Remote robotic laboratory as nexus between students and real engineering

German Carro Fernandez* , Manuel Castro Gil,
Francisco Mur Perez
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED)
Madrid, Spain

German Carro Fernandez germancf@ieee.org
Remote robotic laboratory as nexus between students and real engineering
• Introduction
• Understanding of robot
• System implementation
• System utilities
• Advantages of the system
• Conclusions
This contribution was solely written by students
and/or doctoral candidates.

- The need of practice is an important problem in the
formation of a student of engineering
- Sometimes, distance is a handicap. The use of remote labs
with a computer and the Internet access, allows the students
to participate in the labs as if they were there
- Interaction with virtual environments is not enough. A real
remote lab with real robots and real tools is needed

Objective:
Promoting the real remote labs of robotics:
 Minimizing deployment costs and making profitable use
of it
 Meeting the needs of a large number of students
 Ensuring the practical training as well as theoretical,
overcoming the problem of the distance

• Introduction
• Conclusions

To know a tool, and a robot is a tool, the practice with it is
essential
 It is necessary manipulation of the robotic equipment:
 Internet allows remote interactive communications
 students may achieve a complete understanding of
the robot remotely

Different environments
 Environment of the student:
 Terminal from which the student is connected to the
system
 Interact with the webcam through the website and
monitor the movements of the robot by remote
manipulation
 Changes of these states are limited: move, turn, open
and close gripper, etc.

 Environment of the software:
 Web-based support to send and receive data,
process and display them in each terminal (client-
server)
 All this manages in a safe and user environment with
data recording capability for each user session
 A database allows teachers to assign authorizations,
monitor system usage and data storage for each user
session

 Environment of the laboratory :
 Communication with the robot: can be via cable (USB
/ COM) or wireless (Wi-Fi / Bluetooth)
 Robot: robot arm, picking, anthropomorphic, mobile,
air, submarine, etc., or mixed
 Webcam: allows the user to see what is happening in
laboratory on real time at every moment.

The system allows to obtain the benefits of classroom
practice at a distance, but also offers other features
 Education and Training: This system lets the students
manage their time and activities to practice and evaluate
them objectively
 Bring university education everywhere
 System is multiuser. It maximizes the use of the robot
by several students

 Reduces travel costs for the student and cost of
laboratory use
 Offers the students the option to organize their
practices as they wish
 Adaptability of the system for other disciplines

 Industrial:
 Facilitating and encouraging teleworking reconciling work and
family life
 Integrating worker in a robotic environment even before worker
has to start working on it
 Interesting when firms want to help to student to jump into the
labor market.

 Social:
 Helping familiarize children, youth, adults and seniors with new
technologies and robotics
 Monitoring children and their progress from home without
children have to leave home

 Military:
 Environment as realistically as possible in educational/training
mode use
 Allows remote control of robotic units to operate in high risk
rescue areas, exploration or extreme situations, without the
operator at risk.

• Introduction
• Conclusions

Time to evaluate some of the advantages
 Comfort and safety
 Students have freedom to adjust their training schedule
 Laboratory is open 24 hours 7 days at week
 Reusability
 Teaching must be flexible and offer as many services as
possible to the students with the low possible cost
 It is easy to implement a new remote laboratory in a short time
and at low cost, in the same place
 Scalability
 After examining the hardware and software to provide the initial
support, it just has to raise it in a modular way to ensure the
service proportionately in each case

 Modularity
 System allows new modules to include complementary tools
and uses
 Each university department, each teacher can propose new
practical modules. Slight modifications facilitate it
 Availability
 24 hours at day, 365 days at year
 Available from anywhere in the world with an internet
connection

 Adaptability
 System can adapt to almost any type of laboratory and almost
any type of student, even for disability people
 A simple add-on module allows you to manage those
requirements
 Monitoring
 System can be recorded to make a personal study of the users
 Both, teachers and students, have a history of hits, accesses,
actions and results

One of the most important objectives of education, formation and
training, is that they become universal
 System set out in this paper it is possible remove barriers and
make the distance in a irrelevant variable or even beneficial
 System aims to develop the possibilities of scalability and reuse
 The result is a clear integration of students with this new tool
 System integrates the side of the student, the side of the teacher
and the side of the university or academic

One of the most important objectives of education, formation and
training, is that they become universal
 System is not an exclusive tool. It can complement the traditional
system face to face.
 Student gets experience reflected in the real practice in remote ,
but in real environments.
 It is essential for their motivation and integration into the
workplace, or labor market and to jump to real world.

Using robotics as an excuse to make engineering a source of
practical knowledge.
This is only the beginning, once the students get involved with the
system, they begin to seek new profits, and that will be the real
beginning of training and learning process.

Authors acknowledge the support provided by:
 IEEE Spanish Section
 Engineering Science School of UNED
 Computer Science School of UNED
 UNED University
 Karbo School, Zaragoza University, EduQTech.
 IEEE Student Branch of UNED
 IEEE Education Society
 IEEE Foundation
Authors are especially grateful to the Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department (DIEEC) of UNED for its support and advice in the preparation of
this paper
This contribution was solely written by students
and/or doctoral candidates.

Remote robotic laboratory as nexus between students and real engineering

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