EJS, JIL Server, and LabVIEW: An Architecture for Rapid Development of Remote Labs

• Published in: IEEE transactions on learning technologies Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 393 - 401
• Main Authors: Chacon, Jesus, Vargas, Hector, Farias, Gonzalo, Sanchez, Jose, Dormido, Sebastian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.10.2015; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Communication Strategies; Computer Assisted Instruction; Computer programs; Computer Simulation; Computer Software; Construction; Control Education; Design; Developers; Education; Educational Objectives; Educational Technology; EJS; Engineering Education; Java; Java (programming language); Laboratories; LabVIEW; Learning; Remote laboratories; Remote Labs; Servers; Simulated Environment; Simulation; Teaching Methods; Technology Uses in Education; Virtual Labs; Remote labs; virtual labs; control education; LabVIEW; EJS
• ISSN: 1939-1382; 2372-0050
• DOI: 10.1109/TLT.2015.2389245

Designing and developing web-enabled remote laboratories for pedagogical purposes is not an easy task. Often, developers (generally, educators who know the subjects they teach but lack of the technical and programming skills required to build Internet-based educational applications) end up discarding the idea of exploring these new teaching and learning experiences mainly due to the technical issues that must be mastered. To tackle this problem, authors present a novel technique that allows developers to create remote labs in a quick, didactical, and straightforward way. This framework is based on the use of two well-known software tools in the scope of engineering education, Easy Java Simulations and LabVIEW. The development exploits a new feature of Easy Java Simulations known as EJS-elements that enables Java developers to create and integrate their own authoring libraries (elements) into EJS, thus increasing its application possibilities. Particularly, the EJS element here presented allows to LabVIEW programs be controlled from EJS applications through a communication network. This paper presents the element creation details and how this can be used to create web-enabled experimentation environments for educational purposes. A step by step example of development of a remote lab for automatic control education is described.