Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms you'll see across the IgorBox docs. New to show control? Start here.
Air cylinder (pneumatic actuator)
A piston that extends or retracts when compressed air is applied. The muscle behind drop panels, popping props, fast moving armatures, and slamming doors. Air flow is switched by a solenoid valve.
Ambient routine (Ambient show)
A show set to loop on a controller whenever nothing else is playing — the "default state" of your attraction (background ambience, idle lighting, an attractor loop). A triggered show always interrupts it, then the ambient picks back up. See Ambient Routines.
Anode / cathode
The two legs of an LED: the anode is the positive (+) side, the cathode is the negative (−) side. On the LED Controller you wire the anode to the channel's (+) terminal and the cathode to the (−). See the LED Controller wiring guide.
Animatronics
Automated, mechanically-driven figures or props — the moving creatures and characters in an attraction. IgorBox drives their motion, lights, and sound as part of a show.
Back-voltage spike
The surge of voltage an inductive load (like a DC motor) kicks back when its power is suddenly cut. Left unchecked it can damage whatever switched it — which is why motors want flyback protection. See Motor Speed Control.
Brake mode
Actively stopping a motor instead of letting it coast. Neither the LED Controller nor the RGBW-PWR breakout brakes a motor — when the channel switches off the motor freewheels until friction stops it; for active braking use an external brake circuit. See Motor Speed Control.
Breakout board
A small board that carries some of a controller's channels out to a separate location, connected by jumper wires or a standard Ethernet cable (signal only — not a network). It's still one controller. See Channel Breakout Boards.
Center-positive barrel jack
The round power connector on every controller (5.5 × 2.1 mm), wired center-positive — the inner pin is positive (+) and the outer sleeve is ground. See Tech Specs.
Channel indicator
The per-channel RGB light on a controller's front panel. Its color shows how the channel is set up and whether it's on — reflecting the controller's intended state, not a live reading of the wiring. You can turn the indicators off for dark installs. See Front Panel.
Clip
A block of content on a timeline track — a relay On-pulse, a lighting envelope, or an audio clip. Drag to move, drag the edges to resize, split, or delete. See Timeline Editor: Basics.
Contact closure
A plain switch that completes a circuit by closing its contacts — carrying no voltage of its own. It's how many sensors and buttons signal an input. See the Input 16 wiring guide.
Control point
A (time, value) point on a lighting track. Between control points the channel ramps smoothly from one value to the next — or you can set a point to step (hold) for a hard jump. See Lighting.
Current clamp
A built-in limit on how much current a channel will pass. The LED Controller clamps every channel at 20 mA — which is why an LED can't pull more than its safe current and you don't need a series resistor. See Tech Specs.
Dark ride
An indoor ride-through attraction where guests move past scenes of synchronized lighting, sound, and effects — one of the themed-entertainment setups IgorBox is used for. See IgorBox for Themed Entertainment.
Deploy
Sending a show from Studio to its target controllers so it's live and ready to fire. Studio packages the show, pushes it to each controller, and waits for confirmation; an offline controller pulls it when it reconnects. Every deploy creates a new version. See Deploys and Versions.
DHCP
The common network service that automatically hands out IP addresses. Your network needs DHCP so a controller can get an address when it connects (most networks do this by default). See Connectivity.
DIN rail
A standard metal mounting rail used inside electrical enclosures. IgorBox controllers can wall-mount or clip to a DIN rail (with the optional kit). See Tech Specs.
Draft
A show that exists only in the editor and hasn't been deployed to any controller yet. The editor's state badge reads Draft until you deploy. See Deploys and Versions.
Dry contact
A relay output that's just a switch — two terminals that connect or disconnect, carrying no power of their own. You pass your own power through it, exactly like a light switch. The opposite of a powered (solid-state) output.
Easywire™
IgorBox's guided wiring helper: it lights up the exact terminal for whatever you're wiring and walks you through it. See Easywire™.
Envelope
The shape a dimmable channel's value follows over time, drawn on a lighting track as a filled curve between control points. See Lighting.
