Data Acquisition for detector prototypes at the SSCL

We report on the design and implementation of a Data Acquisition System for experimental setups within the Physics Research Division of the Superconducting Super Collider. The design of the system is driven by the requirements of flexibility, modularity, portability, and safety. We emphasize off the shelf hard- and software such as Motorola 68040 and RISC based processors, standard data links, and accepted packages such as X-windows and the real-time operating system VxWorks. We discuss both the quantitative and qualitative performance of our system and conclude with a brief review of current research and development in areas such as slow controls and Data-Machine Independence.