Developing a remote laboratory at TAMUQ based on a novel unified framework

Abstract

In order to benefit teaching engineering courses while sharing resources with other universities and colleges, a remote laboratory has been successfully developed based on a novel unified framework. The laboratory is established through a collaborative effort between three universities which are Texas A&M University Qatar (TAMUQ), University of Houston (UH) and Texas Southern University (TSU). Two remote engineering experiments are designed and implemented in the off-site laboratory for teaching purposes, and a generic scheduler is developed for managing the distance operations. End-users can remotely operate or view realtime procedures through most current web browsers on any PC or portable device without firewall issues and the need for a third party plug-in. Student survey data are collected from a mechanical engineering course teaching by using the off-site laboratory at TAMUQ. The survey data are also presented and analyzed in the paper.