The Remote Access to Laboratories: a Fully Open Integrated System

An existing lab experience can be made remotely accessible in a relatively easy way. The problem is with the design of a tool which allows any kind of experience to be made remotely accessible. The complexity of this tool is out of discussion. Several universities have been working on it for years. In fact, the Huelva University presented the work “A Complete Solution for Developing Remote Labs†in the 10th IFAC Symposium on Advances in Control Education (2013). Such complete solution was the result of those universities working together. Since then, the joint-work has continued and improvements have also been achieved. Hereafter, a fully open integrated system is presented whose scope is greater than that of 2013. It offers a way to easily implement cloud services for managing the configuration and access to all type of sensors, actuators and controllers (the devices base of the any remote lab). The access proposed is secure, controlled, organized and collaborativ

Modelling of a photovoltaic array using Analog System Lab Kit Pro board

This paper discusses modelling and parameters investigation of a photovoltaic array using Analog System Lab Kit Pro board offered by Texas Instrument for instructional laboratories on Electric and Electronic Engineering. The modelling of PV array is based on representation of the current-voltage characteristic by an analogue circuit developed using the components available on the Lab Kit board. The model is applicable for instructional laboratory investigation on the array current-voltage characteristic and its performance at maximum power point. This investigation expands the portfolio of the laboratory works available through Analog System Lab Kit Pro board

CONTROLLING AND ONLINE VIDEO MONITORING OF LABORATORIES USING PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

With the involvement of graduating engineering students, a remotely accessible solar energy laboratory has been developed, in order to simulate a small photovoltaic system. The laboratory includes two photovoltaic cells, a charge controller, batteries and a dummy load. A Raspberry PI microcontroller enables to control the different inputs, measures the voltages and the currents in the circuit and provides a remote access through the web. The lab intends to be a prototype of remote lab for the University, in terms of realization costs, communication protocols and software interface. It will be used by graduate students in the Electrical Engineering courses, enabling them to perform some experiments at distance

Low-cost photovoltaic emulator for instructional laboratories

This paper discusses a simple and cheap PV emulator based on a linear power supply that does not require a source of light to conduct laboratory experiments. The emulator has been designed to underpin students' understanding the properties of PV cell V-I characteristics and the ways to maximise the output power learned from lectures, tutorial and self-studies. The emulator has been built using “on the shelf” components and tested under rated power conditions. It demonstrated a good emulation of V-I characteristics within the rated range of the sun irradiation and the temperature

Internet of Energy Training through Remote Laboratory Demonstrator

In this paper, a new learning tool is proposed to train professional figures, such as entrepreneurs, engineers, and technicians, who need to improve their skills in the field of Internet of Energy. The proposed tool aims to cover the lack of experimental knowledge on new energy systems and to layer proper skills, which are useful to deal with challenges required by smart energy management in the new complex distributed configuration of the electric power systems, characterized by demand response services. This tool is based on a small-scale laboratory demonstrator, representative of a smart rural house, equipped with a measurement and control system. This demonstrator can be remotely accessed, through web server applications based on a low cost single-board computer. Trainers can have direct experience on the main concepts related to smart grids, renewable energy sources, electrochemical storage systems, and electric vehicles, through the use of the proposed tool managed by the web software interface. Document type: Articl

Програмне забезпечення взаємодії мікроконтролера та ЕОМ у складі лабораторного стенда з дослідження функціонування сонячних панелей

Стаття присвячена розробці програмного забезпечення для взаємодії мікроконтролера та комп’ютера у складі лабораторного стенду з дослідження функціонування сонячних панелей. На основі спроектованої мікропроцесорної системи для керування позицією та моніторингу параметрів сонячних панелей розроблено програмне забезпечення для здійснення керуючих дій та отримання телеметричної інформації з допомогою персонального комп’ютера. Створено інтерфейс користувача для взаємодії з лабораторним стендом у консольному режимі. Проаналізовано подальші етапи розширення лабораторного стенду, зокрема, його інтеграцію з веб-інтерфейсом для доступу до даних про параметри функціонування та керування позицією сонячних панелей

Cost-Effective Interfaces with Arduino-LabVIEW for an IOT-Based Remote Monitoring Application

To date, research efforts have demonstrated the stimulated need for the Internet of Things (IoT) based monitoring device in their laboratory. The benefits of remote laboratories in overcoming time constraints and the disadvantages of usability of conventional laboratories are well known. In addition to the current control engineering laboratories, a remote lab that incorporates an industry-relevant method has been established to assist in the understanding of data acquisition with cost-effective platform integration. However, one of the greatest challenges is the creation of a low-cost and user-friendly remote laboratory experiment that is ideal for interacting with the actual laboratory via a mobile device. The main objective of this work is therefore to build a remote laboratory system based on the IoT using the LabVIEW-Arduino interface with the example of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) tuning scheme for the LD-Didactic temperature plant. The practical work would include the implementation of the low-cost Arduino module connecting the actual plant to mobile devices. In addition, interfaces have been built using the Blynk application to allow communication between the end user and the laboratory equipment. In line with the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0), the proposed study structure called for the digitization of the current laboratory experiment method