Factory reset
Wiping a controller's local shows, media, and configuration and rebooting it locked. The controller stays registered in your Studio and Magic Provision re-pairs it automatically; the setup ID is used to restore your data from your Studio. Triggered by holding the front button at power-on. See Front Button.
Fail-safe
Designed so a loss of power or other failure leaves things in the safe state. A maglock is fail-safe because it unlocks when power is removed — and you keep that behavior by switching it through an inverted output. See IgorBox for Escape Rooms.
Flyback diode
A diode placed across an inductive load (like a solenoid or motor) to absorb the voltage spike created when power is removed. Protects your electronics and reduces radio interference. See Multistate Relay™ › Flyback Diodes.
Fogger
A device that produces fog or haze for atmosphere. Switch it from a relay channel like any other effect. (See also mister.)
Freewheel
When a motor coasts to a stop on its own after power is removed, rather than being actively braked. See Motor Speed Control.
Game master
The staff member who runs an escape room — watching the group, sending hints, and resetting or force-opening locks. IgorBox supports game-master controls like a one-button room reset. See IgorBox for Escape Rooms.
Global event
On IgorBox, every input is a global event: an input on any controller can trigger a show or rule on any other controller on the same local network. See Triggers.
GND (ground)
Ground — the negative/return side of a DC circuit and the common reference your wiring shares. Often the leg a channel switches. Marked GND or V− on the terminals. See the wiring guides.
H-bridge
A circuit that reverses the direction of current to a DC motor so it can run both ways. Neither the LED Controller nor the RGBW-PWR breakout reverses direction on its own — use an external H-bridge for that. See Motor Speed Control.
Hard Lock (E-stop function)
An emergency stop that halts all playback and keeps the controller locked until it's power-cycled — set as a front button mode or fired from a trigger. On the front panel, every light blinks purple so it's unmistakable. See Status LED. Not certified for "safety of life" operations.
Hold current
The smaller, steady current a solenoid or relay coil needs to stay energized after it first pulls in — lower than the initial inrush current. See the Output 8 wiring guide.
Inductive load
Anything with a coil — solenoids, relays, motors — that stores energy in a magnetic field and kicks back a voltage spike when power is cut. Inductive loads want a flyback diode. See Multistate Relay™ › Flyback Diodes.
Inrush current
The brief surge of current when a load first switches on — for a pneumatic valve it can spike to 2–3× the steady hold current. Size the channel for the inrush, not just the hold. See the Output 8 wiring guide.
Inverted output
A channel whose relay is energized at rest and drops out when the channel activates — the reverse of normal. Used for fail-safe maglocks: the lock stays powered (locked) during play and releases on solve or on power loss.
IR beam (break beam)
An invisible infrared beam between an emitter and receiver that signals when something crosses it — a common trip trigger for scares and gates. Wire its output to an input. See the Input 16 wiring guide.
Isolated input
An input with no shared electrical connection to the controller's internals, so you can't damage the box by wiring it backwards. IgorBox inputs are polarity-insensitive and accept 6–48V AC or DC.
Latch
A Logic Rule block that captures a state and holds it on until it's reset — "once the puzzle is solved, stay solved." See Building Blocks.
Line level
The strength of the controller's audio output — meant to feed amplifiers, powered speakers, or a mixer, not headphones. The jack is a 3.5 mm stereo (TRS) output. See Audio Output.
Live Preview
Playing a show on the real hardware in real time while you keep editing — the fast iteration loop, no deploy needed. It works on a show targeting a single controller; the status LED blinks orange while it's active. See Live Preview.
Logic Rule
IgorBox's visual, no-code rules engine. Combine inputs and conditions ("switch A and switch B") to trigger shows, effects, and outputs. See Logic Rules.
Magic Provision
How you get a brand-new controller onto your Studio: read its 8-character setup ID off the sticker, enter it in Studio, and power the controller on — no IP setup or cables to configure. See Magic Provision.
