Assimilation of Wireless Sensor Networks and remote microcomputer laboratories

Emergence of Web 2.0 technologies became a trigger for a revolution that goes far beyond the Web. For an average student Web was transformed from a steady, accessible source of information into a place of action and viable exchange of knowledge — a kind of a virtual classroom. Students started to look for experience and a touch to reality online, and this is where remote laboratories come in place. Such laboratories became an inevitable need in electrical and computer engineering courses dealing with microcomputers. This paper presents an overview of available architectures of microcomputer laboratories used today and addresses their most important limitations. Moreover, an important extension of such architecture is proposed allowing support for remote Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) laboratory. Different aspects of compatibility between microcomputer laboratories and WSNs have been examined to allow creation of an general extension model. With additional effort and adaptation, WSN nodes may serve remote clients as an economic and accessible microcomputer laboratory providing invaluable hands-on experience and a motivation for a course using it.