Abstract:

This paper presents our experience in using different technologies to implement remote laboratories for educational purposes within the frame of the Bachelor in Automation and Industrial Electronics Engineering of the University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. It is our aim to promote future engineers whose expertise goes beyond the theoretical approach, helping our students to consolidate their knowledges more easily from the beginning to the end.

For that purpose, and due to the increasing number of students and the limited number of laboratory resources, an alternative solution is the implementation of remote laboratories that allows the students to access the practical platforms from everywhere, just having a PC with access to the Internet. This way, they can remotely test the different exercises proposed for specific subjects using the experimental platforms available, devoting the time required to guarantee the assimilation of knowledges but reducing the physical occupation of the laboratories and increasing the performance of the platforms.

Two different web technologies are considered in this work: Matlab Web Server and Easy Java Simulations. The requirements for the Matlab Web Server technology are: a) in the laboratory, a PC with Internet conection, an Apache server, Matlab with Matlab Web Server, Simulink, the Data Acquisition Toolbox and the Real-Time Windows Target Toolbox, a data acquisition board, a web cam and the experimental platform; b) in the remote place: a PC with Internet conection and a web explorer. The requirements for the Easy Java Simulations technology are very similar, just including a Java platform in the remote PC.

With Matlab Web Server, it is possible to simulate a fixed Simulink model remotely, showing the results in table or graph formats. It is also possible for the user to introduce and change the parameters of the model, representing the results graphically. And finally, our main approach is on the a real conection with an experimental servomotor, controlling the whole platform from the remote PC.

With Easy Java Simulations, it is possible to simulate a fixed Simulink model and to conect to the experimental platform, also showing the results in the remote PC.

The study and comparison of the results from applying both technologies are presented and discussed in this paper, showing the main experimental results obtained from our experience and outlining the following steps for the final set up of the remote laboratory.

Keywords:

Remote laboratory, web technologies, Matlab Web Server, Easy Java Simulations, experimental platform.