RemoteLabs Platform

This paper reports on a first step towards the implementation of a framework for remote experimentation of electric machines ? the RemoteLabs platform. This project was focused on the development of two main modules: the user Web-based and the electric machines interfaces. The Web application provides the user with a front-end and interacts with the back-end ? the user and experiment persistent data. The electric machines interface is implemented as a distributed client server application where the clients, launched by the Web application, interact with the server modules located in platforms physically connected the electric machines drives. Users can register and authenticate, schedule, specify and run experiments and obtain results in the form of CSV, XML and PDF files. These functionalities were successfully tested with real data, but still without including the electric machines. This inclusion is part of another project scheduled to start soon

On Using the Cloud to Support Online Courses

The increasing interest of online learning is unquestionable nowadays, with MOOCs being taken by thousands of students. However, for online learning to go mainstream it is necessary that professors perceive that the effort required to prepare and manage an online course is manageable. Today, a myriad of inexpensive tools and services can be used to produce and manage online courses with unprecedented ease and without distressing the professor. For that, this paper proposes an architecture based on Cloud services that simplifies the process of managing an online course, from delivering on-demand fully customized remote laboratories to communication automation for student engagement and feedback gathering. This approach has been applied to produce, distribute and manage an Online Course on Cloud Computing with Amazon Web Services. The paper describes the methodology, tools and results of this experience to point out that it is possible to deliver online courses with automatically provisioned labs, with minimal management overhead, while still providing a high quality learning experience to a worldwide audience.Moltó, G.; Caballer Fernández, M. (2014). On Using the Cloud to Support Online Courses. Frontiers in Education Conference. 2014:330-338. doi:10.1109/FIE.2014.7044041S330338201

Cloud Based Remote FPGA Lab Platform: An Application of Internet of Things

IoT (Internet of Things) is the next generation of the Internet. The main goal of IoT is to connect each and every physical object to the Internet Cloud. This concept is introduced by bringing IoT technology to the laboratories, making expensive laboratory equipment available on-cloud for real-time experimentation. In this paper, an on CLP (Cloud Laboratory Platform) is presented by employing the concept of IoT to the academic experimentation environment. The CLP allows a rapid deployment of an online laboratory system enabling students and researchers to perform actual experiments on the on-Cloud laboratory equipment using a web interface. A web interface for end users to access front end of the system. This interface was developed for login purposes so that any user can perform experiments from anywhere. The interface also provides options for comments and feedback. Moreover, this research contribution also facilitate users to test their designs and record observations in real-time on the equipment. For demonstration purposes, a remote lab has been developed for high-tech Xilinx FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) development boards, namely Spartan-II and Spartan-III. This project aims to provide students a new tool to enhance their learning experience and encourage them to test their theoretical knowledge in practical applications

An introduction to the SCOUT-AMMA stratospheric aircraft, balloons and sondes campaign in West Africa, August 2006: rationale and roadmap

A multi-platform field measurement campaign involving aircraft and balloons took place over West Africa between 26 July and 25 August 2006, in the frame of the concomitant AMMA Special Observing Period and SCOUT-O3 African tropical activities. Specifically aiming at sampling the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, the high-altitude research aircraft M55 Geophysica was deployed in Ouagadougou (12.3° N, 1.7° W), Burkina Faso, in conjunction with the German D-20 Falcon, while a series of stratospheric balloon and sonde flights were conducted from Niamey (13.5° N, 2.0° E), Niger. The stratospheric aircraft and balloon flights intended to gather experimental evidence for a better understanding of large scale transport, assessing the effect of lightning on NOx production, and studying the impact of intense mesoscale convective systems on water, aerosol, dust and chemical species in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The M55 Geophysica carried out five local and four transfer flights between southern Europe and the Sahel and back, while eight stratospheric balloons and twenty-nine sondes were flown from Niamey. These experiments allowed a characterization of the tropopause and lower stratosphere of the region. We provide here an overview of the campaign activities together with a description of the general meteorological situation during the flights and a summary of the observations accomplished

Spreading remote lab usage: A system — A community — A Federation

Experiments have been at the heart of scientific development and education for centuries. From the outburst of Information and Communication Technologies, virtual and remote labs have added to hands-on labs a new conception of practical experience, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education. This paper aims at describing the features of a remote lab named Virtual Instruments System in Reality, embedded in a community of practice and forming the spearhead of a federation of remote labs. More particularly, it discusses the advantages and disadvantages of remote labs over virtual labs as regards to scalability constraints and development and maintenance costs. Finally, it describes an actual implementation in an international community of practice of engineering schools forming the embryo of a first world wide federation of Virtual Instruments System in Reality nodes, under the framework of a project funded by the Erasmus+ Program.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

