Virtual and remote control labs using Java: a qualitative approach

This article describes a new way of teaching adopted at the Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia (UNED) that uses dynamic and interactive simulations in a stand-alone or Web-based environment to permit control engineering students to do practical work at a distance. The article focuses on how this new stand-alone experimentation environment maintains a clear separation between the graphical experimentation interface, developed in Java, and the math and simulation engine. By constructing the environment in this fashion, the math engine can be replaced with a different one or with a real plant, or can even be ported to a remote server. A Web-based, multiuser virtual lab is also possible without the necessity of reprogramming the experimentation interface code. Other differences with respect to tools are the dynamic simulations, the user interactivity, the generation of new experiments as goals change, and the opportunity to practice with classical or advanced control strategies in different plants: a heat exchanger, a tank, a distillation column, or an inverted pendulum.