An existing course in scientific computer interfacing will be updated to utilize modern hardware and software, and will be expanded to include students from several scientific disciplines. The course will cover the basic principles of computer interfacing and data acquisition, the physics of transducers, and signal processing, culminating in a project designed and constructed by each student. Five state-of-the art interfacing workstations designed around the VME bus, and a logic analyzer to facilitate hardware debugging will be acquired, as well as two software/hardware packages which will be used as examples of a commercial data acquisition system. These workstations will be the foundation of the project- oriented course. Students will use them every week to perform experiments in basic computer interfacing, the design and construction of ADC and DAC converters, signal processing techniques, optical and mechanical sensors and motors, high- speed data acquisition and nuclear counting techniques.
