Design and implementation of the feedback systems Web laboratory

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-103).This thesis describes the design and implementation of a remote web-based laboratory (WebLab) for MIT's 6.302 Feedback Systems course. The WebLab system proposed consists of a three-tiered architecture where client and server communicate with each other via web services. On the front end, the user interacts with the system through the Lab Client's graphical user interface implemented as a Java applet. On the back end, the Lab Server processes experiment requests from users and runs them at the laboratory site. Once the experiment has been completed successfully, the Lab Server sends the measured data to the Lab Client for display on the screen and further manipulation by the user. Furthermore, the WebLab is designed to take advantage of the iLab framework for provision of authentication and authorization services, as well as common administrative tasks, such as user management and logging of experimental results.by Gerardo Viedma Núñez.M.Eng

Design and Implementation Issues in a Contemporary Remote Laboratory Architecture

MIT has been developing the iLab Shared Architecture (ISA) for remote laboratories since 1998. It has been based around concepts and implementation issues that were in vogue at the time. Recent developments in network architectures and implementation techniques offer opportunities to re-examine the original assumptions, and to contemplate expanded objectives. This paper explores one possible future being explored at The University of Queensland for a remote laboratory architecture based upon the original ideals of MIT’s ISA

Implementation of Time and Frequency Response Analysis for Web-Based Laboratories

ABSTRACT The University of Dar Es Salaam has developed the web-based laboratory for Time and Frequency Response Analysis. The purpose of this web-based laboratory is the utilization of real data from real experiments, in terms of instrumentation and experimental circuits, rather than simulations. The use of webbased laboratory came after realizing the difficulties imposed by the traditional laboratories. Web-based laboratories allow students and educators to interact with real laboratory equipment located anywhere in the world at anytime. This paper presents the implementation of web-based laboratory of single stage common emitter, resistor capacitor coupled amplifier using National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrument Suite platform. Two components are deployed: time response analysis and frequency response analysis. The experiment allows students to carryout time and frequency analysis of the amplifier. The modular can be used to any microelectronic circuits to carry out any time response and frequency response analysis. Both the time response and frequency response analysis results of the amplifier are validated

Collaborative development of remote electronics laboratories in the ELVIS ilab

Remote laboratories represent 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, remote laboratories can be a valuable educational resource. Since 1998, the MIT iLab Project has worked to increase the quality and availability of remote laboratories. Using the iLab Shared Architecture, developers of new labs can leverage a set of generic support functions and then share those labs easily and with minimal administrative cost. More recently, the iLab Project, in partnership with Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, Makerere University in Uganda and the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania and in coordination with the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC), has focused on building iLabs around the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (ELVIS) platform. The ELVIS is a low-cost, small-footprint unit that contains most of the common test instruments found in a typical electrical engineering lab. By coupling the ELVIS with iLabs, a variety of remote electronics laboratories can be built and shared around the world. Using this common hardware/software platform, participants in the iLab Project at different levels of the educational spectrum have developed experiments that meet their individual curricular needs and are able to host them for use by other peer institutions. Not only does this increase the variety of ELVISbased iLabs, but it also spurs the creation of teams that can then build other, more diverse iLabs and substantively participate in project-wide collaborative development efforts. Through such coordinated efforts, iLabs can provide rich practical experiences for studentsMaricopa County Community College District. Maricopa Advanced Technology Education CenterCarnegie Corporation of New YorkMicrosoft CorporationNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (award 0702735)Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Cente

Flexible platform for online laboratory experiments in electrical engineering

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-83).This thesis describes a project that is part of the collaboration between MIT and universities in sub-Sahara Africa to exploit the value of iLabs in the developing world. The main goal of this project is to develop software that will exploit the value of the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (ELVIS) system in Africa by integrating it into the iLabs shared architecture, while taking into consideration the special circumstances surrounding the deployment of iLabs in Africa such as bandwidth limitations, limited access to networked computers and lack of computer skills on the part of students. Integrating ELVIS into iLabs will facilitate the rapid deployment of new online labs to augment the Physics and Electrical engineering curricula in these universities. iLab development efforts for this project are being done in parallel with developers at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Nigeria. One of the main goals of the new system is to fill the gap of laboratory experiences in introductory level electronics and physics classes, which are hardest hit by the lack of equipment due to their typically large enrollment. Our goal is to support the development of electronic circuit building skills by providing an environment where students can easily try different circuit configurations before submitting experiments for execution. We are therefore investigating new iLab client user interface designs that will enable students to create and edit circuit schematics from provided electronic components. Our ELVIS iLab design will also formalize and simplify the process of creating and administering such labs for instructors, thereby speeding up the deployment of new labs in an environment where software development skills are not at a premium.(cont.) This will be achieved by recycling many of the components that are currently behind the success of the microelectronics weblab, which have already been adapted before for new iLabs. Besides reusing existing software, the project hopes to make a major contribution towards enhancing students experiences with iLabs through its new interactive client design.by Samuel Gikandi.M.Eng

