Glossary

Useful words as we build

Start here · The whole system · Questions

You can start with practical experience and pick up the terms as they become useful. These meanings explain the job each word does in this project.

Word	What it means here
AI assistant or agent	Software helping with a defined job: finding evidence, comparing choices, making a draft or checking work. People decide its purpose and permitted actions.
Swarm	Several AI assistants working on connected jobs, with clear boundaries and handovers.
XR	Extended reality: displays that add information to a view of the world or place someone in a shared simulated space. The same meeting or lesson also needs accessible ways to join.
SI	Superintelligence: a future AI capability that could exceed human ability across many tasks. Our planning includes that possibility; each actual tool still has a recorded scope and measured capability.
Human in the loop or HITL	The right person reviews a defined proposal and decides what goes ahead.
Stack	The connected parts of the service: people, equipment, energy, communications, information and software.
Interface	An agreed way two parts connect, like a matching plug and socket plus an explanation of what passes through.
Node	One point in the network, such as a kiosk, a local computer or a portable radio kit.
Local-first	Useful information and work are available nearby, with outside connections adding capability when available.
Offline	A particular connection is unavailable. The record says which connection and what still works.
Network partition	The network has split into groups that can talk within each group while the route between groups is unavailable.
Gateway	A working connection between different networks, such as local devices and mobile internet.
Store and forward	Save a message, then pass it on when the next route becomes available.
Acknowledgement	Confirmation that a device or person received something. The record distinguishes receipt from a person accepting a job and completing it.
CAP	Common Alerting Protocol: a shared message format for alerts, updates and cancellations. The issuing authority, actual delivery and current validity each need their own checks.
GTFS	General Transit Feed Specification: common files for public transport timetables and routes. A separate real-time feed can carry live updates where the operator provides it.
API	An application programming interface: an agreed way software requests or exchanges information, such as a dated sensor reading.
Release	A checked package of information and software made available to devices.
Manifest	A packing list naming files, versions and checksums.
Checksum or content fingerprint	A calculated identifier for exact file contents. A changed file produces a different identifier. SHA-256 is the method used here.
Digital twin	A versioned digital representation of a person, place or system, built from identified evidence and assumptions. A personal twin develops through that person's choices about its content, access and use.
Simulation	A practice or comparison run using stated inputs and rules. It helps us ask what may happen and compare that with measurements.
High fidelity	Detail and behaviour that serve the task accurately, with the source, time, location, uncertainty and assumptions visible.
Retrieval	Finding the relevant passage or record before explaining an answer. RAG combines that search with an AI-generated explanation.
Energy budget	The electricity each job needs across time, the available supply and the reserve we keep.
Watt and watt-hour	Watts describe power at a moment; watt-hours describe energy used or stored over time. A 10-watt load for ten hours uses 100 watt-hours.
Thermal design	How heat enters, moves through and leaves the equipment under its intended conditions.
Ingress protection	How an enclosure is designed and tested to resist dust or water entering it.
BMS	Battery management system: equipment monitoring and protecting battery cells. Its protective cut-off and the service's planned low-energy mode serve separate purposes.
Auspice	An organisation agreeing to take defined legal and financial responsibility for a project or grant.
Pull request	A proposed repository change people can inspect and discuss before it joins the main version.

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