Microprocessor-based instrument

While most of the microprocessor-based instruments are limited to a single input channel, in some cases, a second channel is incorporated in the analyzer. However, this second channel generally is limited to input from a tachometer, or a once-per-revolution input signal. This second channel cannot be used for vibration-data capture. 

Most of the microprocessor-based instruments are designed to handle steady-state vibration data. Few have the ability to reliably capture transient events such as rapid speed or load changes. As a result, their use is limited in situations where these occur. 

OIC Analytical Instrument supply the 4460A purge and trap concentrator. This is a microprocessor-based instrument with capillary column capability. It is supplied with an autosampler capable of handling 76 sample vials. Two automatic rinses of sample lines and vessel purge are carried out between sample analyses to minimize carry-over. 

A microprocessor is ideally suited for CC. In our laboratory a microprocessor based instrument, a correlator, has been developed which meets all the mentioned requirements for CC. Details can be found in ( ). 

The filter version of the method is a truly continuous process, as opposed to the batch process that the iterative representation implies. Furthermore, no approximation is necessary in deriving the filter version. The output of the filter is precisely the same as that of the basic iterative constrained software method. Bearing in mind that only a modest lag results, one may think of it as a real-time implementation. In an alternative approach, a laboratory computer might apply a purely software version of this filter to spectra continuously as data are acquired. The filter may also be packaged in firmware as part of a microprocessor-based instrument. Other applications also suggest themselves. 

The Introduction of Microprocessor-Based Instrumentation for the Measurement of Occupational Exposures to Toxic Substances... 

One commercially available sensor array analysis system, offered by Mosaic Industries [51], is Rhino , a microprocessor-based instrument with an array composed of discrete, resistive gas sensors. An artificial neural network processes sensor inputs and relates them to patterns established by training the instrument with gas components and mixtures of interest for a specific application. In principle, each system is customized for an application by the choice of sensors and the gas detection needs. Potential applications for this system are limited by the availability of suitable sensors and the complexity needed for discrimination. 

Conventional infrared spectrometers are known as dispersive instruments. With the advent of computer- and microprocessor-based instruments, these have been largely replaced by Fourier transform infrared (Fllk) spectrometers, which possess a number of advantages. Rather than a grating monochromator, an FTIR instrument employs an interferometer to obtain a spectrum. 

A fluorosensor for monitoring blood gases and pH in an extracorporal loop is commercially available [125]. Arterial or venous oxygen and carbon dioxide pressure, pH, and temperature can be determined continuously during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. The system consists of a microprocessor-based instrument, bifurcated fiber-optic cables, and a disposable sensor head with fluorescent spots sensitive to the respective analytes. 

Ganapathy, G. and Kondraske, G. V. 1990. Microprocessor-based instrumentation for ambulatory behavior monitoring. /. Clin. Eng. 15(16) 459. 

FIGURE 78.4 Major components of a specific microprocessor-based instrument (Human Performance Measurement, Inc. Model BEP I) for measurement of a selected subset of information-processing capacities incorporating high-intensity LEDs for visual stimuli and large contact area, fast touch sensors to acquire responses (made by the upper extremity) from the subject under test (semicircle radius is 15 cm). 

Developments in microprocessor-based instrumentation completely changed the situation. Nowadays, nearly all commercial instruments - potentiostats and galvanos-tats - are digitally based, which means that the programming of an almost infinite variety of step and pulse waveforms has become relatively easy to carry out. This opens up a multitude of exciting possibilities to the experimentalist, since he can adapt the applied waveforms to the kinetics and mechanism of the electrode reaction under study, so long as there... 

The Metrohm 646 VA Processor is another microprocessor based instrument. Used in tandem with the 647 VA Electrode Stand and 675 VA Sample Changer, this system is capable of performing automated data acquisition, including the use of the standard additions method. Data analysis features include smoothing and differentiation, and a peak shape analysis routine that performs independently of the base current. Pulse polarographic techniques that can be performed include dp, which can be optimized for reversible and irreversible systems staircase, with current measurement during the final 20 ms of each current step and Barker square wave, which employs a waveform composed of five square wave oscillations superimposed upon a staircase, with currents measured for 2 ms at the end of each half cycle of the second, third and fourth oscillations. The 1988 price of this instrument is 14,000. 

Wist, A. O., and Meiksin, Z. H. (1986). Electronic Design cf Microprocessor Based Instruments and Control Systems, pp. 287. Prentice Hall, New York. 

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