Husky Robotics Technical Glossary

This is a running list of commonly used technical terminology. Include links here in any educational resource documents which discuss these topics.

Bearing
Any mechanical element which facilitates constrained movement between two mechanical components, such as the rotation of a shaft or sliding of a rail. Subcategories include rolling element bearings such as ball bearings (with spherical elements) and roller bearings (with conical, cylindrical, or barrel shaped elements) in which all moving interfaces involve rolling contact, and plain bearings such as hydrodynamic bearings (lubricated by a oil or grease film) and dry running bearings (lubricated by inherent lubricity of one or both bearing materials)

Brushless
Describes a motor in which a rotating magnetic field is created in the stator by electronic switching outside of the motor itself, while permanent magnets in the rotor move in sync with this magnetic field.

CNC
Acronym for "Computer Numeric Control". Describes any machine which uses instructions from a computer to automatically perform a manufacturing task, such as a 3D printer, laser cutter, or CNC mill or lathe.

COTS
Acronym for "Commercial Off The Shelf". Used to describe parts which will be purchased and then used as-is with no or little modification, as opposed to raw materials.

Lathe
A metalworking machine which creates a helical toolpath along a workpiece by holding the workpiece on a rotating spindle and allowing a cutting tool to traverse along it in two directions, either axially, radially, or a combination of the two.

Rivet
Any fastener which can be inserted through a hole in multiple parts and then permanently deformed by some method so that said parts are prevented from coming apart unless the rivet is broken.

Roller Chain
A type of chain made up of flat plates with rollers between them held together by pins used to transmit power between two parallel rotating elements an arbitrary distance apart. Commonly seen in bicycle drive trains.

Servo
A motor with a built in positional sensor and hardware-level feedback control system, which receives constant electrical power and a signal from an external device indicating its target position and/or angular velocity. Provides precise position and speed control.

Sprocket
A toothed wheel used to drive a roller chain to transmit power through rotation.

Stainless
Any Iron-Chromium-Nickel-Carbon alloy which may include other trace elements that retains many of the advantageous features of steel including high strength, low cost, and versatile response to heat treatment, but which corrodes much less readily.