Randall George Rushe
Published: 1978
Total Pages: 111
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Laboratory computers for automated data acquisition are becoming increasingly common. This report summarizes the development of a microcomputer-based data acquisition system for the Air Force Materials Laboratory Thermal Flash Test Facility. The system is based on a Digital Equipment Corporation LSI-11 microcomputer and acquires multiple channels of data from nuclear simulation experiments on aircraft components. Comprising the lowest level of a rudimentary hierarchial network, the system transmits the data to a larger minicomputer system for storage, from where it is subsequently retransmitted to a mainframe system for reduction and plotting. Software for the data acquisition system is modularly structured and written primarily in FORTRAN to facilitate modifications by the user. Basic hardware for the system is discussed, and the program algorithms and structure are examined. (Author).