Development of Reliable Web-Based Laboratories for Developing Countries
In online context, the design and implementation of
effective remote laboratories environment is highly challenging on
account of hardware and software needs. This paper presents the
remote laboratory software framework modified from ilab shared
architecture (ISA). The ISA is a framework which enables students to
remotely acccess and control experimental hardware using internet
infrastructure. The need for remote laboratories came after
experiencing problems imposed by traditional laboratories. Among
them are: the high cost of laboratory equipment, scarcity of space,
scarcity of technical personnel along with the restricted university
budget creates a significant bottleneck on building required
laboratory experiments. The solution to these problems is to build
web-accessible laboratories. Remote laboratories allow students and
educators to interact with real laboratory equipment located
anywhere in the world at anytime. Recently, many universities and
other educational institutions especially in third world countries rely
on simulations because they do not afford the experimental
equipment they require to their students. Remote laboratories enable
users to get real data from real-time hand-on experiments. To
implement many remote laboratories, the system architecture should
be flexible, understandable and easy to implement, so that different
laboratories with different hardware can be deployed easily. The
modifications were made to enable developers to add more
equipment in ISA framework and to attract the new developers to
develop many online laboratories.
[1] C.C. Ko, B. M Chen, J. Chen, Y. Zhuang and K. C. Tan, "Development
of a Web-Accessible laboratory for control experiments on a coupled
tank apparatus," IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 44, no. 1, pp.
76-86, 2001.
[2] J.V. Harward, J. del Alamo, V.S. Choudhary, K. deLong, J. Hardison,
S.R. Lerman, J. Northridge, D. Talavera, C. Wang, K. Yehia, D. Zych, "
iLab: A Scalable Architecture for Sharing Online Experiments",
International Conference on Engineering Education, Gainesville,
Florida, 2004.
[3] P. Bailey, "The online experiments shared architecture and the future of
web based laboratory Experiments", 2004.
[4] V.N. Gerardo, "Design and Implementation of a Feedback Systems Web
Laboratory Prototype", AUP Final Report, MIT EECS, 2004.
[5] G. Viedma, J. D. Isaac and H. L., Kent, "A Web-Based Linear-Systems
iLab"submitted to the 2005 American control conference.
[6] S. Gikandi, "A Flexible Platform for Online Laboratory Experiments in
Electrical Engineering", Master of Engineering in Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, 2006.
[1] C.C. Ko, B. M Chen, J. Chen, Y. Zhuang and K. C. Tan, "Development
of a Web-Accessible laboratory for control experiments on a coupled
tank apparatus," IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 44, no. 1, pp.
76-86, 2001.
[2] J.V. Harward, J. del Alamo, V.S. Choudhary, K. deLong, J. Hardison,
S.R. Lerman, J. Northridge, D. Talavera, C. Wang, K. Yehia, D. Zych, "
iLab: A Scalable Architecture for Sharing Online Experiments",
International Conference on Engineering Education, Gainesville,
Florida, 2004.
[3] P. Bailey, "The online experiments shared architecture and the future of
web based laboratory Experiments", 2004.
[4] V.N. Gerardo, "Design and Implementation of a Feedback Systems Web
Laboratory Prototype", AUP Final Report, MIT EECS, 2004.
[5] G. Viedma, J. D. Isaac and H. L., Kent, "A Web-Based Linear-Systems
iLab"submitted to the 2005 American control conference.
[6] S. Gikandi, "A Flexible Platform for Online Laboratory Experiments in
Electrical Engineering", Master of Engineering in Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, 2006.
@article{"International Journal of Information, Control and Computer Sciences:63246", author = "Teyana S. Sapula and Damian D. Haule", title = "Development of Reliable Web-Based Laboratories for Developing Countries", abstract = "In online context, the design and implementation of
effective remote laboratories environment is highly challenging on
account of hardware and software needs. This paper presents the
remote laboratory software framework modified from ilab shared
architecture (ISA). The ISA is a framework which enables students to
remotely acccess and control experimental hardware using internet
infrastructure. The need for remote laboratories came after
experiencing problems imposed by traditional laboratories. Among
them are: the high cost of laboratory equipment, scarcity of space,
scarcity of technical personnel along with the restricted university
budget creates a significant bottleneck on building required
laboratory experiments. The solution to these problems is to build
web-accessible laboratories. Remote laboratories allow students and
educators to interact with real laboratory equipment located
anywhere in the world at anytime. Recently, many universities and
other educational institutions especially in third world countries rely
on simulations because they do not afford the experimental
equipment they require to their students. Remote laboratories enable
users to get real data from real-time hand-on experiments. To
implement many remote laboratories, the system architecture should
be flexible, understandable and easy to implement, so that different
laboratories with different hardware can be deployed easily. The
modifications were made to enable developers to add more
equipment in ISA framework and to attract the new developers to
develop many online laboratories.", keywords = "Batched, ISA, labserver, servicebroker.", volume = "4", number = "5", pages = "1030-7", }