The project will allow the revision of an established interdisciplinary course in computer interfacing to reflect current practice in scientific and engineering applications. While the course will continue to stress concepts fundamental to computer interfacing, increased emphasis will be given to the flow of information between the computer and devices responsible for sensing and controlling experiments or processes. The use of prepackaged hardware and software components to acquire, process and display data will be introduced after presentation of the basic concepts. The student projects requiring the design and implementation of an application of interfacing will be continued and expanded to make use of the equipment. Ten small portable Tandy model 200 microcomputers will form the heart of the proposed laboratory workstations. A single IBM PC-XT and large hard disk will serve as a host to the individual workstations. This system will have enhanced capabilities for processing, storing, and displaying data acquired from each of the smaller microcomputers. The requested equipment will be used in other physics, engineering and chemistry courses including senior research in the spring semester when it is not used in the interfacing course.
