ESC

Electronic Speed Controller, used to control the speed of a brushless DC motor.

xS Battery

A x Series Cell Battery. The number followed by the S refers to the number of battery cells that are in series with each other. More definitions for batteries can be found in Batteries.

LiPo

Lithium Polymer Battery. A very high power-density battery that is commonly used in UAVs

UAV

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

VTX / VRX

Video Transmission / Video Receiver. The system used so the pilot can see a camera feed remotely

FPV

First Person View. Refers to the camera view mounted on a drone that the pilot uses

UART

Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter. Device to device communication protocol

I2C

Inter-Integrated Circuit. said “I squared C”, it is a type of serial communication protocol. it is relatively slow

SPI

Serial Peripheral Interface. Another serial communication protocol. It is very fast

GPIO

General Purpose Input Output. A basic signal (on or off)

Transceiver

A combination of a receiver and transmitter

BEC

Battery eliminator circuit , generally just buck converter (could also be a SEPIC or buck-boost)

The Drone

The drone as a whole, including electronic components and integrated software systems.

airframe

Fuselage, wings, control surfaces, & mechanical components used to connect them

IMU

Inertial Measurement Unit

GPS

Global Positioning System (device to capture GPS data)

ESC

Electronic Speed Controller, Motor Controller

GS

Groundstation

tracking antenna

all tracking antenna systems.

T_Telem

telemetry tracking tower

T_VRX

video receive tracking tower

CONOPs

concept of operations Concept of operations

COTS

commercial off the shelf (something you can easily buy)

GSPC

groundstation personal computer

GS_SW]

groundstation software

GUI

graphical user interface

OSD

on screen display (attitude information overlaid over video feed

MUX

MUX multiplexer

DM

direct message

DSO

Digital Storage Oscilloscope

IPA

Isopropyl Alcohol

FT

flight test

Pm

Power module (a current sensor and power supply in one package, generally used as a power and data source for a flight controller)

project manager

Pdn

Power distribution network (the network for converting and transfering power throughout a system)

vrm

voltage regulation module (generally another word for a power supply)

mpn

manufacturer part number

ic

integrated circuit

pcb

printed circuit board

pcba

printed circuit board assembly, a pcb with components solderred onto it

LL

logic level

pp

power pole

NC

not connected (in electronics this is when a wire or pin isn’t electrically connected to anything)

RF

radio frequency (this term is used generally to define any electronics interfacing with radio frequencies)

ERC

electronic rules check

(generic) no ERC

An indicator to describe an intended NC pin

ELRS

https://www.expresslrs.org/

POR

plan of record. Generally the source of truth plan approved by upper management that teams should be following in system engineering.

hitl

hardware in the loop; testing code with the hardware it’s intended to run on

sitl

software in the loop; a setup for testing software with the other software it’s intended to work with

Power Supply

Power supply “A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load.”

FC

flight controller

POC

Proof of Concept

IST

Information Systems and Technology

C2

Command and control

RP or RPed

Reverse Polaritied (means voltage was connected backwards on a device, this kills electronics that are not designed to handle it)

RPP

reverse polarity protection: Reverse Polarity Protection Circuits

KT

Knowledge Transfer. A tutorial on how to perform specific tasks, often presented as a video.

DRI

Directly Responsible Individual: someone owning a project or program

Copper Bird (Cu Bird)

All the electronics integrated (but without the intended airframe) for an aircraft to allow for basic electrical and firmware integration testing prior to a full mechanical airframe being built. This allows for issues to be resolved before all items are integrated into their final mechanical housings which may be more difficult to service.