Work-in-Progress: SiLaRR: Installing, Deploying on Internet, and Using a Robotics Laboratory Remote or in the Classroom with a Few Clicks

In a technological society, as the present, teachers and educators should use all the tools at its disposal to extend education beyond the physical classroom to the borders of a laboratory. With that goal three years ago started a research project whose main idea established researching and finding a system that would use easily a robotics laboratory, both remotely and in classroom. Since the philosophy of this project was to have as easiest as possible the installation and start-up of remote robotic laboratories, this work has focused on finding those existing alternatives within the free software and open hardware, and to integrate them into the system whenever has been possible, or, to develop specific tools, always using the philosophy of free software and open hardware. The aforementioned easy installation of robotics laboratories comes from the effort to disseminate knowledge not only from an academic level, but through schools, high schools, and businesses or even from individuals themselves whose have robotics as a hobby. Not everyone involved in education have knowledge of electronics, web development, communications, but several of them have knowledge about robotics and many want to help others to acquire such skills in real time using their robotics equipment through the provision of them as laboratories. But at the same time the robotic equipment must maintain its capacity and functionality for use in a classroom laboratory if necessary. For this, with SiLaRR, the intrusion into systems of the robotic equipment has been reduced to the minimum. With that idea in mind it has been developed this system. As much as possible, the control and interaction with the robotic equipment has been made using low cost hardware or, directly, via software. Efficiency, reuse, flexibility and scalability have been the main features of this process. Introduction The expansion and usefulness of remote laboratories in the educational environment is well known. The result of this work was called SiLaRR (System Integration for Remote Robotics Laboratories, for its acronym in Spanish). The following engineering factors and technologies must be having in account when we are targeting the integration of robotic equipment in remote laboratories: communications, software development, web development, hardware control, integration of electronic equipment, send and get services to data collection services, databases, queue management access, and many others. The results have demonstrated that the system has a wider application in new areas, not only in the field of robotics and can be used for different kind of laboratories. Generalization has been shown as another characteristic of this system. This research has helped to expand the knowledge on robotics using real time remote laboratories from anywhere in the world with a simple P ge 26771.3 Internet connection and a connected device ranging from a smartphone to a personal computer. Remote laboratories allow the use of them for students from anywhere in the world accessing and using laboratories from mobile or static devices through Internet. However to create and develop a remote laboratory requires knowledge from different disciplines that use to make it difficult to develop and deploy them on Internet. SiLaRR is a system developed to facilitate this complete process. SiLaRR is designed to install, configure and deploy robotic equipment and electronics laboratories. The system, designed for Windows operating system, allows a fast and easy way to connect laboratories with a hardware dongle; in this case Arduino UNO and deploy them on Internet. The objective pursued with SiLaRR is helping to generalize the deployment of remote robotics and electronics laboratories online. Thus the number of remote laboratories available will be increased and the students will have more and new tools to improve and continue their distance learning. Difficulties and technologies to develop a remote laboratory There are many ways to develop a remote laboratory of robotics and electronics, but throughout this article we will refer to only low cost technologies, using free software and open hardware. From the point of view of usability, a remote laboratory must have tools that allow it an efficient management of access and users, a multimedia system that allows users to see what happens while they are using and an adequate and safe control of the robotic or electronic equipment on it. We analyze each of these factors and their complexity. Access management: Requires a good knowledge of databases and implementation of safe system to ensure registration of users and laboratories, assignment of roles, booking of laboratories, loading useful data for learning analytics, etc. Of the different systems on the market, MySQL is an open option, and can perform this function efficiently. Major problem is that administrator has to know how to use, install and configure it. Multimedia systems: The simplest is to have one or more IP cameras providing visibility of the laboratory. Once you decide how to use them, you must provide the integration of the laboratory controls on the website, and deploy it. To do that, you may consider streaming technologies or integration options in HTML5. Again, these options require knowledge of programming and web development skills. Control of the laboratory: Each laboratory is different, which also has different needs and requirements of control. Those require developing an interface for controlling the robotic equipment or electronics, on an user friendly way. This requires developing a user interface using; for example; tools like PHP, JavaScript and communication protocols that allow the robot connects to the server. Again adequate knowledge to plan, develop or P ge 26771.4 implement these systems is needed. Anything seen above complicates greatly that a user without advanced knowledge of programming and hardware can deploy a laboratory easily. Plug & Play philosophy for remote laboratories In recent years it has spread increasingly Plug & Play philosophy. This philosophy is particularly noticeable in Windows OS. Which user can install and configure hardware or software using only an installation interface and pressing an "Ok" button, has enabled both computers and mobile devices can be used by a large number of users without advanced computer or electronics skills. SiLaRR continues this philosophy and moved it to remote laboratories. Through an integrated system (Figure 1), SiLaRR allows a user without programming skills can install a robotics or electronic laboratory by pressing several "Ok" buttons and connecting hardware used an Arduino UNO Figure 1. The architecture of SiLaRR system covers all the steps needed to deploy a laboratory easily and quickly. Guided installation mechanism: The system has integrated an Installation Wizard will act P ge 26771.5 as a path, asking you different questions and showing you screens that allow you to configure items such as database or access to laboratory. This mechanism installed on the PC administrator the necessary tools to deploy remote laboratory on Internet and manage it. Configuring remote laboratory: A suite of integration allows the user, also by a Configuration Wizard, connect the remote laboratory system and install and manage data base locally to control the whole system. Automatic deployment on the Internet: The system finally allows deploy the laboratory on Internet with a user interface that, from that moment, allows you to manage the database and laboratory on local and online. In addition, SiLaRR allows configure and install unlimited remote laboratories, facilitating the creation of a pool of accessible and manageable laboratories on Internet through a single centralized real-time system and control remotely by one or more administrators. Universal remote laboratories During 2014 SiLaRR has been tested in schools of different levels, universities and colleges. While in the university environment is easier to find people with adequate knowledge of programming, not the case in schools, where often an amateur professor of electronics or robotics develops a laboratory on classroom for their sessions, but do not know how to deploy it on the Internet and how to manage it in an easy way. It is in these cases when SiLaRR is a practical and simple option. Following Install Wizard messages, teacher, administrator or robotic hobbyist can connect a computer to the system, generate a user database and deploy them on Internet. The tests were conducted with teachers from different educational areas with different skills. The result was in any case a correct installation of laboratory testing; a robot arm; and the only differences were reflected in a little more time in cases where teachers have less knowledge of computer/electronics. Regarding the use of the system by the students, all of them accessed the system through a login/password traditional login and they could manipulate and control the robotic or electrical equipment both as a group; leaded by the teacher, or individually in slots of 15 minutes of duration or through a pre-booking system integrated into SiLaRR and that can be configured by the administrator and managed using the software. To achieve the universalization of system we must consider several issues that will affect directly the degree of use of the system: Cost: On SiLaRR we are talking about free software and open hardware; Arduino UNO. That means that the cost of using this system to integration of laboratories is mostly P ge 26771.6 reduced, making it more attractive for training or educational environments. Ease of use: Plug & Play SiLaRR philosophy minimizes user interaction with the system, limiting it to accept or reject the options offers by Install Wizard that will show during the installation process. Reuse of equipment: SiLaRR is a not intrusive system and allows reuse robotic or electronic equipm