Maglock
A magnetic lock that holds a door shut while it's powered and releases when power is removed. Common in escape rooms, and inherently fail-safe (a power outage unlocks the door). See IgorBox for Escape Rooms.
Manual Control
Driving a controller's channels yourself, live, from the browser with sliders and buttons — for testing wiring, troubleshooting, or demos. Show playback pauses while you have control, and the status LED blinks orange. See Manual Control.
Media Browser
Studio's audio library dialog, where you pick or upload a sound to drop onto an audio track. See Audio Clips.
Mister
A device that puts out a fine water mist for fog/humidity effects — switched from a relay channel like any other low-power effect. See the Output 8 wiring guide.
Multistate Relay™
An IgorBox feature where a single channel can act as either a standard relay (dry contact) or a "solid-state like" (powered) output, switchable in software. See Multistate Relay™.
Named Trigger
A signal one Logic Rule can send and another rule on the same controller can listen for — used to chain rules together. (To coordinate across controllers, watch the other controller's input or use a show trigger.) See Building Blocks.
Normally open / normally closed
A relay's resting (unpowered) state. Normally open means the contacts are open until the relay is energized; normally closed means they're closed until energized. All IgorBox relays are normally open; a maglock wants the opposite, which you get with an inverted output. See the Input 16 wiring guide.
Optically isolated / optocoupler
Isolation that passes a signal across a gap using light instead of a shared wire, so no current flows between the two sides. IgorBox inputs are optically isolated, which is why they're safe to wire in any polarity. An optocoupler is the component that does this. See Input 16 Tech Specs.
Par can / fixture
A stage/architectural light. Bigger fixtures need more current than a signal-level channel can provide — drive them through the RGBW-PWR breakout.
Passthrough (power / zone)
A set of terminals that brings the controller's barrel-jack supply voltage out to the channels, so a channel can switch that same voltage without a separate power supply. The internal bus has a current limit, so it's for modest loads — heavier loads get their own supply. See the Output 8 wiring guide.
Photo-eye / proximity sensor
Industrial sensors that detect an object without touching it (proximity) or by an interrupted light path (photo-eye). They often run on 24V and output a 24V signal; both PNP and NPN types work with an isolated input. See the Input 16 wiring guide.
Pinspot
A small, narrow-beam light — often a single LED — used for tight accent lighting. Low current, so it wires straight to an LED Controller channel.
Playhead
The vertical line on the timeline marking the current playback position; new clips land at the playhead and it follows playback. See Timeline Editor: Basics.
Polarity / polarity-insensitive
Polarity is which wire is positive and which is negative. A polarity-insensitive connection works either way round — IgorBox inputs are polarity-insensitive, so you can't wire them backwards. See Input 16 Tech Specs.
PWM (dimming)
Pulse-width modulation — switching a channel on and off very fast to set brightness or speed. It's how the LED Controller dims lights smoothly and runs DC motor speed control.
Reed switch
A small switch that closes or opens when a magnet comes near it — no moving parts to wear out and tamper-resistant, which makes it a favorite for escape-room puzzle pieces. Wire it like a button. See the Input 16 wiring guide.
Retrigger
What a trigger does when it fires again while its show is already playing — Restart, Skip if Playing, Toggle, or Take Over. See Triggers.
RFID reader / tag
A wireless ID system: a tag (card or fob) is held to a reader, which fires an input when the right tag is present — common for escape-room puzzles. See IgorBox for Escape Rooms.
RGBW
A four-color fixture or channel group — Red, Green, Blue, and White. On the LED Controller you can tie the channels into a color group and drive them as one color. See RGBW-PWR Breakout.
RGBW-PWR breakout
The powered version of a 4-channel breakout: it adds its own supply so four LED Controller channels can drive real lighting (or a small motor) at higher current or a different voltage than the controller's own channels. See RGBW-PWR Breakout.
Safety Lock
A lock that stops the show currently playing on a controller and prevents new ones from starting until you toggle it back off — for maintenance, daytime, or walk-throughs. Available as a front button mode or a trigger action (called Soft Lock there). Unlike a Hard Lock, it doesn't need a reboot.
