From Remote Experiments to Web-Based Learning Objects: An Advanced Telelaboratory for Robotics and Control Systems

This paper describes the current evolution of the telelaboratory facilities at the University of Pisa. In particular, starting from a standard environment providing remote access to a set of experiments, the telelaboratory is now organized as a collection of learning objects, i.e., modular didactic units designed following specific learning objectives within control systems and robotic fields. The telelaboratory has a remote web-based access which can be used both as a simulation environment and as a remote way of performing real physical experiments. The developed telelaboratory is based on free open-source software such as Scilab/Scicos, Comedi, and Real-Time Application Interface patch for Linux kernels. In-house software tools, such as a Java wEb Hyper modUlar inTerface sYstem, graphic environment tools, and a virtual laboratory interface based on Java applets, have been developed as a support for the learning process.      

Performance analysis of IP mobility with multiple care-of addresses in heterogeneous wireless networks

This paper aims to suggest a host-based localized mobility management scheme which provides similar user experiences and seamless mobility of real time communications. The proposed scheme supports multiple care-of addresses and fast handover mechanism with a single unitary virtual interface among heterogeneous radio access technologies without network changes. We verify that the proposed scheme has significant vertical handover performance gains to support real time communication traffics through the experiment over the real network experimental environment consists of WiFi and 3GPP2 networks.     

Interactive collaborative media environments

Virtual reality (VR) provides a revolutionary interface between man and machine. However, present display and interface peripherals limit the potential of virtual environments within many activities or scenarios. Mainstream immersive VR is centred on head mounted display (HMD) based solutions in which the user is isolated from their surrounding environment. The occlusion of real world interaction within such systems imposes unnatural social and physical constraints on the user. Media environments can be classified as one form of enhanced reality based around immersive physical spaces intensified for effective collaborative activities. Current research is directed at three forms of enhanced spaces — immersive projected displays, interactive video environments, and immersive desktop environments. While HMD and desktop VR facilitates many collaborative tasks, the synthesis of real and virtual realities within a life-size environment offers distinct advantages within other applications. This paper introduces the concepts behind media environments, reviews current research and presents applications being explored at BT Laboratories.     

A Real-Time Service-Oriented Architecture for Industrial Automation

Industrial automation platforms are experiencing a paradigm shift. New technologies are making their way in the area, including embedded real-time systems, standard local area networks like Ethernet, Wi-Fi and ZigBee, IP-based communication protocols, standard Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) and Web Services. An automation system will be composed of flexible autonomous components with Plug & Play functionality, self configuration and diagnostics, and autonomic local control that communicate through standard networking technologies. However, the introduction of these new technologies raises important problems that need to be properly solved, one of these being the need to support real-time and quality-of-service (QoS) for real-time applications. This paper describes a SOA enhanced with real-time capabilities for Industrial Automation. The proposed architecture allows for negotiation of the QoS requested by clients from web services, and provides temporal encapsulation of individual activities. This way, it is possible to perform an a priori analysis of the temporal behavior of each service, and to avoid unwanted interference among them. After describing the architecture, experimental results gathered on a real implementation of the framework (which leverages a soft real-time scheduler for the Linux kernel) are presented, showing the effectiveness of the proposed solution. The experiments were performed on simple case studies designed in the context of industrial automation applications.      

Design and Implementation of a Reconfigurable Remote Laboratory, Using Oscilloscope/PLC Network for WWW Access

The objective of this paper is to present a remote laboratory in the context of power electronics education. New technologies and developments are compelling educators to deeply reflect on the traditional means of teaching. Modern curricula require new ways of conception and implementation of innovative pedagogical approaches. Often, these new pedagogical approaches require novel technological realizations. Although e-learning facilities are increasingly being used in engineering education, often, they are based on simulations and/or emulations of virtual laboratories. This paper presents a remote laboratory facility that allows the students to conduct real power electronics reconfigurable experiments through the Internet, promoting a more efficient learning through online industrial automation operation using the Internet and WWW services.     

