High speed PC-based data acquisition systems

A number of PC-based data acquisition development systems are commercially available to users. These systems read and write data in real-time from embedded control systems, and then store and display that data for use by the end user. However, many of these systems falter when pushed into the realm of high speed data acquisition, which in this paper is defined as less than 0.5 second sampling. They not only falter in this regard, but also fail to achieve many of the goals established herein for a robust open system. This paper discusses goals and components for PC-based data acquisition systems which monitor high speed processes such as drive and tension control.