Scheduling services and security ticket token services in iLab interactive services

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-66).The iLab architecture allows students to execute laboratory experiments remotely through internet. It supports three different kinds of experiments: batched, interactive and sensor-based. The iLab Interactive Experiments architecture includes the following servers and services: the Interactive Service Broker (ISB), the Experiment Storage Service (ESS) and the Lab Server (LS). In addition, students execute interactive experiments by running a Lab Client (LC). In order to support interactive experiments which require scheduled access, the iLab interactive architecture envisions scheduling servers and services which enable students from different campuses to reserve time periods to execute experiments. Since the user side and lab side require different scheduling functionalities, a user-side scheduling server (USS) and a lab-side scheduling server (LSS) are introduced in the iLab Interactive Services to manage reservations. In the first part of this thesis, the philosophy of the scheduling services design and the implementation will be illustrated in detail. In dealing the security issues in the iLab interactive architecture, the complexity of the higher level authentication between iLab processes increases when one considers collaboration between domains. In second part of this thesis, I present a Security Token Service (STS) scheme for using WS-Security to optimize the cross-domain authentication in the iLab interactive architecture. The scheme uses the brokered authentication with a security token issued by the STS. The STS is trusted by the web applications and web services in the iLab interactive architecture to provide interoperable security tokens. A security token is used to convey the credential information and the proof of a relationship with the broker, which can be used by the service to verify the token. A comparison between the STS scheme and the current General Ticket scheme is summarized.by Tingting Mao.S.M

Interoperability of Remote Laboratories Systems

There has been growing interest in, and development of, remotely accessible laboratories as a mechanism for improving access and flexibility, and enabling sharing of facilities. Differences in focus, philosophy, approach or domain have led to quite different technical solutions in supporting remote laboratories. Whilst this diversity represents a significant strength in terms of the ability to explore different issues and support diverse applications, it does however potentially hamper the sharing of labs between different institutions. Investigation into interoperability between two remote lab platforms has realized a need for a common application protocol to achieve the goals remote labs aims to provide. We describe our approach to providing a bridge between two current remote laboratory architectures Labshares Sahara and MITs iLabs and report on the issues that arise with regard to the protocol translations

Expanding the capabilities of the ELVIS iLab using component switching

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 63).iLabs are online laboratories that allow users to access, control, and perform real experiments remotely through the Internet. Users are able to access laboratory experiments whenever and wherever they want, bypassing the problem of acquiring expensive equipment and waiting in long queues to use the equipment. iLabs allow students to complement their theoretical calculations and results with real data, providing them with a better understanding of engineering concepts. The ELVIS iLab was developed using the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite, a low cost, all-in-one electronics workstation that can be software controlled. ELVIS iLab is currently in the second version and this thesis explains the modifications made to the first version to add an additional power supply and switching capabilities. These changes increase the quantity, flexibility, and variety of experiments that can be created and provides the possibility of more challenging assignments for students. It also facilitates easier sharing between courses and institutions.by Bryant J. Harrison.M.Eng

ELVIS iLab

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2008.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-76).iLabs are remote online laboratories that allow users to perform experiments through the Internet. As an educational tool the iLab platform enables students and educators, who do not have access to laboratories, to complement their theoretical knowledge by carrying out experiments remotely on equipment located anywhere in the world and at any time of the day. Students perform experiments on actual instruments allowing them to get real data, instead of relying on simulations. The iLab project has been deployed in 3 universities in Africa using the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrument Suite platform which is a cheap all-in-one electronics workstation for electronics experiments. This thesis describes an increase in the functionality available on the current version of the ELVIS iLab in order to enable a wider range of experiments to be run on the platform. The functionalities explored include adding two arbitrary waveform generator channels and bode analyzer for frequency domain analysis, which was not possible in the previous designs.by Adnaan Jiwaji.M.Eng

A versatile internet-accessible electronics workbench with DC domain experimentation and troubleshooting capabilities

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 83).iLabs are online laboratories that give students access to various experimental setups enabling them to conduct experiments based on real equipment via the Internet, remotely from any part of the world. The MIT iLab Project is dedicated to the proposition that iLabs can enrich science and engineering education by greatly expanding the range of experiments that students are exposed to. Using iLabs students complement their theoretical calculations and results with real data, providing them with a better understanding of a wide range of engineering concepts. Most recently, the iLab Project has focussed on building remote laboratories around the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (ELVIS), a cost-effective, all-in-one electronics workstation. This thesis documents my efforts in extending the ELVIS iLab framework by enabling the investigation of the Direct Current domain through the addition of a new instrument, the Digital Multimeter. Using an augmented version of switching, this new instrument provides students with real-time, dynamic circuit testing and troubleshooting capabilities, unprecedented in an iLab. This significantly enhances an iLab's value as a versatile educational tool and represents a considerable step forward in bridging the gap between conventional and remote laboratories.by Rahul Shroff.M.Eng