Omni-directional robotic wheel - a mobile real-time control systems laboratory

A mobile laboratory was developed for students of the ECE5320 Mechatronics and ECE7750 Distributed Control Systems courses at Utah State University. A serial server was connected to the embedded controller of a stand-alone 3-axes robotic wheel assembly. This enabled communication between the wheel and any Internet-enabled computer. A telepresence control system and a prototype networked control system (NCS) were developed and tested. This system was suitably modified to accommodate the needs of the course laboratories, thereby enabling students to design, debug and test their laboratory projects in real-time at their chosen time and locations. A fully-functional demonstration of this remote laboratory is available from: http://www.csois.usu.edu/people/smartwheel/CompleteInfoPage.htm.