Running Control Engineering Experiments Over the Internet

Abstract An important, issue in engineering education is the availability of laboratory resources for student use. Using a computer network to link geographically distant students with laboratory teaching resources makes expensive and innovative equipment available to more students. A working environment is now available where remotely-located students can develop and run controllers on experiments in the Oregon State University (OSU) control engineering laboratory. Remote users can watch the experiment in real time from a remote workstation, hear the sounds in the laboratory, and interact with other laboratory users. Remote power control, network reliability, and safety features are integrated into the experimental hardware and software design.