Developing a Simple Pendulum Remote Laboratory with a Versatile Low-Cost Data Acquisition System

Remote laboratories have become widely recognized as effective pedagogical tools, as demonstrated by numerous research studies worldwide. In Argentina, engineering schools have turned to remote laboratories for experiential training purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic, replacing traditional practices. To support this effort, the Federal Council of Engineering Deans (CONFEDI) created R-LAB, a collaborative network of remote laboratories. All engineering schools in Argentina will participate in this network as users and/or providers. Our university has contributed a new remote laboratory to the R-LAB network: a simple pendulum remote laboratory based on a data acquisition (DAQ) card. While we have used a National Instruments board in other remote labs, we opted for a cost-effective in-house development for this lab. The DAQ we created is adaptable for different remote laboratory configurations, with network connectivity and no dependence on a computer/server. To show the usefulness and possibilities of this development, we implemented the new remote laboratory of the simple pendulum. This lab was inspired by a low-cost laboratory for hands-on use, created by students in the context of an introductory Physics course. Our development takes into account both the needs raised by the teachers related to the practices of didactic interest and the requirements for its use within the R-LAB network. Although the lab is currently in the prototype stage, it will be deployed and evaluated in the classroom by both teachers and students once it has passed reliability and accuracy tests.