On quantifying the value of simulation for training and evaluating robotic agents

Un problème récurrent dans le domaine de la robotique est la difficulté à reproduire les résultats et valider les affirmations faites par les scientifiques. Les expériences conduites en laboratoire donnent fréquemment des résultats propres à l'environnement dans lequel elles ont été effectuées, rendant la tâche de les reproduire et de les valider ardues et coûteuses. Pour cette raison, il est difficile de comparer la performance et la robustesse de différents contrôleurs robotiques. Les environnements substituts à faibles coûts sont populaires, mais introduisent une réduction de performance lorsque l'environnement cible est enfin utilisé. Ce mémoire présente nos travaux sur l'amélioration des références et de la comparaison d'algorithmes (``Benchmarking'') en robotique, notamment dans le domaine de la conduite autonome. Nous présentons une nouvelle platforme, les Autolabs Duckietown, qui permet aux chercheurs d'évaluer des algorithmes de conduite autonome sur des tâches, du matériel et un environnement standardisé à faible coût. La plateforme offre également un environnement virtuel afin d'avoir facilement accès à une quantité illimitée de données annotées. Nous utilisons la plateforme pour analyser les différences entre la simulation et la réalité en ce qui concerne la prédictivité de la simulation ainsi que la qualité des images générées. Nous fournissons deux métriques pour quantifier l'utilité d'une simulation et nous démontrons de quelles façons elles peuvent être utilisées afin d'optimiser un environnement proxy.A common problem in robotics is reproducing results and claims made by researchers. The experiments done in robotics laboratories typically yield results that are specific to a complex setup and difficult or costly to reproduce and validate in other contexts. For this reason, it is arduous to compare the performance and robustness of various robotic controllers. Low-cost reproductions of physical environments are popular but induce a performance reduction when transferred to the target domain. This thesis present the results of our work toward improving benchmarking in robotics, specifically for autonomous driving. We build a new platform, the Duckietown Autolabs, which allow researchers to evaluate autonomous driving algorithms in a standardized framework on low-cost hardware. The platform offers a simulated environment for easy access to annotated data and parallel evaluation of driving solutions in customizable environments. We use the platform to analyze the discrepancy between simulation and reality in the case of predictivity and quality of data generated. We supply two metrics to quantify the usefulness of a simulation and demonstrate how they can be used to optimize the value of a proxy environment

Labore in der Hochschullehre

In der Hochschullehre ist das Labor als Raum des praktischen Lehrens und Lernens in den technischen Fächern ein zentraler Bestandteil der Curricula. Damit der "Lernort Labor" einen positiven Beitrag zum Kompetenzerwerb der Lernenden leisten kann, müssen didaktische, organisatorische und sowie technische Gestaltungsfaktoren neu betrachtet werden. Was brauchen Labore, um zu einem effektiven, zukunftsfähigen Lernort zu werden? Wie kann sich Laborlehre mit den aktuellen Möglichkeiten der Digitalisierung weiterentwickeln? Die Autorinnen und Autoren geben Antworten auf diese Fragen. Der erste Teil des Sammelbandes beleuchtet das Thema Labordidaktik unter den veränderten Kompetenzerwartungen. Die Beiträge des zweiten Teils befassen sich mit der aktuellen und zukünftigen Entwicklung von Cross-Reality-Laboren als Einzelangebote sowie als Plattformen und Netzwerke. Bedingungen für das Gelingen - und für das Misslingen - von Cross-Reality-Laboren sind das zentrale Thema des dritten Teils, der besonders auf die infrastrukturelle und organisationale Ebene blickt und untersucht, wie diese Laborform technisch verlässlich und ökonomisch nachhaltig in die Lehre integriert werden kann. Der Sammelband richtet sich an Lehrende in ingenieur- und naturwissenschaftlichen Studiengängen, die sich mit der Gestaltung, Weiterentwicklung und Durchführung der Laborlehre befassen sowie an Hochschuldidaktiker:innen, an Leitungen und Mitarbeitende in der Hochschulverwaltung sowie in technischen Verbänden

A survey of good practice in control education

This paper gives a focussed summary of good practice taken primarily from engineers who are responsible for teaching topics related to systems and control. This engineering specialisation allows the paper to give some degree of focus in the discussions around laboratories, software and assessment, although naturally many of the conclusions are generic. A key intention is to provide a summary document or survey paper which can be used by academics as a start point in studies of what is effective in the discipline. It is also hoped that such a summary will will be useful to engineering institutions in drawing together and disseminating open access resources that are freely available to the community at large