Engineering terms, in plain English

A quick reference for the words used in our demonstrations.

AI surrogate

A trained model that approximates a more detailed calculation. It must be checked for the particular inputs and task; fast output is not proof of accuracy.

GPU / HPC

A graphics processing unit performs many calculations in parallel. High-performance computing combines powerful processors and sometimes several connected servers.

CAD / CAE

Computer-aided design describes the shape of a part. Computer-aided engineering studies how it behaves, for example when heated or loaded.

Solver / kernel

A solver performs a numerical physics calculation. A geometry kernel builds and measures engineering shapes. A successful geometry check does not prove that a part is safe under load.

OpenCASCADE / STEP

OpenCASCADE is software for constructing and measuring engineering shapes. STEP is a standard file format for exchanging product geometry between design tools.

Mesh / grid / refinement

A calculation divides a shape into small pieces. Refinement makes selected pieces smaller to resolve more detail. A millimetre-sized cell does not mean millimetre accuracy.

FEM / finite elements

A numerical method that solves an engineering problem on connected small elements, such as pieces of a loaded beam.

CFD / Lattice Boltzmann

Computational fluid dynamics calculates how fluids move. Lattice Boltzmann is one numerical approach, based on populations moving and interacting on a grid.

AMR

Adaptive mesh refinement uses finer calculation cells in selected regions. The exact refinement rules and whether they change during a run depend on the implementation.

MSE / MAE / RMSE

Mean squared error averages squared prediction differences; mean absolute error averages their absolute size. Root mean squared error takes the square root of MSE. Squaring gives larger errors more weight. An error reduction is not the same as an accuracy percentage.

A0 → B4 / scenario_01

Names for model versions or a saved test case. They do not describe a physical result by themselves; the accompanying test setup defines what was compared.

AIS

An air-insulated substation: electrical equipment that uses air as part of its insulation arrangement.

IMPALA / V-trace

Methods for training a decision-making AI from many simulated experiences. Successful training alone does not establish safe or effective real-world control.

Digital twin

A computer representation of a physical system. A demonstration, a model connected to sensors and a system controlling equipment are different levels of capability.

GT / reference / validation

Ground truth (GT) is the chosen reference for a comparison. On our saved AI demonstrations it is usually a detailed simulation, not a sensor measurement. Physical validation needs comparison with the real system.

MCP / API / sandbox

The Model Context Protocol lets AI assistants use tools. An application programming interface is how programs exchange requests and results. A sandbox restricts what a program can access while it runs.

Markdown / OCR

Markdown is readable text with simple markers for headings, lists and tables. Optical character recognition (OCR) reads letters and numbers from images; conversion still needs checks.

Temperature and load units

For temperature differences, one kelvin (K) equals one degree Celsius. A kilonewton (kN) is 1,000 newtons of force. A megapascal (MPa) is one million pascals of pressure or stress. A millisecond (ms) is one thousandth of a second.