The availability of commercial instrumentation has made possible great advances in many areas, but instruments have become quite expensive and limiting in the kinds, types, and amount of experimental determinations made. Consequently, in our laboratories we have made many different measurement devices ourselves, have computerized experiments and built our own instruments.<br/>During this process, we found that the true limitation was not sensors, or the measurement device, but rather the electronics and software support (“E&S”) of the measurement device. We sought to develop a high performance, inexpensive “E&S” system, one which required no special programming or electronics support, and which could be widely applied. We have now developed such a system.<br/>The system combines high performance hardware with software based on Excel® to make a high performance, very versatile addition to our lab. We use it to control experimental conditions, run the experiment, take data simultaneously, and do data postprocessing. We have used it for remote instrument control, as well.<br/>This approach has given flexibility in hardware selection, strategy of experimentation and data evaluation. It has freed us from most of the constraints of commercial instrumentation, and has let us routinely make measurements which were heretofore unavailable.  We have applied it to gas chromatography, mechanical testing, thermal studies, high performance relative viscometry, and process control.    <br/>

Alternative to commercial instrumentation

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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