The goal of the project was to design a low cost microprocessor system for laboratory use. A general purpose microprocessor board was conceived that could be used in a card type system or with the special purpose mother board, which would give the microprocessor board protection from the students, and which would conveniently distribute signals through breadboard terminals for connection to external circuitry. This thesis focuses on the development of the system, both in terms of hardware and software. The project's goals have all been achieved; forty microprocessor systems were built, and they are presently being used in the laboratory. The bundled hardware and software package gives the user access to the equivalent of a small development system that provides a user-friendly environment, at a fraction of the cost of any commercially available development system.