Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Experimenting Through The Web A Linear Variable Differential Transformer
Experimenting Through The Web A Linear Variable Differential Transformer
Abstract—Aiming for teaching/learning support in sciences there is an interaction with real experiments. Besides,
and engineering areas, the Remote Experimentation concept there are many specific and complex tasks impossible or
(an E-learning subset) has grown in last years with the very difficult to replicate with software simulation tools
development of several infrastructures that enable doing where, in such cases, it is less expensive to place the all
practical experiments from anywhere and anytime, using a experiment online (through the Web) in opposition to
simple PC connected to the Internet. Nevertheless, given its develop a simulation model, from the scratch. Therefore,
valuable contribution to the teaching/learning process, the in situations where simulations can not fulfill the specific
development of more infrastructures should continue, in requirements of a real experiment, or when cost figures
order to make available more solutions able to improve suggest providing access to real equipment rather than
courseware contents and motivate students for learning. The simulating it, the ‘learn by doing’ rule should be satisfied
work presented in this paper contributes for that purpose, by the Remote Experimentation (RE) concept, as
in the specific area of industrial automation. After a brief suggested by several past and ongoing projects (e.g.
introduction to the Remote Experimentation concept, we PEARL [2], MARVEL [3], RExNet [4], PROLEARN
describe a remote accessible lab infrastructure that enables [5]). Notice however that simulations still play a
users to conduct real experiments with an important and fundamental role in situations where the cost of
widely used transducer in industrial automation, named implementing a remote experiment is high or when
Linear Variable Differential Transformer. replication is needed. Another aspect is when the
experiment includes the use of critical equipment that can
Index Terms—Remote Experimentation, Distance Learning,
be damaged by an erroneous use. In such scenarios,
Remote Lab, LVDT.
simulating the experiment in a first phase allows the user
to acquire the necessary skills that will then allow him/her
I. INTRODUCTION to control the remote equipment in a safer way. Other
scenarios include the combined use of real equipment with
The increasing demand for culture and knowledge, simulation models, in a technique named as mixed-reality
imposed by the society, alerted the educational [6].
community for the need to design creative ways to
motivate and facilitate people for the learning/teaching RE aims to supply real experiments able to be accessed
process. Personal Computers (PCs) and the Internet have and controlled from anywhere, by anyone, and at anytime,
been playing an important role in this topic, by promoting using a simple PC connected to the Internet [7]. In a
the deliver of pedagogical contents, like documents, general perspective, several aspects have been studied to
demonstrations, images and others, to all, independently identify the benefits of RE to education & training, as
of their social conditions or geographical restrictions. illustrated by figure 1.
However, in recent years, these static contents are being
complemented with dynamic ones, provided by E-learning
environments (Virtual Learning Environments, VLE),
which include components that allow students and
teachers to interact in the same way as they do in a
teaching room. These environments provide multimedia
contents, administrative, learning, and assessment
management tools, supported by communication
platforms that allow interaction among users (e.g. chat
rooms, forums, etc.)1 [1].
Spite the fact E-learning is already a reality in our Figure 1. Remote Experimentation scenario
society, the pedagogical contents are being continuously
expanded in engineering and sciences areas, where In an educational perspective, RE is considered to be a
requirements suggest to follow the common rule that it is complement and not a substitute of a lab session since not
better to ‘learn by doing’. Some experts argue simulations all tasks can be done remotely (e.g. it is not feasible to
could fulfill this requirement. However, these can hardly remotely mount an electronic circuit, which impairs
contemplate unpredictable situations encountered when students from acquiring the required ability to handle
electronic components and assembling them) [8].
1
Moodle is an example of a freeware VLE, available at
Moreover, mobility and flexibility provided to students
http://moodle.org/. and teachers in their tasks are improved, since a remote
lab is available 24 hours per day, during 7 days a week II. LEARNING GOAL: HOW DOES AN LVDT WORK?
allowing them to access it, from their home, from the Many electronic applications present in our everyday
school or from any other place. The potential benefits to life would not be functional without transducers, namely
certain courses, given the diminishing time for presential without their ability to measure physical quantities.