Show
A timed sequence of commands — relays, lighting, audio, motor moves — authored on the timeline and deployed to one or more controllers. The core thing you build in Studio. See What is IgorBox Studio?.
Show control
The umbrella term for coordinating lights, sound, motion, logic, and effects so they play together on cue. It's what IgorBox does.
Slip editing
Shifting the audio inside a clip without moving the clip itself (Alt-drag the clip body) — nudging which part of the sound plays at that spot. See Audio Clips.
Solenoid valve
An electrically operated air valve. Energize it and air flows to the air cylinder; de-energize and it stops. Switched by a relay like on an Output 8 channel.
Solid-state mode
A Multistate Relay™ channel mode where the channel passes the controller's own supply through to the output using an internal software controlled relay to jump the power through to the connector — a live, powered output rather than a dry contact. DC only.
Solid-state relay (SSR)
An electronic on/off switch with no moving parts. A small control signal switches a much larger load — handy for mains lighting or big motors. A low-current channel can drive one directly; see the LED Controller wiring guide.
SSID
The name of a WiFi network. For a production install, put the controllers on their own network and consider hiding the SSID and using a strong password. See Connectivity.
Status LED
The single front-panel light that tells you a controller's state through a color and a pattern together — e.g. solid green is ready, fast-blink green is a show playing, orange blink is Manual Control, purple is a lock. See Status LED.
Studio (IgorBox Studio)
The web app where you add controllers, build shows, set up logic, and run your attraction — it runs in any browser. Your shows run on the controllers, not the cloud, so they keep playing if the internet drops; the cloud is for building and pushing them. See What is IgorBox Studio?.
Timeline editor
Studio's show-building screen, modeled on video editors and digital audio workstations: tracks for each channel, with clips and control points arranged over time. See Timeline Editor: Basics.
Toggle
A Logic Rule block (also a trigger/retrigger mode) that flips on, then off, then on again on each fire — for press-on/press-off buttons. See Building Blocks.
Track
A row in the timeline editor, one per controller channel. Track types are Relay (on pulses), Lighting (dimming envelopes), and Audio. See Timeline Editor: Basics.
Trigger
Anything that starts a show or rule — a button press, a sensor, a timer, or an event from another controller. On IgorBox, every input is a global event that can trigger anything on your network.
TRS jack
The 3.5 mm three-conductor (tip-ring-sleeve) stereo connector used for the controller's line-level audio output. A 3.5 mm-to-dual-RCA or dual-¼″ cable feeds most amps and mixers. See Audio Output.
V+ / V−
Shorthand for the positive (V+) and negative (V−) sides of a DC connection. On powered terminals the helper LEDs mark them — red for V+, blue for V−. See the wiring guides.
Version history
Studio's record of every deploy of a show — version number, when it went out, which controllers have it, and notes — and where you roll back to a known-good version. See Deploys and Versions.
VLAN
A virtual network that keeps a group of devices logically separate on shared hardware. Keep all controllers that talk to each other on a single VLAN, and ideally isolate them from guest and office networks. See Connectivity.
WAGO connector
The lever-action, tool-free wire connector on every IgorBox terminal: lift the lever, insert the wire, drop the lever — no screwdriver. See the wiring guides.
Waveform
The visual shape of an audio clip's sound, shown inside the clip on its track; it reflects the clip's slip offset and volume. See Audio Clips.
Webhook (inbound / outbound)
A web link that connects IgorBox to other systems. An inbound webhook is a URL that fires a trigger when something calls it (a ticketing system, a script, a phone). An outbound webhook lets a Logic Rule call an external URL when something happens (post to Slack, hit a dashboard). Webhooks are a Pro/Enterprise feature. See Inbound Webhooks and Outbound Webhooks.
Wiper motor
A car windshield-wiper motor — cheap, high-torque, and a haunt favorite for mechanical props. It's a high-inrush motor, so switch it on a 3A relay (Output 8 channel 7 or 8) with its own supply. See the Output 8 wiring guide.