Heinz-Dietrich Wuttke

Fields of applications for hybrid online labs

Based on a grid concept of an interactive hybrid online laboratory we will describe different fields of applications in different learning scenarios. The infrastructure is based on a universal grid concept which guaranties a reliable, flexible as well as robust usage of this online lab. By using the REAL online lab, students are able to design control algorithms with different specification techniques to control electro-mechanical models in the online lab. Additionally, the reconfigurable rapid prototyping platform of the REAL system can be used to test all the taught topics of a given lectures in the field of digital system design. Finally, a special demonstration platform (a ball in a labyrinth on a balance plate) can be used to give the students a better feeling about the possibilities and limitations of remote control and observation via Internet and to evaluate these technologies critically. The implemented online lab infrastructure is based on the iLab architecture of the MIT, which allows to interconnect online labs and to exchange remote lab experiments among different universities worldwide.

An Online Lab to support a Master Program in Remote Engineering

Remote Engineering is one of the future directions for advanced teleworking/e-working environments not only in engineering and science (economics, informatics), but also in all other fields affecting society. In the last decade, considerable advances have been made regarding the design and development of remote and virtual laboratories, but it requires a lot of new specialists. As an attempt to improve the situation, several European universities started a joint Master Study Program in Remote Engineering (MARE) including in its curriculum a course of “Rapid Prototyping of Digital Systems” designed by the Ilmenau University of Technology in Germany. This course required an extensive use of laboratory equipment to carry out several exercises and therefore the implementation of an Online Lab turned out to be a good solution to ensure better learning outcomes.

A grid concept for reliable, flexible and robust remote engineering laboratories

Within this paper, we will describe a grid concept to realize a universal remote lab infrastructure as well as different operation modes based on this concept. This new infrastructure consists of three parts: an internal serial remote lab bus, a bus protection unit to interface the remote lab bus and to protect it from misuse and damage as well as a protection unit, which protects the physical systems (the electro-mechanical models in our remote lab) against deliberate damage or accidentally wrong control commands and which offers different access and control mechanisms. The interconnection between the Web-control units and the selected physical system during a remote lab work session (experiment) as well as the user management is done by the lab server, which also handles the webcams. The implemented remote lab infrastructure is based on the iLab architecture of the MIT, which allows to interconnect remote labs and to exchange remote lab experiments among different universities worldwide.

Using Interactive Hybrid Online Labs for rapid prototyping of digital systems

The Ilmenau Interactive Hybrid Online Lab offers several fields of application. In this article an enhancement of the existing Online Lab will be described to provide additional functionalities for a Web-based rapid prototyping of digital systems as well as the Web-based verification of such systems. For this new operation mode of the online lab a special rapid-prototyping board for digital systems was developed to fulfill the design tasks of digital systems. All the components of the rapid prototyping board will be described in detail. The implemented online lab infrastructure allows to interconnect online labs and to exchange remote lab experiments among different universities worldwide.

Automatic generation of an FPGA based embedded test system for printed circuit board testing

This paper describes an FPGA based embedded test system, designed for testing of printed circuit boards during the manufacturing process. The test system architecture is automatically generated based on a layer description, which provides the required flexibility for the generation of the test system, and for the abstraction of the test functions. The test system is composed of a software and a hardware part, and generated based on the boards properties and the specified test algorithms. The paper presents the test system architecture and automatic generation flow, with emphasis on the software generation process. The paper also includes experimental results obtained when performing an SRAM interconnection test.

A Concept for a Flexible and Scalable Infrastructure for Remote Laboratories

This paper describes a universal remote lab infrastructure. This new extended infrastructure consists of three parts: a control unit for performing practical experiments with the physical systems, located in our remote lab, a bus protection unit to interface the remote lab bus and to protect it from misuse and damage, as well as a protection unit, which protects the physical systems against deliberate damage or accidentally wrong control commands. These units are for control, interface, surveillance and protection of the connected physical systems. The general concept and setup is presented in this paper, including the possibilities and limitations of such an approach. This concept is an extension of the remote lab architecture proposed in earlier papers.

Towards a High-Level Integration of Interactive Tools with E-assessments

Over the last decade, a large number of e-assessment system and tools were developed. No matter whether they are stand-alone or integrated into learning management systems, they all have two things in common: (1) they do not consider individual aspects and (2) they do not require/encourage students to actively thinking, problem-solving, etc. The work presented in this paper focuses on the second aspect and provides a generic model that enables integrating Interactive Content Objects (ICOs) with established e-assessment systems and specifies the interactions with these objects. ICOs is the generic term for interactive tools, which do not restrict students to be passive recipients, but also engage them with material that is responsive to their actions. This results in more objective assessment findings and deeper learning, because students can learn from mistakes and make sense from unexpected situations.

A new approach for adaptive failure diagnostics based on emulation test

The paper describes a new approach of boundary scan emulation based testing for adaptive failure diagnostics using programmable logic. The motivation to speed up boundary scan based testing as well as the approach taken for this new concept and architecture are presented. With this approach the possibilities of boundary scan testing can be extended by using the available on-board resources for a faster and more real-time oriented test. The new options and benefits, as well as the necessary fundamentals of this approach are indicated. An example and first test results are given as well, to indicate the advantage of the proposed system.

Remote and Virtual Laboratories in Problem-Based Learning Scenarios

The paper describes how remote and virtual laboratories can support problem-based learning scenarios. We actually change from a traditional way of teaching, including lectures, seminars and hands-on laboratories, to a new, problem-based teaching approach. Therefore we use a developed multimedia environment. This environment consists of a set of Java applets, desktop applications and of a web based access to the hardware equipment which can be used in the classroom, for learning at home, in laboratory research and training, or for carrying out testing of students during exams. These educational tools support university courses on digital electronics, computer hardware, VLSI design and architectures, testing and design for testability of digital hardware. The tools are used to support a new approach to bachelor courses following a problem based method and organized as full-day courses.

Action-Based Learning System for Teaching Digital Electronics and Test

The Internet and multimedia open new possibilities for learning methods. We want to present a learning method uses so-called living pictures. On one hand teachers can show more complex examples and immediate demonstrate the influence of changing parameters by using computer simulated living pictures in their lessons. On the other hand students can use the same simulations on their home computer, if the living pictures are available on the Internet. We demonstrate an example of a living picture, dealing with digital electronics and test.