Traditional laboratory exercises and remote experiments in electrical engineering education

 Laboratory work is recognized as an efficient method for students to assimilate knowledge and to develop skills for solving real world problems. The Internet provides new opportunities for remote experimentation. Laboratory exercises in electrical engineering courses such as circuit theory and basic electronics can be performed remotely using real equipment. What equipment is required for remote experiments? Is it possible to design and implement a traditional laboratory with Internet access only? A traditional undergraduate electronics laboratory at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), Sweden, makes eight identical lab stations available. Each station is equipped with a breadboard, some desk top instruments and a power supply. Experiments on electrical circuits have been conducted over the Internet using experimental hardware located in a small closed room at BTH. This tiny laboratory provides one lab station equipped with computerbased instruments and a remotely controlled switch matrix to replace the traditional breadboard. The matrix makes it possible to make all the necessary connections needed to form a circuit and to connect test probes in a fraction of a second. Is it possible to use time sharing to enable students to perform experiments simultaneously at eight different locations? How can I argue that a remote experiment is not a simulation? This paper addresses these and other similar questions and discusses some implementation issues. The address of the laboratory home page is http://www.its.bth.se/distancelab/english/. Index Terms  Circuit, distance learning, laboratory, on-line, remote lab.