Development of a Remote Process Control Laboratory Using Configuration Software

This paper presents a web-based remote process control engineering laboratory for engineering education using configuration software. A set of double holding water tanks apparatus, suitable for remote control experiments, was carefully designed for process control experiments. A series of experiments from characteristics testing of one order process to predictive control of nonlinear system can be conducted on it. The laboratory system includes laboratory portal, web server and process control system with both programmable logic controller and control instruments as the controller. The web-based remote laboratory was developed efficiently by using the configuration software. Remote operations through internet by the engineering students in School of Modern Distance Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China have shown that the laboratory system is useful in helping the students understand the control theory through remote experiments.