In gyroscopic devices controlled by Euler mechanics or Euler angles, gimbal lock is caused by the alignment of two of the three gimbals together so that one of the rotation references (pitch/yaw/roll, often yaw) is cancelled. This would require a reset of the gimbals using an outside reference. It may also be described as the situation when all three gyros hit the limits of their ability to move within the sensing mechanism - they hit hard stops and stop moving around.