Laboratories are an inherent element of technological innovation qualifications, as functional experiments are crucial for learners to purchase the competencies and capabilities that they will have to have all through their foreseeable future qualified progress. Providing this finding out in a digital structure is a single of the problems posed by the recent COVID-19 pandemic—a problem that distance universities have been addressing for years. RLAB-UOC is a distant laboratory built and formulated by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) that enables college students in the Faculty of Computer system Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications to perform useful experiments with true electronic and communications gear anyplace, at any time. A new article released in the scientific journal Electronics has described the traits of the laboratory, and analyzed the students’ gratification making use of a form of experiment that has taken spot over the past six semesters.
“The most important success exhibit that the students’ views are really good, and that it is feasible to do remote experimentation with remarkably elaborate and high priced gear and devices, like these in electronics and communications laboratories, in a 100{0841e0d75c8d746db04d650b1305ad3fcafc778b501ea82c6d7687ee4903b11a} online environment, integrating the idea and sensible classroom in the same environment. This improves the finding out practical experience and the college students receive the useful and expert techniques they need,” pointed out Carlos Monzo, a researcher in the School of Personal computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications at the UOC, and the major creator of the review. Other scientists and customers of school also took section in the exploration: Germán Cobo, David García, José Antonio Morán and Eugènia Santamaria.
Managing an digital circuit remotely
The case research of the RLAB-UOC, which has been used by hundreds of learners because its inception in 2012, was carried out for Electronic Electronics, an superior study course on the Bachelor’s Diploma in Telecommunications Systems and Services Engineering (GETiST). In distinct conditions, it is centered on an experiment with a circuit managed by an FPGA, a programmable digital system physically positioned at the UOC. College students can hook up from anywhere with an world-wide-web link, using a command system to access a authentic FPGA board and do the job remotely with the circuit, whilst viewing the effects of their do the job by using a webcam.
The students subsequently answered a questionnaire to fee the perceived high quality and usefulness of the remote laboratory and their viewpoint of the use of actual devices as opposed to the simulations that are also made use of in other experiments all through the study course. The success of the study display that students charge the laboratory and doing the job with real equipment ‘very positively’. They also believe that it would be helpful to prolong the use of this laboratory to other programs.
Building this sensation of currently being immersed in a authentic job was a single of the most vital troubles in the development of this technology. “The review demonstrates a distinct case in point which offers the composition of a subject in which principle and follow exist side by side, and the students rate it quite positively. It was also really vital for us to avoid the emotion from remaining very similar to functioning with a simulation, which we obtained with the layout of the laboratory and the experiments carried out,” pressured the researcher.
A patented technological innovation
The advancement of this remote laboratory has been accompanied by a patent to defend a engineering for carrying out a variety of experiment mostly similar to the style and design and assembly of analog electronics circuits in a thoroughly on the web surroundings. “Its main characteristics are that it allows things with two and 3 poles (resistors, capacitors, coils, transistors, and so forth.) to be related quickly and remotely, which offers students the adaptability to execute the assemblies they want almost. The creation also allows the feasible experiments to be scaled, so that the program can be expanded,” stated the researcher.
The types of experiments that have been executed have evolved around time and they have been adjusted, updated or made to meet up with the students’ academic wants. “The aim is to be capable to offer you the most advanced qualifications with experimental desires, having into account the absolutely remote character of our scientific studies,” pointed out the researcher.
Dwelling laboratories
The UOC also delivers other options in buy to address this have to have to have out useful experiments: digital simulations and household labs. “When physical access to the gadgets is necessary, the university student is despatched products like Lab@Household. This is a different UOC creation, in which the college student can manipulate digital products and parts in situ, and it has also been remarkably rated by learners, as we showed in a different latest posting,” concluded Carlos Monzo.
Carlos Monzo et al, Distant Laboratory for Online Engineering Education and learning: The RLAB-UOC-FPGA Circumstance Examine, Electronics (2021). DOI: 10.3390/electronics10091072
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
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A distant laboratory for performing experiments with real electronic and communications devices (2021, July 1)
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