Enhancing Mechanical Engineering Distance Education Through IT-enabled Remote Laboratories

The use of remotely operated laboratory experiments
is gaining credibility to substitute traditional experimentation
practices for distance learning students. Universities have been
exploring this option to cater to the growing number of
nontraditional students who are only able to participate in
education remotely. In this paper the authors discuss how
recent advances in robotic and network control have laid the
foundation for which remote labs can be built and used as a
novel educational tool. Models of how to implement remote
laboratory experiments demonstrate the important
considerations and best practices which would be addressed
when developing an experiment. The consideration of network
navigation is essential to foster the smooth connection between
remote users and local equipment without inhibiting existing
system functionality. Firewall communication through static
and dynamic IP addresses must be delegated carefully while
network and security administrators open channels for
communication. Command and control interfaces can
substantially reduce this complex orchestrate by serving as a
dedicated web server. With the proper pedagogical and
technical developments, remote laboratories will become a
viable means to provide realistic experiences to anyone
throughout the world.