DISTRIBUTED FUNCTION PROCESSOR SYSTEMS FOR SPECTROSCOPY LABORATORY

The distributed function processor system is one of the recent trends in laboratory automation to cope with the exponential increase of the workload in analytical laboratories. Three types of the system configuration mainly employing microprocessors have been developed for small-scale spectroscopy laboratories. Target data sources in connection with these system approaches are spectroscopic instruments related to molecular spectroscopy, which include the UV/visible spectrophotometer, the IR spectrophotometer and the fluorescence spectrophotometer. In order to utilize the limited microprocessor power without any deterioration of its flexibility and expandability, considerable attention is always paid to finding the pertinent allocation of functional tasks. At present, these systems for analytical spectroscopy are exhibiting satisfactory capability in the author's laboratory. The design concept might be readily applicable to any other analytical laboratories.