wille@frith.egr.msu.edu (02/25/90)
I am putting together a research workstation for a major project
at Michigan State University and need some help in choosing a
computer to serve as the platform. The workstation will be used
to obtain and process images and thermocouple data, and will
serve simultaneously as a motion controller. I have identified 3
different systems (with appropriate peripherals) that fulfill the
requirements: an A2500/30, an IBM 386, and a low-end color
SPARCstation. I have cost information (including educational
discounts) for these systems, but lack the experience to evaluate
the relative performance of these machines in order to determine
the best cost/performance value.
The most critical and time-consuming task will be the image
processing, which will involve dividing one grey scale image by
another (in floating point) and performing convolutions. Cost,
of course, is important, but speed is equally important. Due to
the availability and low cost of AT compatible data acquisition
(DA) and motion controller (MC) boards I have decided that an AT
compatible bus is necessary. Frame grabbing, and genlocking
capabilities are also required.
Here are my proposed configurations:
A2500/30 IBM 386 (w/AT Bus) SPARCstation
AT BridgeBoard USA Video Genlock/ Ethernet to
Flicker Fixer Frame Grabber IBM AT which
SuperGen Genlock or Targa M8 has same set-up
Frame Grabber (IBM MC and DA as IBM 386.
(IBM MC and DA boards inside) <---------
boards in Math Coprocessor
AT slots)
I am aware that there are data acquisition boards for the Amiga,
but I need one that has cold junction temperature compensation
for thermocouple data, and I haven't seen any motion controller
boards for the Amiga. I can get a Sparc for about 7k.
Any insight into this problem would be greatly appreciated
(including options I have not considered). We quite often have
VIP's touring our lab, and it would be a great opportunity to
show off the capabilities of the Amiga. I must make a decision
soon, so please respond as soon as possible.
Thanks, Jeff Wille (wille@frith.egr.msu.edu)
<<< Will Amiga make it possible? I hope so. >>>kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu (Kent D. Polk) (02/27/90)
In article <6593@cps3xx.UUCP> wille@frith.egr.msu.edu () writes: >I am putting together a research workstation for a major project >at Michigan State University and need some help in choosing a >computer to serve as the platform. The workstation will be used >to obtain and process images and thermocouple data, and will >serve simultaneously as a motion controller. [...] >I am aware that there are data acquisition boards for the Amiga, >but I need one that has cold junction temperature compensation >for thermocouple data, and I haven't seen any motion controller >boards for the Amiga. I can get a Sparc for about 7k. 1) If I remember correctly there are many iSBX thermocouple boards around. Use ASDG's Twin-X -> 2 iSBX boards per. (Ok Perry, there's my promo, now how about that GPIB device driver :^) 2) There are many rs-232 based motion control boxes also. Check them out. If you want to use the Compumotor stuff & it is low speed, you might want to just the XT bridgeboard & save a slot & some money. 3) Developers and edu institutions get darned good price breaks on Amiga's also. >Any insight into this problem would be greatly appreciated >(including options I have not considered). We quite often have >VIP's touring our lab, and it would be a great opportunity to >show off the capabilities of the Amiga. I must make a decision >soon, so please respond as soon as possible. re - VIP's. I have found that they are PROJECT oriented, not BOX oriented, unless it happens to be the same box they have on their desk. BTW, you might stay in touch. We have been working around the edges of several projects similar to this & will be diving in shortly. From the initial small projects that I have used an Amiga on (2500/20) I have been very pleased with the results. I would say that the Amiga is in the unique position of being pretty much the only PC class machine available with an included real-time graphics oriented OS around. Yes, I know 'real-time' varies, but projects which have been beyond the scope of 25 MHz 386 PC's I have been able to accomplish with my 2500/20 with an amazingly small amount of effort. Now the learning curve is a different matter though :^) While I'm on the subject, is anyone interested in realtime waveform processing? If so, (and are serious) drop me a note. ==================================================================== Kent Polk - Southwest Research Institute - kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu Motto : "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing" ====================================================================