Experiences in Developing and Using a Remote Lab in Teaching Robotics

For STEM education, traditional presence laboratory courses (labs) are an essential component. They allow students to build on the knowledge they have acquired and apply it to solving specific problems. However, these kind of labs are known for their resource problems (personnel, time, and equipment). This work in progress paper presents the DistLab project at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences, Germany. DistLab aims to introduce and investigate a transferable concept for generic, hybrid remote laboratories in STEM education. Hybrid remote labs are the combination of off-campus work on remotely controllable systems that takes place on-campus. Students start working with a virtual simulation of the lab and test their solution in the real-world lab. Real-time interaction between students and lab allows immediate response and resolution to errors as they occur. Initial feedback has shown that the resource independence of this lab concept makes learning more flexible and unconstrained for students. However, this flexibility requires a high degree of self-discipline and self-organization.