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Virtual Laboratory (virtual + laboratory)
Selected AbstractsJava-powered virtual laboratories for earthquake engineering educationCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 3 2005Y. Gao Abstract This paper presents a series of Java-Powered Virtual Laboratories (VLs), which have been developed to provide a means for on-line interactive experiments for undergraduate and graduate education. These VLs intend to provide a conceptual understanding of a wide range of topics related to earthquake engineering, including structural control using the tuned mass damper (TMD) and the hybrid mass damper (HMD), linear and nonlinear base isolation system, and nonlinear structural dynamic analysis of multi-story buildings. A total of five VLs are currently available on-line at: http://cee.uiuc.edu/sstl/java and have been incorporated as a reference implementation of educational modules in the NEESgrid software (http://www.neesgrid.org/). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 13: 200,212, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20050 [source] Telerobotic systems design based on real-time CORBAJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 4 2005Michele Amoretti A new class of telerobotic applications is making its way into research laboratories, fine arts or science museums, and industrial installations. Virtual laboratories and remote equipment maintenance are examples of these applications, which are built exploiting distributed computing systems and Internet technologies. Distributed computing technologies provide several advantages to telerobotic applications, such as dynamic and multiuser access to remote resources and arbitrary user locations. Nonetheless, building these applications remains a substantial endeavor, especially when performance requirements must be met. The aim of this paper is to investigate how mainstream and advanced features of the CORBA object-oriented middleware can be put to work to meet the requirements of novel telerobotic applications. We show that Real-Time CORBA extensions and asynchronous method invocation of CORBA services can be relied upon to meet performance and functional requirements, thereby enabling teleoperation on local area networks. Furthermore, CORBA services for concurrency control and large-scale data distribution enable geographic-scale access for robot teleprogramming. Limitations in the currently available implementations of the CORBA standard are also discussed, along with their implications. The effectiveness and suitability for telerobotic applications of several CORBA mechanisms are tested first individually and then by means of a software framework exploiting CORBA services and ensuring component-based development, software reuse, low development cost, fully portable real-time and communication support. A comprehensive telerobotic application built based on the framework is described in the paper and evaluated on both local and wide area networks. The application includes a robot manipulator and several sensory subsystems under concurrent access by multiple competing or collaborating operators, one of which is equipped with a multimodal user interface acting as the master device. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Virtual laboratory: A distributed collaborative environmentCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 1 2004Tiranee Achalakul Abstract This article proposes the design framework of a distributed, real-time collaborative architecture. The architecture concept allows information to be fused, disseminated, and interpreted collaboratively among researchers who live across continents in real-time. The architecture is designed based on the distributed object technology, DCOM. In our framework, every module can be viewed as an object. Each of these objects communicates and passes data with one another via a set of interfaces and connection points. We constructed the virtual laboratory based on the proposed architecture. The laboratory allows multiple analysts to collaboratively work through a standard web-browser using a set of tools, namely, chat, whiteboard, audio/video exchange, file transfer and application sharing. Several existing technologies are integrated to provide collaborative functions, such as NetMeeting. Finally, the virtual laboratory quality evaluation is described with an example application of remote collaboration in satellite image fusion and analysis. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 12: 44,53, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20008 [source] Java-powered virtual laboratories for earthquake engineering educationCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 3 2005Y. Gao Abstract This paper presents a series of Java-Powered Virtual Laboratories (VLs), which have been developed to provide a means for on-line interactive experiments for undergraduate and graduate education. These VLs intend to provide a conceptual understanding of a wide range of topics related to earthquake engineering, including structural control using the tuned mass damper (TMD) and the hybrid mass damper (HMD), linear and nonlinear base isolation system, and nonlinear structural dynamic analysis of multi-story buildings. A total of five VLs are currently available on-line at: http://cee.uiuc.edu/sstl/java and have been incorporated as a reference implementation of educational modules in the NEESgrid software (http://www.neesgrid.org/). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 13: 200,212, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20050 [source] Facilitating process control teaching and learning in a virtual laboratory environmentCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 2 2002T. Murphy Abstract The rapid pace of technological developments and the high cost of engineering equipment, pose several challenges to traditional modes of engineering education. Innovations in education are desirable. In particular, education on practical aspects of engineering and personnel training can be enhanced through the use of virtual laboratories. Such educative experiences allow a student to better understand the theoretical aspects of the discipline in addition to its integration with practical knowledge. In this work, the development, set-up and application of a virtual twin heat exchanger plant is described. The philosophy and methodology of our approach is described, including the implementation details and our experience in using it. The effectiveness of the platform in educating students and in training industrial personnel is described. