Abstract:

The paper describes an Educational Demonstration System (EDS) that is used to visualize selected experiments during the teaching of engineering subjects. This system is designed to promote imagination as the ability to correctly interpret theoretical conclusions and/or the results obtained in the simulation process. EDS is being developed as a larger project with the direct participation of students of the study program Computer Engineering. The EDS system is conceived as a set of elements communicating with the central computer via an esp-now wireless network. The basic elements include: a module for sensing and generating electrical quantities (voltage, current), modules for sensing selected physical quantities (acceleration, gyroscope, temperature) and a large 7-segment display for visualizing numerical values. The system concept is versatile, and the system can also be used as a rather universal data acquisition system. The entire system is based on ESP32-S2 modules, which are low-cost and energy-efficient microcontrollers (MCUs) with an integrated Wi-Fi subsystem. The technical design of these modules and their basic features are described in the paper. The system is open in the sense that it is possible to extend its basic elements with additional sensors based on the requirements of the teachers of each subject. The control of the system is provided by an application running on the lecturer's computer. It consists of several configurable windows in which the actual values of the sensed variables as well as the measured waveforms can be displayed. All windows can work in "always on top" mode, which allows to display both the presentation and the information from the EDS system on the data projector at the same time. The use of the system is currently being validated in the course "Embedded Systems Development" with about 100 students in the bachelor's degree. The first experiences of using the system are summarized in the conclusion.

Keywords:

Demonstration system, data acquisition system, experiment visualization, teaching of engineering subjects.