Remote Controlled Laboratory Experiments for Engineering Education in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Concept and Example

Abstract

The worldwide outbreak due to COVID-19 pandemic lead to a major change in the life style in general and in the education system in specific. To help contain the impacts of COVID-19, universities and schools need to strongly shift to various electronic education models such as online learning, distance learning and blended learning. One of the crucial models that support the success of distance learning especially in engineering education is the remote-controlled experimentations, which allow students to execute the required practical work in a similar way as it conducted in the physical laboratories if it is appropriately designed. This paper introduces an integrated solution for improving the remotely controlled working on the educational laboratory experiments for electrical engineering sector. The proposed solution consists of four main components: Internet of remote-controlled things that represent the required experimentation devices, cloud platform, TCP/IP Internet communication connection, and finally the control and monitoring application. A complete experiment for phasor measurement unit (PMU) system as an example is deployed in the university laboratory with its all components which is completely controlled and managed remotely from the home through Internet. PMU is installed in a prototype of electrical substation with different types of loads. All required experimental data and results are successfully obtained and controlled through the developed system with the required accuracy and performance.

Improving Material Property Understanding with Virtual Experiments: A New Approach to Teach About Mechanical Testing of Materials Using an Interactive Desktop App

“…In a period shaped drastically by the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators were required to adjust to the given circumstances via online-based teaching concepts. − This can be a challenge, especially for subjects like materials science that depend on practical laboratory experiments. In this context, for example, Müssig et al report possibilities to convey teaching contents of the area of metallic crystal structures in times of online teaching.…”

“…On the basis of these findings, the present study aimed to develop a concept for a material science lesson that connects online teaching with the fascination of real laboratory experiments. Recent papers often report mostly positive experiences. ,, This suggests that students are currently much more familiar with online content in teaching.…”

“…Recent papers often report mostly positive experiences. 1,2,8 This suggests that students are currently much more familiar with online content in teaching.…”

Remote labs in higher engineering education: engaging students with active learning pedagogy

“…The differences in characteristics between physical and online labs require reconsideration of existing lab pedagogies, including how to actively engage students and consequently promote intended academic achievement and transfer skills. Existing literature on remote labs typically provides detailed descriptions of the required technology to make physical lab systems remotely accessible (e.g., Sus et al, 2021;Mohammed et al, 2020). And although studies emphasise the need for additional technology to support student engagement and learning (e.g., Bhute et al, 2021), little evidence appears available on effective pedagogies for new forms of labs to promote student engagement and learning.…”

Herramientas Para La Experimentación Remota-Virtual-Local De Sistemas De Control en Tiempos De Pandemia

“…En (Jo, et al, 2020) los autores proponen una infraestructura para el desarrollo de prácticas de sistemas embebidos donde permiten a los estudiantes realizar control remoto, usando el software Chrome Remote Desktop, a un equipo conectado a un microcontrolador, un osciloscopio y una tarjeta de adquisición de datos. En (Mohammed, et al, 2020) los autores proponen el uso del servicio VNC (Lab, 1998) para ofrecer a los estudiantes el acceso remoto a equipos ubicados en las universidades y poder realizar medición de cargas eléctricas a través de LabView y unidades de medición conectadas a ellos. También se ha reportado el uso de recursos simulados de acceso remoto para el desarrollo de actividades de experimentación; por ejemplo, en (Khant, et al, 2021) los autores presentan el uso de la herramienta web Tinkercad para la enseñanza de los sistemas embebidos en tiempos de pandemia; en (Delgado, et al, 2020) los autores presentan el uso de las herramientas Tinkercad, FluidSIM, Factory I/O y Overleaf para el desarrollo de prácticas de laboratorio en cursos de mecatrónica; en (Canesche, et al, 2021) los autores presentan el uso de la herramienta Google Colab junto con varias extensiones para el desarrollo de prácticas de diseño digital y lenguajes de descripción de hardware lo que muestra el uso de herramientas de acceso remoto para el desarrollo de actividades prácticas en ingeniería.…”