Virtual engineering: an integrated approach to agile manufacturing machinery design and control

A virtual manufacturing approach for designing, programming, testing, verifying and deploying control systems for agile modular manufacturing machinery are proposed in this paper. It introduces the concepts, operations, mechanisms and implementation techniques for integrating simulation environments and distributed control system environments so that the control logic programs that have been programmed and verified in the virtual environment can be seamlessly transferred to the distributed control system environment for controlling the real devices. The approach looks to exploit simulation in a much wider range of applications with great advantages in the design and development of manufacturing machine systems. In particular, it facilitates the verification of the runtime support applications using the simulation model before they are applied to the real system. Mechanisms that allow runtime data to be collected during operation of the real machinery to calibrate the simulation models are also proposed. The system implemented delivers a powerful set of software tools for realising agile modular manufacturing systems.     

The MMST computer-integrated manufacturing system framework

Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) is the harmonious connection, integration, and interoperation of automation equipment within a manufacturing facility. In a semiconductor wafer fab, this includes integration of the processing equipment with all of the supporting systems for product and process specification, production planning and scheduling, and material handling and tracking. Traditionally, CIM systems have been characterized as monolithic mainframe-based systems and/or inflexible islands of automation with limited interoperability. Today's manufacturing demands fully integrated dynamic systems which directly support the concepts of lean, flexible and agile manufacturing to high quality standards. These requirements drove the design of a new CIM system which was developed for the Microelectronics Manufacturing Science and Technology (MMST) program. This paper provides an overview of the MMST CIM system framework which is based on open distributed system and object technologies. The CIM system was demonstrated in a 1000 wafer pilot production run in 1993 which achieved world record cycle time, and is now being commercialized as part of the WORKS product family from Texas Instruments     

Modular Approach to Teaching PID Control

This paper describes a blended learning approach in teaching ldquoConstrained Time-Delayed Proportional-Integral-Derivative Control.rdquo It is based on the ldquolearning by doingrdquo paradigm supported by several e-learning tools: by the interactive electronic course materials in Moodle; by the laboratory of low-cost and easy-to-manipulate plants; and by the virtual laboratory WebLAB. These open the access to study and experiment on real systems via Internet for 24 h/day, seven days a week. Synergy of the newly structured theory developed to deal with real-world constraints with the interactive content delivery and with active learning based on simulations, real-time experiments in laboratories, and tele-experiments via Internet offers stimulating and quasi-authentic learning environment. These give students multiple formative feedback, ranging from computer quizzes to plant reactions in a rich variety of authentic situations.     

Web服务应用接口系统的开发研究

随着Web 服务技术的不断成熟,其在异构系统集成应用中的优势逐渐显现,基于Web服务的应用集成技术成为企业信息系统研究的热点。使用方便、实用的Web服务应用接口,也成了互联网通信技术的发展趋势。文中对这一关键技术进行了研究,取得了初步理论与软件成果。另外,文中深入研究了Web服务的基本原理与实现技术、基于Web服务的应用系统集成技术、Web服务应用接口系统的开发原理与技术,提出了一套 Web 服务开发方法、Web 服务应用接口系统的模型框架。在理论研究的基础上,基于Microsoft.NET2003环境,文中还实现了基于模式引导的应用接口包装器的生成与维护软件,其可为不同的应用系统提供Web服务的应用接口,方便客户端调用,还可以简化Web服务应用的编程过程,提高了应用系统开发效率。     

Embedded interactive systems: back to the real world

The maturing of reliable wireless communication technologies for local and personal area networks, the broad availability of miniaturized sensor and actuator hardware technologies, and the tremendous growth of global networks like the Internet over the past years have accelerated the emergence of “networked embedded systems”. So called “smart appliances”, i.e. ad-hoc networked, mobile, autonomous, special purpose computing appliances have appeared, usually interacting with their environment implicitly via a variety of sensors on the input side, and actuators on the output side. With the embedding of invisible technology into everyday things and architectural spaces, things and spaces also become the interface to “hidden” or “invisible” computational services. Embedded interactive systems allow to mediate between the physical and digital (or virtual) world via natural interaction — away from the desktop displays and keyboards. The embedding of sophisticated sensor, actuator and wireless communication technologies, together with novel interface concepts for situated interaction (tangible interfaces, attentive interfaces) give rise for bringing the interaction with computers “back to the real world”.     

