Microcomputer based instrument control system using GPIB

This article presents an inexpensive way of design and implementation of microcomputer based instrument control system using GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus IEEE 488 standard). The GPIB interface card has been implemented with the Intel three chip set: 8291, 8292, 8293. This GPIB interface card is connected to the backplane of 8086 based microcomputer system, to control and to communicate withthe three GPIB compatible instruments: FLUKE (5 1/2 digit DMM), KIKUSUI (60 MHZ) Oscilloscope and IWATSU (SM-2701) FFT Analyser. The required software driver package has been developed using 8086 assembly language programming. This controller can program any compatible instruments through GPIB to perform various tests, set the parameters as applicable to the instruments. Using this controller various projects related to microprocessor based instrumentation can be implemented. This controller can also be a part of an Automated Test System (ATS).