Abstract:

The topic of the education of students and pupils in the countries of the European Union continues to be relevant, even after the pandemic subsides.
The training of students is associated with the perception of a wide range of data, which requires their presentation in an interactive form, which is the basis of the quick and effective perception and assimilation of the relevant thematic material.

In the conditions of distance learning, the information provided must be accessible and easy to understand. The new virtual technologies provider in many cases replaces the direct contact of the students with the leading teacher of the relevant engineering discipline that is studied in higher engineering universities.

A microprocessor smart device has been developed to measure current, voltage, electrical energy, power, power factor, and phase angle. The measurement of current and voltage is carried out employing a current and voltage sensor, which converts them into analog voltage signals, which are fed to a microprocessor of the Arduino Nano series.

The use of this smart device in the training of students in the discipline "Electrical Engineering" and related disciplines in the Faculty of Physics and Technology of Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski" and Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", makes the learning of the complex theory to be presented interestingly and appropriately for the students. The training becomes a visual practical-applied demonstration, i.e. how all digital devices work and in what manner the monitoring results will be processed and analyzed in real-time. This results in providing a wider range of tools that students can use to present the resulting measurement data.

Understanding the fundamentals and principles of operation of digital electricity meters in the education of students is strongly advocated to develop their intellectual and design abilities for their future professional development in this field of industry. In this way, opportunities are provided for developing skills, and competencies and enriching their knowledge in the field of electrical engineering and understanding of microprocessor and microcontroller technology.
For the microcontroller used in the smart device, a large number of free applications exist on the World Wide Web. Students can independently procure the necessary components to design and build a digital electricity meter on their own under the supervision of the lead teacher. As such, it is an opportunity for future development of the created device to be presented as a virtual tool for distance learning.

An additional component in the thus-created smart virtual device is the communication module, which is implemented using the ESP8266 Wi-Fi microprocessor. The module sends the data to a smartphone, which enables students to monitor and analyze the data received from this module at any time. Sending the data set can be done directly or by using a network. For this purpose, students develop a graphic application for ANDROID. It is possible to send the phone program link in the form of a barcode, which is photographed from the students' computer screen or portable device.

Keywords:

Computer-based measurement, smart data acquisition system, free software, Arduino Nano, ESP8266 Wi-Fi, Android.