Graphical user interface for blackbody control

Extended blackbody radiation sources are routinely used for calibrating radiometric instruments in the mid-wave and long-wave infrared bands. Commercial blackbody sources often offer a communications link to allow a standard PC to control and monitor the blackbody radiation source by sending commands to the blackbody controller. The purpose of this project was to develop a software suite in Matlab to communicate with commercial blackbodies to allow the temperatures to be set either manually or automatically with respect to the ambient temperature. The software was expanded to record cavity and set temperatures over time in order to evaluate the stability of the blackbodies and controller over a wide range of operational settings.