Glossary

NORTHSTARSHOW SYSTEMS

Glossary

Terms used throughout Northstar documentation

Document Number	Revision	Date	Platform Version
NSSS-DOC-0003	A	2026-05-20	1.0

This document defines terms specific to the Northstar Show Systems platform. Standard industry terms (TCP, UDP, Wi-Fi, MD5) are not redefined here.

Term	Definition
Block	A unit of show logic in the Compose Block Editor. Types: hat, stack, control, reporter, boolean.
Bridge	A Polaris node configured as a physical operator panel with buttons, key switch, and LEDs.
Compose	The offline desktop application used to author shows.
Cue	A discrete show event. Has a hat block (trigger) and a script of stack/control blocks (behaviour).
Cuemaster	The browser-based operator dashboard served by HelmOS.
Device Fingerprint	A 16-character hex string derived from machine identifiers, used for license binding.
FQBN	Fully Qualified Board Name. The Polaris platform uses arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi.
Hat Block	A block that defines when a cue fires. Examples: event-input, event-schedule, event-cuemaster.
HelmOS	The venue runtime that orchestrates Polaris nodes and serves Cuemaster.
Maintenance Mode	A runtime state where show triggers are suspended for diagnostics and updates.
.nsss.compose	The Northstar show file format. A ZIP archive containing project metadata, cues, media, and firmware.
OTA	Over-The-Air firmware update. Polaris boards are flashed via Wi-Fi after the initial USB bootstrap.
Polaris	The family of Arduino UNO R4 WiFi-based field nodes. Variants: GPIO, Video, Audio, Bridge, Cuemaster.
TrueNorth	The default venue Wi-Fi network SSID. Air-gapped from public internet by design.
Zone	A logical grouping of Polaris nodes by physical location at the venue (room, area).

NSSS-DOC-0002Platform Overview
NSSS-DOC-0050Block Programming Concepts

Revision History

Revision	Date	Description
A	2026-05-20	Initial publication