The Design and Construction of a General-Purpose Laboratory Data Acquisition System

The software and hardware design of a general-purpose dual-microprocessor data acquisition system is described. The hardware possesses several novel features to allow data capture at speeds of up to 600 kHz. The software provides the user with a simple but powerful interface for setting up test requirements, including a certain amount of real-time control, and for retrieving and examining the data. Two differing applications of the system are described.