Development of a remote laboratory for process control experiments

With the rapid advancement of Internet technologies, remote access of laboratory equipment and instrument via Internet is fast becoming a reality. This paper presents the implementation of a remote laboratory experiment for process engineering education. Based on configuration software and its extended application, we investigated five essential design issues: requirement specification, system architecture, system implementation, design of monitoring interface, communication between the server and the client. Developing remote experiment system with configuration software does not require generalized programming language. It simplifies the development process and saves experimental investment. The remote laboratory supplies the students with an integrated environment of controlling the real device in the remote site and conducting the actual experiments through a computer network. In the remote laboratory, the students can receive training in engineering practice by sharing the expensive instruments and equipments.