A Compact Remote Data Acquisition System Submitted by

Microcontrollers are special purpose computers. They are usually small and low cost to do one thing or a few things well. It is programmed to suit the needs of the users. Microcontrollers are equipped with various abilities. They can be used for data acquisition, processing and storage. Microcontrollers nowadays can even transmit data over long distance via Ethernet. In the project, the transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) and dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) are used in programming the microcontroller to acquire analog signal and transmit data over NUS network that acts as a DHCP server using TCP/IP. The objective of programming microcontroller to these functionalities is to establish a vibration sensing remote data acquisition and storage system. This system is able to sense physical vibration and transmit data via Ethernet to a central monitoring computer for storage. A proper setup of electrical devices in the laboratory is required to create physical vibration and to produce a voltage range operational to microcontroller. Dynamic C is the programming language used in microcontroller while Ruby is used for windows programming on the central monitoring computer. Various attempts and stages are implemented during the development of the system. And one similar vibration sensing system using a microcontroller produced from the same company as the project is discussed.