Library of Labs REV Conference Bridgeport, June 24th, 2009Dr. David Boehringer EU Project: Library of Labs LiLa: Library of Labs An EC-funded Project for

Libr

ary

of L

abs

REV Conference Bridgeport, June 24th, 2009 Dr. David Boehringer

EU Project: Library of Labs

LiLa: Library of Labs

An EC-funded Project for the Dissemination of Remote and Virtual Laboratories forNatural Sciences and Engineering

Dr. David Boehringer, Dr. Thomas RichterUniversity of Stuttgart

Co-funded by theCommunity programme

eContentplus

Libr

ary

of L

abs


University of Stuttgart

At a glance

• A research university with a focus on Engineering and the Natural Sciences• 19,500 students enrolled at 10 faculties• An international range of study programs including 7 Master’s courses taught

in English• An interdisciplinary profile with key competences in the fields of Engineering,

Natural Sciences, Humanities, Economics, and Social Sciences

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Program Objectives

Data on LiLa

• Duration: 05/15/2009 – 05/14/2011

• Consortium: 11 partners (8 universities and 3 enterprises) from

seven European countries

• Funding by the EC: 2 Mio Euro

• Funding by partners: 2 Mio Euro

Co-funded by theCommunity programme

eContentplus

Libr

ary

of L

abs


LiLa Partners

The LiLa-Consortium:

Universität Stuttgart (Coordinator) Germany

Technische Universität Berlin Germany

Technische Universiteit Delft Netherlands

Linköpings Universitet Sweden

Universität Basel Switzerland

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Spain

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece

University of Cambridge UK

Computational Modelling Cambridge Ltd UK

Sun Microsystems Germany

MathCore Engeneering AB Sweden

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Project Motivation & Goals

Analysis of the Status Quo:

• About 30,000 enrolled students in Berlin, 20,000 in Stuttgart, 10,000 in Basel, 86,000 in Thessaloniki

• Undergraduate engineering courses with more than 500 participants• Equipment for hands-on experiments is limited & limited laboratory capacity• Equipment for specialized graduate students becomes more and more

expensive, but is used only part time• Industry demands graduates with experiences in remote-controlled processes

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Content: Remote Experiments

Definition of Remote Experiments

What is a Remote Experiment?

• Real experiments in a laboratory• Remotely controlled• Investigation of real objects• Electronic data exchange possible

Raman Spectroscopy

Controls

Meter

Sample Selection

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Content: Virtual Laboratories

What is a Virtual Laboratory? • Computer program using „real“ lab

metaphor• Idea: Design, setup and carry out

experiments • Simulation framework• Simulate real physical devices• ...or theoretical concepts and objects

Definition of Virtual Laboratories

Image Denoising

Controls

Meter

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Program Objectives

Objectives of LiLa:

1. Create a technical and organizational framework for the mutual exchange of experiments across Europe

2. build a portal for the access to virtual laboratories, remote experiments & other media

3. make them accessible by a retrieval system

4. exploit them with an access control and booking system

5. guide users with a tutoring system

6. integrate labs into a virtual 3D world and provide a framework for online collaboration

7. disseminate the network across Europe

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Program Objectives

Retrieval system

• Based on common sets of meta-data

• Integrated into library catalogues

• Use of link resolver technology

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Program Objectives

Access control

• User management for access to specific labs & experiments

• Booking system for use of remote-controlled experiments

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Program Objectives

Tutoring system

• Guide users with a tutoring system

• Give them an intelligent and adaptive help

• Customization for different languages and cultural backgrounds

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Program Objectives

3D world

• Wonderland (Sun Microsystems)

• Java based

• Environment for collaboration

• Integrate 3-dimensional visualizations

into a virtual 3D world

Libr

ary

of L

abs


MetaMeta

Meta Meta

MetaMeta

Meta

MetaMeta

Technical Architecture

3D-World

VirtLab CVirtLab A

VirtLab B

LAB - D

LAB - E

LAB - F

Cooperative use of experiments

and devices

Group Management & Acess Control

Content & Service Discovery Tier 2

Tier 1

Tutoring System Tier 3

Java Interface Web Browser Tier 4

MediaA

Media B Media C

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Organizational Aims

Dissemination of Content and LiLa Community

• build a federation for the sharing of virtual laboratories on an open source

basis and a licenced access to remote experiments

• share content on the basis of mutual agreements

• provide documentation, training and information material on experiments

and the LiLa framework

• disseminate the network across Europe (and beyond)

• invite additional participants (providing and/or consuming content)

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Didactical aims

How can LiLa assist university teachers?

• Integrate the use of REs and virtual labs into student’s curricula

• Provide documentation of “best practice” of curricular integration

• Provide didactical guidelines

• Provide training material for online courses

Libr

ary

of L

abs


Simplified Project Plan

Project Administration

Virtual World Prototype Testing&Debugging

Task Def'n Interfaces Course Creation Models/Testing

Meta Data Def'n 2D & Annotation 3D Embed. Testing

Def'n Criteria Technical Ev. Didactical Ev.

Expl. Plan Web Publ. Training Mat. & Embedding, Conf

Simplified Project Plan

5/2009 5/2010 5/201111/2009 11/2010

Libr

ary

of L

abs


LiLa Interfaces

Interfaces of and to the LiLa System

A. Virtual world interface (2D): November 2009

B. Metadata definition: January 2010

C. Tutoring System Interface, Virtual world interface (3D), Access Control

Module: May 2010

D. Interfaces to portal: February 2011

5/2009 5/2010 5/201111/2009 11/2010

A B C D

Libr

ary

of L

abs


LiLa Contact

How to contact LiLa

Project Coordinator David Boehringer

[email protected]

Technical Coordinator Thomas Richter

[email protected]

Project Manager Tilmann Robbe

[email protected]

coming soon: http://www.lila-project.org

Libr

ary

of L

abs


The End

Thank you for your attention!

Documents

Library of Labs REV Conference Bridgeport, June 24th, 2009Dr. David Boehringer EU Project: Library of Labs LiLa: Library of Labs An EC-funded Project for