National Instruments has created several live remote experiments available any time, any place. Using the new remote panels browser add-in in LabVIEW 6.1, you can control one of these experiments with just your Web browser.
Temperature Control Experiment -- This experiment uses a light bulb and thermistor to demonstrate control principals. You can manipulate parameters (P, PI, PID) to create a temperature control system or control the temperature manually. The experiment also contains a live video feed of the light bulb and experimental setup. Estimated completion time -- 10 min.
If you are interested in learning more about how we created this experiment, download the schematic, parts list, LabVIEW program, and HTML file.
RC Demo Experiment -- This experiment uses an RC circuit to demonstrate the concepts of charging and discharging time constants. We use a light bulb as the resistor so you can visualize varying current as it flows through the circuit. Estimated completion time - 5 min.
If you are interested in learning more about how we created this experiment, you can download the schematic, parts list, VI program, and HTML file we used.
Visual Feedback
A very important part of the live experiments above is visual feedback. You can incorporate visual feedback into a live remote experiment in many ways. Because of the vast array of both hardware and software available, we give a brief outline of how we achieved visual feedback -- including what hardware and software we chose and why.
Hardware
We chose the Logitech Quickcam Express USB Webcam because it is universally available and inexpensive.
Software
We chose Webcam 1 2 3 software by Webcam Corp. because it is flexible and inexpensive. This software captures video from the Webcam and publishes that data to a Web server included in the program. With Webcam 123, our computer could be the video server, rather than a third-party hosting site.
Setup
We use the LabVIEW remote panels feature to create the Web page that displays and controls the program (VI). We use the LabVIEW Web server to serve up the Web page. Webcam 1 2 3 creates its own Web page and serves that Web page with its built-in Web server. However, we simply copied the HTML code generated by Webcam 1 2 3 and inserted it into a table on the LabVIEW HTML file. By doing this, we only need to run the LabVIEW Web server. In addition, the Webcam 1 2 3 software does need to continuously publish its image to provide real-time visual feedback.
Additional Resources
We have created a white paper and how-to guide on distance learning remote laboratories using LabVIEW. The first part of the guide reviews current technology and introduces the new LabVIEW remote panels feature. The second part leads you through the necessary steps to build a remote lab using a real example. The example includes a complete list of hardware, all LabVIEW programs, and where you can purchase the electrical components.
Download the Distance Learning Remote Laboratories using LabVIEW white paper
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF files.