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 10: 79,87, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com.); DOI 10.1002/cae.10011 [source] Web based laboratory in electromagnetic compatibility using a Java appletCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 4 2006S. K. Goudos Abstract A web based virtual laboratory in electromagnetic compatibility using a Java applet is presented. The Java applet makes use of Green's functions calculations inside a rectangular cavity. The induced electric fields and surface currents on cavity walls are calculated and visualized in a user-friendly manner. Various source configurations are examined. A number of laboratory exercises using the applet is given. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 14: 269,280, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20087 [source] Virtual laboratory: A distributed collaborative environmentCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 1 2004Tiranee Achalakul Abstract This article proposes the design framework of a distributed, real-time collaborative architecture. The architecture concept allows information to be fused, disseminated, and interpreted collaboratively among researchers who live across continents in real-time. The architecture is designed based on the distributed object technology, DCOM. In our framework, every module can be viewed as an object. Each of these objects communicates and passes data with one another via a set of interfaces and connection points. We constructed the virtual laboratory based on the proposed architecture. The laboratory allows multiple analysts to collaboratively work through a standard web-browser using a set of tools, namely, chat, whiteboard, audio/video exchange, file transfer and application sharing. Several existing technologies are integrated to provide collaborative functions, such as NetMeeting. Finally, the virtual laboratory quality evaluation is described with an example application of remote collaboration in satellite image fusion and analysis. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 12: 44,53, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20008 [source] Intelligent computer aided design, analysis, optimization, and improvement of thermodynamic systemsCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 4 2001Chih Wu Abstract An intelligent computer aided instruction (ICAI) software to aid teaching, design, and optimization of thermodynamic systems is presented. The concept of articulate virtual laboratory (AVL), the role of design, the ICAI software, and the use of AVL at the US Naval Academy are described. An example is used to demonstrate that using the ICAI software is indeed an effective method to analyze and improve thermodynamic systems design. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 9: 220,227, 2001; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com.); DOI 10.1002/cae.10005 [source] Food Microbiology,Design and Testing of a Virtual Laboratory ExerciseJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION, Issue 4 2010Steve Flint They were presented with a food-contamination case, and then walked through a number of diagnostic steps to identify the microorganism. At each step, the students were asked to select 1 of 4 tests. All tests had an associated cost. Feedback was given on selection and once the right test was selected, students were shown the results and could progress. At the end of the exercise, students had determined a number of characteristics of the microorganism. They were then required to identify the organism using a variety of reference material and present a report on the significance of the microorganism identified. A student survey showed they enjoyed the exercise and felt it fulfilled the aims and objectives of the lesson. There was a positive response to its flexible nature and the inclusion of test costs. This virtual laboratory was less expensive and 10 times faster than a traditional laboratory exercise yet achieved the same learning outcomes for students who were already familiar with laboratory techniques. The virtual lab was developed with a generic template that could be used for future lessons. [source] Incorporating a collaborative web-based virtual laboratory in an undergraduate bioinformatics courseBIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 1 2010David Weisman Abstract Face-to-face bioinformatics courses commonly include a weekly, in-person computer lab to facilitate active learning, reinforce conceptual material, and teach practical skills. Similarly, fully-online bioinformatics courses employ hands-on exercises to achieve these outcomes, although students typically perform this work offsite. Combining a face-to-face lecture course with a web-based virtual laboratory presents new opportunities for collaborative learning of the conceptual material, and for fostering peer support of technical bioinformatics questions. To explore this combination, an in-person lecture-only undergraduate bioinformatics course was augmented with a remote web-based laboratory, and tested with a large class. This study hypothesized that the collaborative virtual lab would foster active learning and peer support, and tested this hypothesis by conducting a student survey near the end of the semester. Respondents broadly reported strong benefits from the online laboratory, and strong benefits from peer-provided technical support. In comparison with traditional in-person teaching labs, students preferred the virtual lab by a factor of two. Key aspects of the course architecture and design are described to encourage further experimentation in teaching collaborative online bioinformatics laboratories. 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