In this paper, the development of a highly interactive, low-cost, and personal computer based data acquisition and control system is presented. The system includes an embedded microcontroller based hardware and an open-standards software. The software uses block diagram programming as the base for the theoretical design and implementation of the control system, which makes the programming simple and fast. An important feature of this system is that it can execute an embedded control without the personal computer intervention, which facilitates the implementation of real-time control. Additionally, the system has the capacity to expand in order to create a distributed monitoring and control system by using a CAN bus as a communication interface. It is also shown in this paper the implementation of the developed system in different plants.