WAVES: towards real time laboratory experiments in cyberspace

This paper describes the architecture of a Web-based audio/video educational system for real-time laboratory experiments through the Internet. The goal of the WAVES (Web-based Audio Video Educational Systems) project is to develop an open and integrated platform for online laboratory experimentation, computer simulation, and course instruction using the Internet for research and teaching in modeling, design, analysis, and control of dynamical systems. The project is unique in that students can conduct hardware lab experiments via the Internet and receive real-time data feedback and audio/video feedback of experimented results. Although many similar Internet-based tools have been developed throughout the last two years, very few of them encompass "hands-on" experiments with actual laboratory hardware. Since Internet-based hardware systems can be shared and scheduled for use by a large number of researchers and students in various locations, the WAVES platform is a cost-effective way to address the issue of "hands-on" experience for students. In our current implementation, a three layer architecture is used, i.e., the clients, the dispatcher, and the coordinators. First, the clients will issue tasks and receive feedback for conducting a specific lab experiment; then the dispatcher deals with the control and communication between the clients and coordinators; finally the coordinators conduct the actual experiment through hardware setups, simulation models, and database systems.