Enhancement Of Freshman Engineering Laboratory Through Remote Web Based Experiments

Three remote web-based engineering laboratories were developed and implemented on a large scale approximately 500 freshman engineering students participated. Before performing the remote labs, students become proficient in the use of a general purpose engineering workstation which includes a precision DMM, function generator, high-speed storage oscilloscope, frequency counter, multiplexer/switching unit, and a precision power supply all interfaced to a controlling computer via GPIB . A fundamental feature is that each engineering workstation be accessible and controllable over the internet using only a generic browser. This strategy has three important benefits. First, since the entire workstation is internetaccessible, an arbitrary number of new remote experiments can be designed just by creating new web pages and connecting the appropriate parts and components to each workstation. Second, students and remote viewers only need a generic browser and an internet connection to fully participate in the remote laboratories. Third, the experiments can be performed on any computer platform. As a result, the Freshman Engineering lab is transformed into an "Engineering Collaboratory" in which multiple remote users can access and perform a myriad of experiments on state-of the art engineering workstations.