Interactive Learning of Control Concepts Using Easy Java Simulations

This paper deals with the creation of interactive computer simulations that can be used as virtual laboratories in the field of control engineering education. We introduce EJS, a Java-based tool designed to help create interactive scientific simulations, which has been extended to provide support for authors in this field. Creating interactive simulations using EJS involves the following three steps: writing the mathematical model, building the graphical user interface (GUI), and linking the GUI elements to the model's variables. Models of control engineering can be specified either using the programming support provided by EJS or by using Matlab/Simulink, which can then be controlled from EJS. We show two examples of how this second mechanism works.