A Java/Matlab-based environment for remote control system laboratories: illustrated with an inverted pendulum

In this paper, a novel environment is described that provides 24-h-a-day access to a Web-based lab for the remote control of different didactic setups. The control of an inverted pendulum is used to demonstrate the use of such an environment. The main attributes of this Web-based lab are: 1) the on-line interactivity with the didactic setup, 2) the possibility of defining different experiments by using parameter files, and 3) the open architecture of the environment which allows easy development of new experiments with other didactic setups. The structure of this Web-based lab not only provides students with quantitative information feedback but also allows visual supervision. Now, a remote-controlled camera plays an important role within a remote experimentation environment with mobile parts. Students can handle the camera on-line, just as they can control the didactic setup over the Internet.

[1]  Kay Chen Tan,et al.  Development of a web-based laboratory for control experiments on a coupled tank apparatus , 2001, IEEE Trans. Educ..

[2]  Denis Gillet,et al.  A Distributed Architecture for Teleoperation over the Internet with Application to the Remote Control of an Inverted Pendulum , 2000 .

[3]  Lawrence A. Crowl,et al.  Distance learning applied to control engineering laboratories , 1996 .

[4]  Sebastián Dormido-Bencomo,et al.  Control learning: present and future , 2004, Annu. Rev. Control..

[5]  W. U. Sheng,et al.  An Integrated Internet-Based Control Laboratory , 2000 .

[6]  D. Fina,et al.  Training simulators enhance process control education , 1999, Proceedings of the 1999 American Control Conference (Cat. No. 99CH36251).

[7]  Mark W. Spong,et al.  Report on the NSF/CSS Workshop on new directions in control engineering education , 1999 .

[8]  Thomas B. Sheridan,et al.  Space teleoperation through time delay: review and prognosis , 1993, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[9]  Christian Schmid.  A Remote Laboratory Using Virtual Reality on the Web , 1999, Simul..

[10]  B. S. Heck,et al.  Using the Web in your courses: what can you do? what should you do? , 1999 .

[11]  Denis Gillet,et al.  Hands-On Laboratory Experiments in Flexible and Distance Learning , 2001 .

[12]  Fernando Morilla,et al.  Virtual and remote control labs using Java: a qualitative approach , 2002 .

[13]  J. W. Overstreet,et al.  An Internet-based real-time control engineering laboratory , 1999 .

[14]  Karl Johan Åström,et al.  Control systems engineering education , 1996, Autom..

[15]  Hassan Charaf,et al.  Configurable Remote, Platform Independent Control System , 2000 .

[16]  Keck Voon Ling,et al.  An Online Internet Laboratory for Control Experiments , 2000 .

[17]  R. Longchamp,et al.  Telepresence: An opportunity to develop real-world experimentation in education , 1997, 1997 European Control Conference (ECC).