The article describes the implementation of IoT technology in the teaching of microprocessor technology. The method presented in the article combines the reality and virtualization of the microprocessor technology laboratory. A created IoT monitoring device monitors the students’ microcontroller pins and sends the data to the server to which the teacher is connected via the control application. The teacher has the opportunity to monitor the development of tasks and student code of the program, where the functionality of these tasks can be verified. Thanks to the IoT remote laboratory implementation, students’ tasks during the lesson were improved. As many as 53% (n = 8) of those students who could improve their results achieved an improvement of one or up to two tasks during class. Before the IoT remote laboratory application, up to 30% (n = 6) of students could not solve any task and only 25% (n = 5) solved two tasks (full number of tasks) during the class. Before implementation, 45% (n = 9) solved one problem. After applying the IoT remote laboratory, these numbers increased significantly and up to 50% (n = 10) of students solved the full number of tasks. In contrast, only 10% (n = 2) of students did not solve any task.

IoT technology is gaining more and more popularity in practice, as it collects, processes, evaluates and stores important measured data. The IoT is used every day in the work, in the home or smart houses or in public areas. It realizes the connectivity between real world and digital world which means, that it converts physical quantities of the real world in the form of analog signals into digital numbers stored in clauds. It is essential that students gain practical experience in the design and implementation of the IoT systems during their studies. The article first describes IoT issues and communication protocols used in IoT generally are closer described. Then the design and implementation of an educational model of IoT system - Weather station with the ThingSpeak cloud support is described. The created IoT model interconnects microcontroller programming, sensors and measuring, cloud API interfaces, MATLAB scripts which are useful to analyses the stored data, Windows and Android application developing.

The paper presents analyses of the implementation of IoT in the patent technology of the remote measuring laboratory (VMLab). The technology allows to create a new electrical connection between different devices, where the connection diagram was not defined before. This may be done remotely around the world. To begin with, an application of this technology as a remote measuring laboratory is presented and described. Analyses of the possible application of IoT technology in the Remote Measurement Laboratory (VMLAB) with a final design are also presented. The research focuses on an efficient way to retrieve measured values synchronized over the Internet from multiple measuring devices and controllable devices, without an Ethernet or Wi-Fi interface from the manufacturer. The analyses may also be useful when implementing an additional IoT approach to existing systems.

No abstract

No abstract

The article describes the principles based on which it is possible to obtain energy from renewable sources more efficiently. The principles use the conventional DC-DC interleaved buck converter based on the common electronic component types and the control strategy. A novelty of such a proposed solution lies in the methods which are not new, but with the right combination, better results can be achieved. The resulting method can be implemented into various topologies where the highest efficiency for wide input power is required. In case of the renewable energy sources where the power can vary hugely during the day, the proposed method can be implemented. Therefore, the article provides several steps, from calculation through simulation to experimental results that brings reader close to understanding of a such proposed solution.

The letter deals with the methodology for determining the optimal number of phases of a multi-phase DC to DC buck converter from the point of view of its maximum efficiency. It also analyses the impact of individual parameters of the converter and the used components on the number of these phases.

The paper deals with a new method of design of digital pulse generator, which is specially designed for multiphase converters. The advantage of this control method lies in its applicability to the microcontrollers. The generator is capable of generating the PWM pulses for a variable number of legs in the range of 1-10. In the article, the results from 6 legs connection are presented. By the utilization of the several legs, the generator can generate pulses with phase shift and frequency of 50 kHz. The size of the phase shift depends on the number of legs. The paper describes the functions of the individual parts of the generator, which are shown schematically. The simulations and experimental models were built and measured to verify the theoretical assumptions. The paper contains also the PCB design and practical construction notes.