Insights · Words and technologies
Simple definitions of technical terms used in Axatel pages, from sensors to supervision platforms.
34 terms available
- Accelerator
- Sensor that measures acceleration and vibration. In structural monitoring it helps to observe how bridges, buildings and other works react to traffic, wind or seismic events.
- Actuator
- Device that performs a physical command, for example turn on a siren, change a traffic light or show a message on a panel.
- Alarm
- Report generated when a measurement or event requires attention. You can alert an operator or automatically activate a procedure.
- API
- A set of rules that allows different software to exchange data and commands in a structured way.
- Automation
- Use of logic and devices to perform operations without continuous manual intervention, following defined rules and conditions.
- Cloud
- A set of computer resources accessible through the network, used to store data and run applications without necessarily hosting them in the customer's home.
- Control Room
- Control room from which operators observe installations and events, receive alarms and coordinate interventions.
- Dashboard
- Screen that summarizes data, indicators and alarms to offer an immediate reading of the state of a system.
- Data logger
- Device that acquires and retains over time the measurements produced by one or more sensors, even when the connection is not available.
- Digital Twin
- Digital representation of an installation or infrastructure, powered by real data to understand its state and behaviour.
- Edge computing
- Processing of data near the point where they are produced. It reduces response times and amounts of information to be sent to the central system.
- Fail safe
- Design principle whereby, in the event of failure, the system automatically switches to the condition considered safest.
- Firmware
- Software installed directly in an electronic device. Check sensors, consumption, memory, communications and operational behavior.
- Gateway
- Equipment that connects different devices or networks. On a LoRaWAN network, it receives the radio messages of the sensors and forwards them to the network server.
- Georeference
- Associate a given or an object with a precise geographical position, in order to represent it and consult it on a map.
- Inclinometer
- Sensor that measures tilt variations. It is used to follow movements and deformations of structures or soils.
- Interoperability
- Ability of different systems to communicate, exchange information and work together without losing the meaning of data.
- IoT
- Internet of Things: network of physical objects equipped with sensors, software and connectivity, capable of collecting data and communicating with other systems.
- KPI
- Synthetic indicator used to measure performance, results or process performance in relation to an objective.
- LoRaWAN
- Long-range and low-consumption radio protocol designed to connect many sensors. Covers extended areas, requires little energy and does not need a SIM for each device.
- LPWAN
- Family of wireless networks designed to transmit small amounts of data over long distances consuming little energy. LoRaWAN is an example.
- Middleware
- Intermediate software that receives data from devices or applications, normalizes them and makes them available to the other components of the system.
- Network server
- Central component of a LoRaWAN network that manages devices, security and messages received from gateways.
- particulate matter
- Set of solid and liquid particles suspended in the air. The PM10 and PM2.5 acronyms indicate particles with different sizes.
- PLC
- Programmable industrial controller that reads signals from the field and performs in a reliable way logics, sequences and commands on the plants.
- Protocol
- Shared set of rules and formats that allows devices and software to communicate correctly.
- Real-time
- Mode in which data and events are acquired, processed and made available with a short enough delay to intervene immediately.
- SCADA
- Software system to supervise and control systems. Displays synoptics, measurements and alarms and allows authorized operators to send commands.
- Sensor
- A device that detects a physical or environmental size, such as temperature, level, inclination or concentration of a pollutant, and transforms it into a given.
- Slotmeter
- Sensor that measures the opening and evolution of a crack in a structure.
- Synoptic
- Simplified graphical representation of an installation showing links, states, measurements and commands in a single screen.
- Telemetry
- Collection and remote transmission of measurements produced by sensors, machines or plants.
- Threshold
- Value configured beyond which a measure changes level of attention or generates a signal.
- Video analysis
- Automatic image processing of a camera to recognize objects, behaviors or events, such as queues and stationary vehicles.