Integrated engineering workstation using the NeXT Step operating system

The authors outline the progress and experiences to date on the development of an automated laboratory workstation configuration funded by the National Science Foundation Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement Program, (NSF-USE-9051175). This workstation was developed at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville using the NeXTStep Unix Mach-based object-oriented operating system. This networked workstation configuration is designed to increase efficiency of the laboratory sessions by automating the data acquisition process and permitting students to analyze data in laboratory session at the workstation. The automation, the ease of data acquisition, and the programmability have provided the students the time to explore and the opportunity to expand their horizon. The authors discuss types of experiments that lend themselves well to automation, review the network configuration and software, and describe both the positive and negative results with this approach.<
>