Development of a prototype resource optimizing, access delimited (ROAD) laboratory

This paper discusses the development of a prototype resource optimizing, access delimited (ROAD) laboratory for energy conversion, electric machines, power systems, and signal processing courses. The ROAD laboratory is a remote experimentation facility that combines hardware and software systems to provide clients (student users) unsupervised round-the-clock access into the energy conversion laboratory (host) through computer networks. The full development version of the software interface will offer engineering programs the option of setting up their laboratory as a local host, or enabling access to a remote host that might be equipped with hardware not available in the local laboratory. This new educational tool offers worldwide access to an energy conversion lab facility, provides an infrastructure for carrying out true collaborative learning, and serve as an ideal facility for performing machinery-related experiments in distance learning programs.