Development and implementation of i-Laboratory for instrumentation, sensors, measurements and controls courses

Abstract

Computing, information and communication technologies have strong impacts on education, by significantly improving the distance and online collaborative learning, via the virtual or remote experiments and simulations. One of the distinguishing features of engineering technology education is the laboratory work and hands-on experience as an integral part of the curricula. Their purpose is bringing the students closer to real situations that they may encounter in industrial settings. Instrumentation and measurement (I&M) are among the most important concepts that students learn in the course of engineering programs. Laboratory assignments illustrating these techniques provide students with learning opportunities and practical experience, encouraging sustained student interest and retention. Unfortunately, incorporating laboratory experimental student activities in engineering curricula is constrained by space, administrative and budget limitations. On the other hand online engineering practice is offering nowadays new potential for training in sensors and measurement technologies and procedures. Virtual laboratories add a significant value to engineering curricula in a variety of cases. Whether it is a complement to a hands-on experience or a substitute when a traditional lab is not feasible, virtual laboratories are a valuable educational resource. Virtual and remote-controlled experiments are originated from the attractive opportunity of exploiting the Internet advantages to control instrumentation and conduct measurement processes from any location and at any time. This project intends to provide more efficient sharing of expensive measurement equipment. We are planning to develop a set of virtual and remote-controlled measurement experiments, such as: transducer electronic data sheet creation and testing, mechanical material characteristics, acceleration and speed measurements, temperature sensor characterization, etc. Students will be able to conduct any of these experiments on their own schedule. By contrast to a traditional lab that requires multiple workstations to be placed in a physical space and attended by trained staff, i-Labs can provide the use of a workstation simultaneously to several students. Therefore it provides laboratory activities for students at a relatively low cost per user. Other important features of remote and virtual labs are: availability, security, flexibility, and portability. Our planned i-Lab allowing the users to perform real measurements, sensor tests and calibrations may be used on a wide variety of other courses with minimal administrative cost. Two strategies are planned to be used in our design and implementation: the use of proprietary languages like LabVIEW and MATLAB-Simulink and the use of standard programming languages. The success of this project in an education and research-oriented experimental facility will advance the state of art of education in the fields such as I&M, sensors and controls by contributing to new experimental concepts, and simulations, and by creating a motivating environment for the engineering practice. The i-Lab set-ups planned to be developed during this project are used in both ET undergraduate and graduate courses. They also may be used as models for the similar developments in other courses. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.