Virtual offices

A concept for a new business communication environment consisting of a shared and interactive multiuser virtual space that consists of a computer-graphics-based virtual space and video-based objects is proposed. This combination results in an extremely flexible environment for remote human collaboration. The human interface, which entails walking and interacting within the virtual space and offers a new dimension in daily communication activities, is described     

基于虚拟仪器技术的传感器实验的探索

以“传感器”实验为切入点,介绍电子类课程实验利用虚拟仪器技术搭建实验平台和软件设计。其中包括利用虚拟仪器技术开发的传感器实验、电子电路实验和仿真实验的操作界面。实验分为虚实结合实验和虚拟仿真实验。该平台具有数据自动采集、数据存储、数据处理、快速绘制曲线、实验报告自动生成、点击即可发送邮件等功能。利用平台进行了光纤传感器实验、频率特性实验和PID直流电机控速实验,结果表明：实验自动化、无纸化,网络化,打造了“以学生为中心”的教学平台,让学生有更多时间自主学习；实验资源网络化,实验报告规范化,解决了昂贵的实验资源不足的问题,提升了实验老师的工作效率。     

采用VC++开发的智能建筑系统集成组态软件设计

本文介绍了智能建筑集成管理系统组态软件的结构及实现方法.由于目前各知名品牌的楼控产品均支持OPC标准,故系统采用OPC技术实现不同系统的数据共享,同时提供开放的数据访问平台,从而可进一步进行如系统节能等方面的数据分析与处理.该系统基于Web平台,可实现因特网的远程监控,运用VC 编程语言可保证系统的实时控制,试运行效果良好,各项功能均运行正常.     

网页交互中的虚拟情境体验

三维虚拟情景建构出来的生动逼真的虚拟界面,被越来越多的行业所认可,也给网页交互提供了新的可能。文章以用户身份针对存在的问题对网页交互中的虚拟体验进行研究和分析探索,为网页交互领域的新探索提供一些指引。     

IoTFLiP: IoT-based flipped learning platform for medical education

Case-Based Learning (CBL) has become an effective pedagogy for student-centered learning in medical education, which is founded on persistent patient cases. Flippped learning and Internet of Things (IoTs) concepts have gained significant attention in recent years. Using these concepts in conjunction with CBL can improve learning ability by providing real evolutionary medical cases. It also enables students to build confidence in their decision making, and efficiently enhances teamwork in the learing environment. We propose an IoT-based Flip Learning Platform, called IoTFLiP, where an IoT infrastructure is exploited to support flipped case-based learning in a cloud environment with state of the art security and privacy measures for personalized medical data. It also provides support for application delivery in private, public, and hybrid approaches. The proposed platform is an extension of our Interactive Case-Based Flipped Learning Tool (ICBFLT), which has been developed based on current CBL practices. ICBFLT formulates summaries of CBL cases through synergy between students' and medical expert knowledge. The low cost and reduced size of sensor device, support of IoTs, and recent flipped learning advancements can enhance medical students' academic and practical experiences. In order to demonstrate a working scenario for the proposed IoTFLiP platform, real-time data from IoTs gadgets is collected to generate a real-world case for a medical student using ICBFLT.     

Extending the Service Bus for Successful and Sustainable IPTV Services [Creating Successful and Sustainable IPTV Services

Telecom carriers have positioned IPTV as one of the key components of triple-play (broadband, television, and voice) or quad-play (with the addition of mobility). Adoption of Web services within a SOA framework as building blocks for developing complex media workflows is an important step toward reuse of media processing tools in an IPTV environment. A Web services approach also provides the capability to abstract network-based services for creation of composite services that can be executed in an IPTV environment. At the same time, adoption of a service bus provides a single point of integration for multiple services, and common features such as service registry and discovery, reliable message delivery, and transformation in a heterogeneous production environment. In this article we present an approach of media enabling the service bus to support offline digital media processes and composite service execution in an IPTV production environment.     

Effect of Interaction Based on Augmented Context in Immersive Virtual Reality Environment

Virtual reality has recently rapidly emerged into the global spotlight. With the current increasing interest in head mounted display (HMD) as the next-generation content platform to replace smartphones, many companies are endeavoring to gain an early foothold in the virtual reality market. In HMD-based virtual reality environments, users are completely isolated from the real world, and are thus unable to perform even simple and familiar interactions with the real world. This paper proposes interaction based on context information augmented with stories, visuals, and sounds, as opposed to an interface that replicates the existing real world, in order to enable easy and natural interactions by users in HMD-based immersive virtual reality environments. The results of a user study conducted using our proposed augmented context-based interactions in an immersive virtual reality environment verify that it provides users with higher levels of immersion, accuracy, and emotional empathy than a virtual reality environment that simply replicates the existing real world.