless of orentation. |
| CSP | Chip Scale Package, where the integrated circuit package is shrunk to a "near die size". These are usually surface mount devices (SMD) that use ball grid array (BGA) methods to attach to printed circuit boards (PCB). |
| DIL | Dual In Line, an alternative to acronym for DIP. |
| DIP | Dual In-line Package, a package where pins are arranged down either side of the housing. In the case of ICs a notch is used to orientate the case, with this to the top pin 1 is in the upper left corner and the other pins are numbers are counted counter-clockwise. |
| dohyo | From Japanese meaning "place of the Way" or "place of enlightenment", refers to the ring in which the Minisumo competition takes place. |
| F | Farad, Unit of Capacitance (Michael Faraday b.1791 d.1867) |
| Force, an influence that changes a mass from a state of rest to motion to changes the rate of motion. |
| G | Giga, a prefix denoting a factor of 109 (One Thousand Million - British, One Billion - American) |
| g | Gravity, a force of attraction between to masses, such as Earth and an object on or near it. for Earth g = 9.806 m/sec2 for Moon g = 1.622 m/sec2 |
| Hz | Hertz, a unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second. (Heinrich Rudolf Hertz b.1857 d.1894) |
| I | Current, the flow of electricity through a conductor measured in Amperes (amps). I derived from the German word Intensität meaning intensity. (Andre Marie Ampere b.1775 d.1836) |
| IC | Integrated Circuit, an electronic circuit on an semiconductor "chip". |
| IR | Infrared, referring to light outside the visable spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of red light. (Typically 800-950nm wavelength for electronic products) |
| K | Kilo, a prefix denoting a factor of 103 (One Thousand) |
| LED | Light Emitting Diode, a semiconductor device that emits light when conducting. (Typical wavelength 525-567nm Green, 585-591nm Yellow, 610-635nm Orange, 645-700nm Red) |
| M | Mega, a prefix denoting a factor of 106 (One Million) |
| m | mass, a measure of quantity in a body and a force experienced in a gravitational field. |
| metre, the basic unit for measuring length (SI). |
| milli, a prefix denoting a factor of 10-3 (One Thousandth) |
| N | Newton, the derived unit of force that imparts an acceleration of 1 metre/second2 to a mass of 1 Kg (Sir Isaac Newton b.1643 d.1727) |
| n | nano, a prefix denoting a factor of 10-9 (One Thousand Millionth - British, One Billionth - American) |
| Ohm's Law | The relationship between voltage, current, and resistance in a DC circuit. V=IR (Georg Simon Ohm b.1789 d.1854) |
| p | pico, a prefix denoting a factor of 10-12 (One Billionth - British, One Trillionth - American, One Millionth of One millionth) |
| PCB | Printed Circuit Board, an insulating material which carries a number of electrical conductors on it's surface. Usually manufactured for attaching a number electronic devices, by soldering, to form a circuit. |
| PWM | Pulse Width Modulation. |
| R | Resistance, a material's opposition to the flow of electric current Measured in Ohms (Ω) (Georg Simon Ohm b.1789 d.1854) |
| r | radius, the distance from the centre of a circle to it's edge. |
| rpm | revolutions per minute, a measure of rotational speed. |
| SI | Denoting Systeme International d'Unites - International System of Units. |
| SMD | Surface Mount Device, electronic devices designed to mount directly on the surface of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), alternative to Through-Hole technology where wire leads pass through circuit board holes to attach to the circuit. |
| T | Tera, a prefix denoting a factor of 1012 (One Billion - British, One Trillion - American, One Million Million) |
| Torque, a forge that causes rotation, expressed in Newton metres (Nm) |
| t | time, for calculations usually measured in seconds. |
| V | Volts, the difference in electrical charge, or potential, of two points that causes current to flow in a circuit. (Count Alessandro Volta b.1745 d.1827) |
| Vcc | Operational Supply Voltage |
| Watt | A unit of Power. For DC Circuits it's equal to Current (Amps) times Volts (James Watt b.1736 d.1819) |
| Wave Length | The distance, in meters, between two successive equivalent points on a repetitive electrical pulse or waveform. |
| Ø | Diameter, the distance across a circle measured thru' the centre. |
| μ | micro (Small Greek Letter Mu), a prefix denoting a factor of 10-6 (One Millionth) |
| Co-efficient of Friction, the ratio between frictional force and force between surfaces (lower moves more freely) |
| μC | Micro Controller, sometimes written uC |
| Ω | Ohm (Capital Greek Letter Omega), denoting Resistance (See R) |