With the new generation of programmable digital signal processing hardware and the recent development in computer-aided design methods, a new approach to the design of signal processing instruments, intelligent sensors, and instrumentation systems is now possible. The work will design and build a complete instrument development system for the fast turn-around design of portable and field instruments. The system will consist of two components, a line of generic programmable hand-held instrumentation hardware and a computer-aided instrument design (CAID) package that will be used to develop the application software. Most existing electronic instruments are targeted to a narrow range of specific applications. The main reason for this trend is the great diversity of instrumentation problems and the lack of powerful programmable hardware that can meet demands of a sufficiently wide variety of applications. Two end products of this technology will be: multifunctional, cartridge-programmable instruments targeted for a broad range of common instrumentation problems; and the application-specific, field-programmable instruments developed by the end users.
