Reconfigurable weblabs based on the IEEE1451 Std. Ricardo Costa - [email protected]@isep.ipp.pt Gustavo Alves - [email protected]@isep.ipp.pt Mário Zenha

Reconfigurable weblabs based on the IEEE1451 Std.

Ricardo Costa - [email protected]

Gustavo Alves - [email protected]

Mário Zenha Rela - [email protected]

IEEE EDUCON’1014 - 16 April 2010

Madrid, Spain

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Ricardo Costa - [email protected] - http://www.dee.isep.ipp.pt/~rjc

Presentation outline

IntroductionLaboratory workLaboratory environmentsWeblabs (Remote Labs) IEEE 1451.0 Std.Conclusions

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Introduction (1/3)

Technology evolution

Social changes People are adopting technology in their lives !

Higher education

i) influence this trend

ii) must encompass the technological evolution

traditional principles replaced by emergent principles reaction of education to the new technological trends

(new theories and learning methods)

• Introduction• Lab. work • Lab. environments

• Weblabs • IEEE 1451.0 Std.• Conclusions

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Introduction (2/3)

Technology is lowering barriers for

accessing information

Interaction between people is increasing

(more and easier collaboration)

Network Learning: connections with people / information for learning support.Connectivism: information and students/teachers are seen as nodes > knowledge.

new attitude towards learning(know-what > know-where)(epistemology > ontology)

untrustytrusty

irrelevant

fragmented information

coherent learning

interpret organize

link

node (information) (documents / people)



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Introduction (3/3)

face-to-face instruction (classroom teaching; laboratory experiments)

web-based instruction (e-learning)(internet access; interactive and multimedia resources; learning management systems; virtual and remote experimentation)

personalized learning ( web 2.0; smart devices; personal learning environments)

time line

multimedia instruction (educational cd,dvd; multimedia courseware)

computer-mediated instruction ( simulations; interactive courseware, etc.)

active and collaborative learning (concurrent desgin; team work)

PC

Internet

Changes in the traditional in-classroom: i) extended, ii) partly replaced, or iii) entirely replaced.

Internet and its associated services fulfill basic requirements:i) dissemination, ii) discussion, iii) discovery, iv) assessment, v) laboratory work.



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Group activities

Documents

Practical work

Images

Animations

Theoretical work

Etc. Laboratory work

ResearchEtc.

Exercises

Laboratory Work

IV I

IIIII

Feeling

Thinking

Doi

ng

Wat

chin

g

preferred learning styles

for S&E students

51%

Lec

ture

s

Hom

ewor

k

Lab

exp

.

Rea

ding

32%

15%

2%

survey results of how to

learn better

Fundamental in S&E courses

From: Soysal, O. A, “Computer Integrated Experimentation in Electrical Engineering Education Over Distance,” ASEE 2000 Annual Conference, Saint Louis, MO, Jun. 2000.

Preferred solution for learning in S&E courses



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Laboratory Environments

Virtual labs

Traditional labs

RemotelabsA

cces

s ty

pe

Resource type

Hybridlabs

realvirtual

rem

ote

loca

l

… also named as WEBLABSThey are a very important solution for conducting experimental/ laboratory work.



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Weblabs (Remote Labs) (1/2)

Internetusers

Web + Instrumentation servers

module

instrumentinstrument

Unit Under Test

Traditional weblab

Current situation:•remote laboratories follow specific and distinct technical implementations

(several hardware and software architectures);•no standard solution for creating remote laboratory infrastructures.

Problems:•collaboration among institutions is weak, because it is difficult the reuse and interface different instruments/modules (I&M) used by a specific experiment;•some institutions do not apply weblabs in their courses because they don’t have the required technical skills;•costs may be high, since creating a weblab infrastructure requires a PC and associated software, together with several instruments (eventually comprehending several futures not required in a specific experiment), and;•an architecture based on a single PC poses constraints for running several experiments,

requiring scheduling techniques.



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Weblabs (Remote Labs) (2/2)

Internet

users

FPGA-based board

instrument

Unit Under Testmodule

PC

module

instrumentinstrument

Unit Under Test

i) Reconfigurable weblab

ii) Traditional weblab

Traditional vs Reconfigurable weblabs architectures.

Distributed architecture proposed for FPGA-based weblabs.

IEEE 1451.0 Std.

FPGA-based board

Internet

FPGA-based board

Web Server

I&Mfiles

web interfaces

Unit Under Test

users



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Provides a common basis for members of the IEEE 1451 family of standards to be interoperable. It defines the functions that are to be performedby Transducer Interface Module(TIM) and the commoncharacteristics for all devicesthat implement the TIM. It specifies the formats for TEDS. It defines a set of commands to facilitate the setup and control of the TIM as well as reading and writing the data used by the system. APIs are defined to facilitate communications with the TIM and with applications.

IEEE 1451.0 Std. (1/2)

IEEE Standard for a Smart Transducer Interface for Sensors and Actuators – Common Functions, Communication Protocols, and Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) Formats;

Approved in 2007



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IEEE 1451.0 Std. (2/2)

TIM(Transducer Interface Module)

TIM(Transducer Interface Module)

HTTP API (chapter 12)

Transducer services API (chapter 10)

Module Communication API (chapter 11)

Module Communication API (chapter 11)

Low level commands (chapter 7)

TEDs- can be placed inside the transducer or

located remotly (chapter 8)

Control, access to the TEDs, control the Transducer

Channels, etc.

(…) Transducer (sensors and

actuators) channels

Defined by another standard (e.g. IEEE 1451.2 – connection point-to-point)

TEDS(Transducer Electronic Data Sheet)

NCAP(Network Capable

Application Processor)

TEDS(Transducer Electronic

Data Sheet)

(…)



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Conclusions

Higher education must encompass the technological evolution;

S&E courses require experimental work (theory alone is not enough);

Currently, remote labs are well accepted in education, namely in S&E courses; by i) comparing different parameters and ii) analyzing related costs, remote labs are seen as good resources for S&E courses (a complement).

But… there are specific and distinct technical implementations (no standard !);

The proposed solution (adopting the IEEE 1451.0 Std.) will facilitate the standardization of a remote laboratory infrastructure:

•increases collaboration, •reduces costs, •simplifies developments, •facilitates access managements, •promotes better infrastructural stability, etc.



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Thanks for your attention !

Acknowledgments: