Carnegie Mellon's
Virtual Lab:
Application for the
1995 Smithsonian Computerworld Leadership Award
General
Information
Application
Nominated: Virtual Laboratory Experience
Category:
Education and Academia Organization
Short
Summary
Remote
computer access to laboratory instruments allows undergraduate students
to conduct actual experiments at any time and from any location. This technology
greatly enhances the flexibility of laboratory education, and introduces
students to the new paradigm of remote experimentation.
Long
Summary
The
demands on the undergraduate laboratory experience are significantly different
today than they were just a few years ago. Measurements that once took
several hours of careful work by hand can now be made automatically in
seconds. Engineers today must deal with massive amounts of data, and with
complex systems that may have components in widely separated geographic
locations. In the face of these rapid advances, maintaining an up-to-date
laboratory experience presents a significant challenge to universities.
A
new concept under development at Carnegie Mellon to address these issues
is that of a virtual laboratory. The core of the virtual laboratory is
a cluster of general-purpose and/or specialized instruments interfaced
to a personal computer that is part of the internet. By configuring the
instruments and data analysis via software, the instruments can be made
to perform the function of other instruments that may not be available.
In addition to creating such virtual instruments, measurements can be made,
and data can be analyzed for comparison with simulations. This can be done
in the laboratory, or remotely over the network (e.g. from a student's
dorm room, or even from another country) thereby creating a virtual laboratory.
Video connections are available as well as instrument control. In contrast
with computer simulations that can be accessed remotely, the virtual laboratory
gives access to actual hardware.
Of
course, nothing can replace the value of direct hands-on laboratory experience,
but remote access can significantly improve the availability of expensive
instruments, and thereby broaden their educational impact. We also believe
that remote control and reconfiguration of instrumentation will become
an increasingly common event in the workplace. The growth of this paradigm
will parallel the increasing use of telecommuting and teleconferencing.
An example of a workplace application is an automated manufacturing line
where an engineer can change parameters or troubleshoot remotely, saving
the time and money of traveling to the plant.
1.
Benefits
Although
many universities have well-equipped undergraduate laboratories, these
laboratories are usually only available during scheduled hours. At other
times, this equipment is not available for use. Providing students with
the means to use this equipment on a 24-hour basis greatly increases the
educational impact of this sizable investment without the security concerns
associated with an unlocked lab. It can also make the equipment available
to users beyond the university.
In
many undergraduate courses, more specialized equipment is limited to classroom
demonstrations because the cost of providing enough units to equip a laboratory
is prohibitive. Configuring a few instruments to allow 24-hour remote access
can make it possible for each person in even a moderately large class to
have first-hand experience with the equipment.
Finally,
the virtual laboratory experience prepares students for working in a mode
that we believe will be increasingly common in the workplace. Examples
include gaining access to specialized scientific or test equipment at a
central government or company laboratory; saving the travel time of an
engineer in charge of many systems in different locations; increasing the
effectiveness of a support engineer in meeting the needs of his or her
clients; and operating systems in locations where travel is not possible,
such as space or the depths of the sea.
2.
The Importance of Information Technology
The
virtual laboratory concept was made possible by an innovative use of commercially
available information technology. We believe this will enable the concept
to be easily duplicated at other universities.
The
instrumentation available in our core laboratory consists of a function
generator, a digital multimeter, and a digital oscilloscope. (Remote access
to more specialized equipment is available in advanced courses.) The instruments
are controlled with HP-VEE software from Hewlett-Packard running under
Windows on a personal computer. Remote control of the computer is made
possible using Timbuktu software from Farallon Computing, Inc., and PC/TCP
software provides the link to the internet. Access is possible from either
Macintosh or IBM-compatible computers. High-speed modem access (either
dial-up or wireless) is supported using Appletalk Remote Access (Apple
Computer, Inc.,) or ShivaPPP (Farallon Computing, Inc.). Live video is
possible using a Connectix camera and QuickPICT software. Remote camera
manipulation is enabled with a simple motorized mount that was custom designed.
3.
Originality
Although
remote access of equipment and remote access to simulated laboratories
are being done by others, we believe incorporating remote access of real
instruments into an undergraduate course is unique. The concept developed
over several years at Carnegie Mellon with contributions especially from
Professors Pradeep Khosla, Donald Thomas, Virginia Stonick, Bruce Krogh,
Rob Rutenbar, and Dan Stancil. The present laboratory was made possible
in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation and donations of
equipment and software by Hewlett-Packard. Significant assistance with
writing and debugging the laboratories was provided by two seniors, Steve
Badelt and Jimmy Hsu.
Two
key laboratories in the first offering of the course involved remotely
engineering solutions for system failures that had occurred in remote locations.
In the first of these entitled, "The Black Box," students were instructed
to diagnose a telemetry filter failure in a weather station located near
the top of a mountain peak in the Rockies. By remotely making frequency
response and current-voltage measurements at the input and output terminals
of the filter, the students were able to identify the internal components
that had failed. In the second laboratory, "Martian Lander," students were
told that a failure on a Martian landing craft had made it impossible to
control the on-board camera. The operation of this camera was essential
so that the landscape could be searched for evidence of life. Their assignment
was to remotely configure a new motor driver and use it to pan the camera
and download pictures that gave evidence of life. A poster containing images
from the early Viking missions provided the backdrop for the camera, and
a cartoon character (Hobbes of Calvin & Hobbes) peaking over the edge
of the spacecraft added additional interest to the observations.
4.
Success
We
have assembled a functioning virtual laboratory and demonstrated its capability.
The laboratory was successfully used with a group of juniors and seniors
during the Fall 1995 semester.
Although
the virtual laboratory is fully operational, additional opportunities exist
for adding capability. This includes putting additional instruments on
the network, adding electronic switches to enable circuit connections to
be changed remotely, and additional capability for audio, video, and the
remote manipulation of objects. In the future we plan to make the course
widely available to students beginning in their sophomore year so that
they can use the techniques learned throughout the rest of their educational
program. Eventually, the course may be offered remotely over the internet.
The
concept is also widely applicable beyond Carnegie Mellon University, and
in areas other than electrical and computer engineering. Virtual laboratories
can be easily envisioned in fields such as mechanical engineering, chemical
engineering, and robotics; and they can be assembled using commercially-available
technology at any university.
5.
Difficulty
To
bring the virtual laboratory into existence, the first hurdle was to locate
all of the hardware and software components required, and ensure their
basic compatibility. For the core laboratory we have assembled, this involved
over a dozen hardware and software components from several different manufacturers.
When
such a number of different hardware and software systems are configured
together for the first time, technical difficulties were expected, and
experienced. These included detecting software bugs, discovering unexpected
incompatibilities, and network capacity and reliability.
Assembling
these components also required significant resources. These resources were
obtained over several years of effort, and involved a National Science
Foundation Grant, substantial donations of equipment and software from
Hewlett-Packard, educational discounts from other vendors, and matching
funds from both the department and college level. Several unsuccessful
negotiations for donations and discounts were also experienced along the
way to these successes.
Finally,
unlike a computer that can simultaneously serve several users, an instrument
group can only be accessed by one user at a time. This difficulty can be
effectively addressed by making sure multiple instrument groups are available,
but etiquette guidelines were still necessary to avoid a remote user taking
control of an instrument being used locally by another student, and vice
versa!
