Abstract:

The pandemic of 2020-2021 had a huge impact on the world as a whole and on each individual. There is not a single sphere of human activity that has not been affected by it. On the other hand, that situation has significantly influenced the processes of digitalization in every field. For example, the distance learning has been applied as a solution in the sphere of education.

However, for technical majors the distance education has a disadvantage. Information that is already difficult to perceive has become even less accessible due to the lack of physical contact with both people and the necessary equipment.

This issue can be partially solved by application of virtual laboratories. The paper presents the results of using virtual reality tools to study radio communication channels of centimeter and millimeter waves by students of radio engineering information transmission systems academic program. This topic in the context of information transmission systems is important due to its wide application in communication and navigation systems. However, expensive equipment as well as a certain level of expertise are required to work with this band. The virtual laboratory, in its turn, allows providing a wide access for students to such equipment and gaining necessary experience.

In the article the authors share their experience of development of virtual labs to study modern radio systems with a user interface identical to real equipment from well-known world manufacturers. The labs were introduced into the educational process during the pandemic and distance learning. Within the course "Satellite communication systems" the students conducted the virtual lab "Studying the principles of operation of a radio monitoring system based on a small spacecraft" and took a survey to express their opinions.

The Unity game engine was used as the development environment, the application functionality was written in C#. The application consists of a set of "assets": scripts, 3D models, textures, and materials.

The obtained results confirm the hypothesis of the authors that this approach is useful as one of the alternative tools for gaining practical experience and skills necessary to work on real equipment. The current situation has also demonstrated the importance of this area of research and developments.

Keywords:

Radio engineering, virtual laboratory works, Unity, C#.