Windmill Software Ltd
Windows Engineering Software


February 2010

Windmill 6

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Data acquisition systems need to be versatile and easily expanded when requirements grow. The Windmill software suite meets these needs and has proved itself in hundreds of applications including:

  • Quality assurance
  • Research and development
  • Health and safety monitoring
  • Test and measurement

Truly Modular

Each Windmill program concentrates on doing a single job and you simply run as many programs as you need. You can run several copies of each program, which means there are no fixed limits to the size of a Windmill system. Windmill programs include logging, charting, process mimics, alarm logging, PID control and sequence control.

Windmill 6 Logger
Here Logger is showing warning alarms on a blue background
and critical alarms on a red background

For complicated projects, you could build specialised modules using a programming language like Visual Basic. Let Windmill take care of the hardware configuration and control, logging to disk, and so on. The finished system could use any of the hardware supported by Windmill.


Handles a Broad Range of Equipment

Windmill can communicate with devices over Modbus, USB, RS232, RS422 and RS485, and can transfer data over telephone and ISDN lines. It has drivers for hundreds of instruments from many manufacturers, including Allen-Bradley, Apex Engineers, Arcom, BDH, Biodata, Blue Chip Technology, Bruël & Kjær, Control Techniques, Crouzet, Data Translation, Datel, Eurotherm, Mettler, Sartorius, Siemens and West Instruments. A generic serial driver means almost any instrument with a serial port, be it RS232, RS422, RS485 or Modbus, can be linked to the system.


Hardware Independent

All the equipment monitored by Windmill is configured with one program: SetupIML. This lets you select channels, give them names, specify linearisation and scaling to your chosen engineering units, and so on.

SetupIML scans the connected hardware and creates a complete default set-up to get you started. When you edit this set-up the menus and dialogues show only those options available with your hardware, so you cannot go wrong.

All the details are stored in files and you can create a library of files for different procedures. Your chosen channel names and details are used consistently throughout the Windmill system, even when data is exported to other applications.

Example process mimic

A process mimic showing a brewery filter line


Is Windmill 6 Suitable for You?

  1. Windmill runs under Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, 98, NT or 95
  2. Supports analogue and digital input and output including:
    • counters
    • timers
    • thermocouples
    • RTDs
    • strain gauges
    • pressure transducers
    • encoders
    • environmental monitoring equipment
    • process control devices
    • laboratory instruments
  3. Supports an extensive range of equipment and communications protocols.
  4. Speeds up to a maximum of 200 samples per second with 20 or more channels, or with the Streamer module, 100000 samples per second.
  5. Alarm indication on all inputs.
  6. Supports network DDE so data can be immediately analysed by other programs (Excel for example), on other computers, anywhere on a network.
  7. No programming required; all programs are ready to run.
  8. Easy to use.
  9. Free, lifetime, technical support when purchased from our on-line catalogue or one of our recognised systems integrators.

Some Comments from Windmill Users

"This seems like the best, most versatile, and professional data acquisition/processing suite I have seen."
FK, Chalmers University of Technology

"Takes away the tedium of old fashioned data-logging and post processing by combining the two tasks into one. It is possible to run simultaneous measurement, computation and graphical analysis macros in Excel under the Windmill environment."
Napier University


Buy Windmill

To purchase the new Windmill on-line visit our on-line DAQ Catalogue. To talk to a salesperson ring +44 (0)161 833 2782, or e-mail sales@windmill.co.uk. We provide free technical support for life and a money-back guarantee if Windmill does not do what you want it to.


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Copyright Windmill Software Ltd 2003
PO Box 58, North District Office, Manchester, M8 8QR, UK.
E-mail: sales@windmill.co.uk, Tel: +44 161 833 2782
http://www.windmill.co.uk/windmill.html
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