How to open a local electronics laboratory for remote access

1. How to open a local electronics laboratory for remote access A tutorial on the VISIR Open Lab Platform and an invitation to join the VISIR Community 1 REV 2009

2. Outline of the presentation of the VISIR Open Laboratory Platform • Introduction and background to VISIR • Demonstration of an existing VISIR Lab • The aim of the VISIR project • Overview of the Open Lab platform • How to join the VISIR project • Conclusions and further development 2 REV 2009

3. Local Electronics Laboratory for Undergraduate Education at BTH Instructor’s desk • 16 students share 8 identical workbenches • Open during 4 hour supervised classes only • Students need much more time in the laboratory 3 REV 2009

4. Background • In 1999 a remote laboratory project was started to supplement local instructional laboratories and to provide free access to expensive experimental equipment • Today laboratories in electronics, security, radio and signal processing are online and used in regular courses for students who can be on campus or off campus • At the end of 2006 a disseminating project, VISIR, was started 4 REV 2009

5. Why Starting with Laboratories for Electrical Experiments? • Instructional laboratories for electrical experiments contain the same equipment at most universities – a de facto standard • They are easy to open for online access preserving the context 5 REV 2009

6. The VISIR Open Electronics Laboratory Web Server Client PC Demonstrations Op amp Resistance Client PC 6 REV 2009

7. VISIR Benefits to Students • Free access to the experimental equipment used in the laboratory classes from anywhere • Safe experimenting within limits set by the teacher • Excellent for practising laboratory work 24/7 7 REV 2009

8. VISIR Benefits to Universities • Supervised laboratory classes for off-campus students using appropriate teleconferencing tools can be offered • The students can do much laboratory work on their own • Low-cost individaul assessment of laboratory work possible 8 REV 2009

9. The Aim of the VISIR Project • Is establishing a VISIR Community of collaborating universities/organizations further developing the platform and sharing equipment and course material • Is distributed laboratories where the workbenches are set up by members of the Community 9 REV 2009

10. The VISIR Open Laboratory Platform Software Distribution • A public subversion repository with all software modules are available (http://svn.openlabs.bth.se/trac/) • Members of the VISIR Community will be granted write access to branches in the repository • Write to the trunk is limited and will require code review REV 2009

11. Laboratory Course Administration Different roles such as administrator, teacher and student are defined and they have different access rights Time reservation for laboratory classes as well as for the students’ own experiments are provided The web interface is used to introduce courses, lab sessions, personal accounts etc. 11 REV 2009

12. Online Workbench 12 REV 2009

13. Distributed Instruments IVI compliant driver XML, TCP/IP Equipment Server side Client computer side It is possible to use a virtual front panel depicting one instrument model to control a different instrument model as long as the performance of the real instrument is equal or better than the performance of the depicted instrument. 13 REV 2009

14. VISIR Standards 14 REV 2009

15. Instrument functionality defined by IVI Foundation • 8 instrument classes are now defined • DC power supply, DMM, function generator, oscilloscope, power meter, RF signal generator, spectrum analyzer, and switch • Base Class Capabilities • common across most of the instruments available in the class • Class Extension Capabilities • groups of functions, attributes, and attribute values that represent more specialized features of an instrument class 15 REV 2009

16. Instrument drivers • VISIR recommends IVI drivers • The VISA standard is accepted too but the instrument functions should be those defined by the IVI standard 16 REV 2009

17. Virtual Instrument Shelf • A virtual instrument shelf is needed because other universities use other models in their local laboratories or want, for example, LabVIEW style front panels • It should be possible for students to select the instrument models they are used to or want to become familiar with 17 REV 2009

18. Example of Virtual Instrument shelf 18 REV 2009

19. The VISIR Switching Matrix Supports • Novices practicing wiring and experimenting on simple circuits described in instruction manuals • Advanced students testing ready-made complex circuits and using the matrix to move the test probes 19 REV 2009

20. The Switching Matrix 20 REV 2009

21. Switching Matrix Performance The function generator NI PXI-5402 generates 1 MHz square wave. The oscilloscope NI PXI-5112 displays The data Bandwidth test on a matrix with 8 boards 21 REV 2009

22. How to Join the VISIR Community and Set up a Workbench • Download the software and instructionspublished at http://svn.openlabs.bth.se/trac • Buy the PXI hardware from National Instruments • The switching matrix is commercially available 22 REV 2009

23. Competences Required to Implement a VISIR Online Workbench • Experience of analog electronics, PXI, and LabVIEW • IT experience (Web, PHP, MySQL, XML, C++, FLASH etc.) 23 REV 2009

24. Further development of the VISIR platform • Additional virtual front panels depicting instrument models used in the VISIR community • Interface to a learning management system such as Moodle • Adding new tools for communication between people in the laboratory • A VISIR grid laboratory based on web services 24 REV 2009