The suggestion that you look at PLC's is a good one, depending on what you mean by "Real Time". I have implemented many Intel/DOS-based solutions precisely because PLC's are very rarely anywhere near real-time. TI, for instance, has one of the fastest PLC's out, but the conversion times on their A-D cards is typically 250ms+. Doesn't do a whole lot of good to be able to read a port a jillion times/sec if the data there is old news. Makes for real smooth averaging, though!
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The suggestion that you look at PLC's is a good one, depending on what you mean by "Real Time". I have implemented many Intel/DOS-based solutions precisely because PLC's are very rarely anywhere near real-time. TI, for instance, has one of the fastest PLC's out, but the conversion times on their A-D cards is typically 250ms+. Doesn't do a whole lot of good to be able to read a port a jillion times/sec if the data there is old news. Makes for real smooth averaging, though!