{ "model": { "rank": 13323, "code": "thing-q851210", "model_id": "vr.tr.voltage-regulator", "name": "voltage regulator", "purpose": "Let an agent explain voltage regulators, relay types, operation and applications from electronics sources, describe the named families and the Zener barrier, route mains electrical safety, and distinguish voltage regulators from transformers, rectifiers, batteries and voltage references.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Cross-cutting context", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "XCT", "domain": "XCT.QLT", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q851210/", "tier": 2, "score": 38, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "442 series integrated circuits", "403 series integrated circuits", "1162 series integrated circuits", "TL431", "Zener barrier", "1216 series integrated circuits", "automatic voltage regulator", "linear regulator", "Stabistor", "LM317", "Low-dropout regulator", "battery eliminator circuit" ], "aliasCount": 12, "merged": 12, "knownIn": 38, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q851210", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q851210", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-14T02:27:14Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 4, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q851210", "registryId": "vr.tr.voltage-regulator", "name": "voltage regulator", "version": "0.2.0-wave.4", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "XCT.QLT" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q851210/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.voltage-regulator", "name": "voltage regulator", "purpose": "Let an agent explain voltage regulators, relay types, operation and applications from electronics sources, describe the named families and the Zener barrier, route mains electrical safety, and distinguish voltage regulators from transformers, rectifiers, batteries and voltage references.", "definition": "An electronic circuit or device that maintains a constant output voltage despite changes in input voltage or load, essential in power supplies for electronics, with types the registry aliases name such as linear regulators, switching regulators and integrated-circuit regulators including families like the TL431 adjustable shunt reference and various series ICs, and the Zener barrier used for intrinsic safety in hazardous areas; regulators range from simple Zener diode circuits to sophisticated switching converters. They must handle heat and, in mains and high-power contexts, meet electrical safety rules, so mains work should be done safely and by qualified people where required.", "what_it_is_for": "Maintaining a stable output voltage.", "affordances": [ "explain types and operation", "relay applications", "describe named families", "route mains safety" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Constant output voltage", "Linear or switching", "Handles input and load changes", "Thermal management" ], "appearance": "Small three-terminal chips, modules or circuits on power boards.", "visual_identification": [ "Circuit maintaining constant output voltage", "TL431, Zener barrier, various series integrated circuits", "Transformers change AC voltage; rectifiers convert AC to DC; batteries store energy; voltage references provide a precise reference rather than power" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "main types", "typical_range": "linear and switching", "unit": "list", "note": "" }, { "quantity": "TL431", "typical_range": "adjustable shunt regulator", "unit": "note", "note": "" }, { "quantity": "registry parents", "typical_range": "electronic component, regulator", "unit": "note", "note": "" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "linear regulators", "switching regulators", "shunt regulators such as the TL431", "Zener barriers" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "electronic component", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "uses", "target": "Zener diode", "why": "in simple types" }, { "relation": "is contrasted with", "target": "transformer", "why": "" }, { "relation": "is contrasted with", "target": "voltage reference", "why": "" } ], "identifiers": [], "standards_and_regulation": [ "Electrical safety standards for power supplies", "Intrinsic safety standards for Zener barriers" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Overheating and failure", "Electric shock in mains supplies", "Output faults damaging circuits" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "understand", "name": "Understand", "description": "What a voltage regulator is.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-finding", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "questions": [ { "text": "Is someone working on mains power supplies, in which case isolate power and use a qualified person where required?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "text": "What is a voltage regulator, and how does it differ from transformers, rectifiers, batteries and voltage references?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "types", "name": "Types", "description": "Named families.", "findings": [ { "id": "types-finding", "name": "Types", "description": "Types.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are linear, switching and shunt regulators, the TL431 and the Zener barrier?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific type?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "operation", "name": "Operation", "description": "Operation.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "linear", "name": "Linear", "description": "Linear regulators.", "findings": [ { "id": "linear-finding", "name": "Linear", "description": "Linear.", "questions": [ { "text": "How do linear regulators drop excess voltage as heat?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "switching", "name": "Switching", "description": "Switching regulators.", "findings": [ { "id": "switching-finding", "name": "Switching", "description": "Switching.", "questions": [ { "text": "How do switching regulators achieve high efficiency?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which sources are cited?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "applications", "name": "Applications", "description": "Applications.", "rationale": "Regulation.", "layers": [ { "id": "power", "name": "Power supplies", "description": "Power supplies.", "findings": [ { "id": "power-finding", "name": "Power supplies", "description": "Power supplies.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are regulators used in power supplies for electronics?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits power supply?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "safety", "name": "Safety", "description": "Intrinsic safety.", "findings": [ { "id": "safety-finding", "name": "Safety", "description": "Safety.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are Zener barriers used for intrinsic safety in hazardous areas?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is the information current?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "context", "name": "Context", "description": "Design.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "thermal", "name": "Thermal", "description": "Thermal management.", "findings": [ { "id": "thermal-finding", "name": "Thermal", "description": "Thermal.", "questions": [ { "text": "How is heat managed in voltage regulators?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is the information accurate?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "references", "name": "References", "description": "Voltage references.", "findings": [ { "id": "references-finding", "name": "References", "description": "References.", "questions": [ { "text": "How does a voltage reference differ from a regulator?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits voltage reference?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should linear and switching regulators be separate entries?", "Should the Zener barrier be moved to intrinsic safety entries?", "How should datasheet families be linked?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a voltage regulator, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain voltage regulators, relay types, operation and applications from electronics sources, describe the named families and the Zener barrier, route mains electrical safety, and distinguish voltage regulators from transformers, rectifiers, batteries and voltage references.", "characteristics": { "substance": "abstract", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: 442 series integrated circuits, 403 series integrated circuits, 1162 series integrated circuits, TL431, Zener barrier, 1216 series integrated circuits, automatic voltage regulator, linear regulator, Stabistor, LM317, Low-dropout regulator, battery eliminator circuit.", "12 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 38 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a voltage regulator, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "an abstraction with no physical instance", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "442 series integrated circuits", "403 series integrated circuits", "1162 series integrated circuits", "TL431", "Zener barrier", "1216 series integrated circuits", "automatic voltage regulator", "linear regulator", "Stabistor", "LM317", "Low-dropout regulator", "battery eliminator circuit" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 38 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 12 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one voltage regulator from another, and a voltage regulator from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a voltage regulator, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a voltage regulator, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a voltage regulator is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a voltage regulator, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a voltage regulator, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a voltage regulator is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a voltage regulator sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a voltage regulator, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a voltage regulator, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a voltage regulator is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a voltage regulator from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a voltage regulator, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a voltage regulator, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a voltage regulator is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a voltage regulator passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a voltage regulator between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a voltage regulator, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a voltage regulator, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a voltage regulator is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a voltage regulator, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a voltage regulator is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a voltage regulator, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a voltage regulator, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a voltage regulator is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What voltage regulator is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of voltage regulator are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is voltage regulator operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of voltage regulator and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of voltage regulator?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as voltage regulator?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a voltage regulator came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a voltage regulator and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a voltage regulator, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a voltage regulator, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a voltage regulator is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a voltage regulator is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a voltage regulator, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a voltage regulator, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a voltage regulator is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 10, "findings": 12, "questions": 32 } } } }