This paper addresses the development of a data acquisition and command (DAQ) board for a 3D Crane System, as a nonlinear multi-input multi-output system that poses interesting problems for the design of efficient control strategies. Thus, the crane platform is aimed at didactic activities in control engineering laboratories. The main board design objectives have been easy operation and access for the implementation and testing of control algorithms. For validating the DAQ board, we developed and successfully tested two control structures, one with conventional proportional-integral-derivative PID) laws and one with fuzzy intelligent controllers.