Arduino based physics and engineering remote laboratory

Abstract

The concept of remote laboratories exists for some time with increasing importance for contemporary education in various fields and at various levels. Advance of remote labs is based on technology development and conceptual improvements with possible mutual influences such as when new technologies make new concepts possible. Arduino is a family of small inexpensive single board computers (SBC) based primarily on microcontrollers with added Linux platforms on some boards for improved processing and Internet accessibility. Various shields extend interaction functionality of Arduino boards with environment. Several other brands with quite similar concepts exist, with Arduino as one of very well-known and widespread. Arduino based remote lab concept relies on Arduino only implementation which is possible for many not too demanding applications without usual desktop or similar PC platforms. Such concept has many implications like project cheap price, interconnection of boards for more demanding tasks, small consumption, autonomy, small dimensions, low installation requirements, which is suitable for applications at remote locations and applications requiring mobility. Hybrid solutions including Arduino or similar boards combined with other more powerful computer platforms may be optimal for more demanding applications. Programming and application development for Arduino and similar boards are supported by large community of developers and users that provide various libraries, solution examples, forums covering various thematic and application aspects. This paper discusses and presents some hardware and software configurations with Arduino and compatible boards that are used for implementation of experiments in physics and engineering. Although presented remotely operated experiments are different in nature, quite similar hardware and software architectures are used.