An Internet-based real-time control engineering laboratory

Describes the design of generic virtual instruments used for real-time experimentation at Polytechnic University's control engineering laboratory in a remote-access environment. These instruments can be freely downloaded and the remote user can access the laboratory facilities from anywhere at any time. Our Internet-accessed remote laboratory is based on a client/server computer configuration. The server, situated near the experiment, transfers to it the received command signals transmitted by the client. The client locally computes the command signal based on the reference waveform and the transmitted system response. The remote user can select the transmission protocol, switch between asynchronous and synchronous sampling, use either a batch or a recursive data transfer mode, and view the experimental testbed. Our approach is distinct from others in that it offers more flexibility and responsibility to the client side, since the remote user compiles and executes the controller locally. Issues concerned with network reliability, dynamic delays caused by Internet traffic, concurrent user access, and limited computing power have been addressed. The designed set of experiments is the first step toward our remote control laboratory.