lectures defended by the Bologna agreement (applicable to Transducers are used in automation for the process and
the European Higher Education Area) [9], are obvious, as manufacturing industry, including: robotics, experimental
remote experiments allow the incorporation of practical engineering, cars, agriculture, medical equipment and
subjects without physical and time restrictions. Using a others. There are several transducers in the market, with a
remote experiment to support those lectures will deeply different operating mode and characteristics. Teaching a
enhance the students’ understanding, since it facilitates particular transducer should not be limited to the theory,
practicing the learned theoretical subjects. In addition, the because there are so many characteristics that influence
use of synchronous communication tools (e.g. their operating mode, some of them impossible to preview
videoconference) to support remote experiments can and/or very difficult to analyze. Thus, simulation models
overcome possible social isolation problems (due to the do not guarantee a good understanding, being fundamental
excessive use of PCs) and, at the same time, promote a to verify its aspects in a lab environment.
wide collaboration among different people (e.g. experts
previously unknown to each other). Collaboration among Being one of the most interesting transducers available
teachers will also be increased, since each one may share to measure displacements in several industrial applications
his/her knowledge, contributing also, for better (e.g. in the active suspension systems of cars, in civil
courseware contents. Equipment costs and the lack of engineering by the dynamic measurement of fatigue in
places to accommodate laboratories (a reality in some large structural components used in suspension bridges,
institutions) are overcome with RE, since it is possible to and others), the LVDT was a natural choice to be
deliver a lab session with small requirements of both implemented in the remote infrastructure. To the best of
space and equipment. Moreover, RE presents some our knowledge there is currently no remote experiment
advantages for people with special needs: i) doing a real available with an LVDT, although one may find several
experiment does not require moving to the lab, and ii) the others based on temperature transducers [10].
access to RE interfaces may be done through applications The LVDT operating mode is based on the variation of
specially designed for people with special needs (e.g. the mutual inductance between a primary winding and
people with vision or hearing impairments). each one of two secondary windings when a
But RE is not confined to a school perspective, because ferromagnetic core moves inside it. When the primary
remotely controlling any infrastructure is also a very winding is supplied by a sinusoidal waveform (with
interesting solution for companies, where workers are specific amplitude and frequency), the voltages induced in
casual students that require rapid explanations in specific each secondary windings are also sinusoidal waveforms
work situations (e.g. a worker is mounting an equipment and equal, when the core is in its central position. When
and is not certain about its behavior - then, remotely the core moves, one of the two secondary winding
testing that equipment could help him/her accomplishing voltages increases and the other decreases by the same
his/her task). In this situation, the use of a remote amount. This analysis requires a signal conditioning
experiment may contribute to reduce mistakes, time and circuit to transform those sinusoidal waveforms into a
costs. Like in a school perspective, RE also contributes to continuous one, representing the core displacement.
companies, since globalization demands training workers Figure 2 presents a general circuit diagram that allows
for knowledge update. This situation, together with less using the LVDT in any industrial application.
available time, places RE as a valuable choice to give displacement
practical support for specific subjects, allowing practical
training, anytime, from anywhere. ∆fin
secondary
winding 1
Even with several remote experiments already /
primary Signal continuous
∆Vin
available, the RE concept should be further explored in sinusoidal
winding Conditioning
Circuit
voltage
next years, by developing more applications that can waveform
secondary
winding 2
benefit the educational & training community, in several
subjects. Therefore, this paper presents another ferromagnetic core
contribution in the electronic instrumentation area, namely Figure 2. LVDT circuit diagram
a remote experiment focusing on an electronic transducer
named Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT).
The following section starts with a brief presentation of The LVDT importance in industrial automation is
the LVDT transducer, explaining the basic functional justified by some of its characteristics, namely:
principals and its importance in industrial automation. theoretical infinite resolution;
Section 3 focuses on the remote experiment, presenting almost unlimited lifetime and high reliability,
the entire developed remote infrastructure, subdivided in justified by a negligible friction between the core and
its physical and logical modules. Before concluding the the windings;
paper, the remote experiment with the LVDT is electrical isolation between primary and secondary
contextualized in a particular course lectured at the windings that facilitates electronic circuit design;
Polytechnic Institute of Porto - School of Engineering -
(ISEP). high repeatability, sensitivity and linearity;
easy detection of the core directional displacements;
and a broad dynamic response.
However, teaching about the LVDT operating mode visualize the signals present at the SCC/PCB and two
can not be limited to an analytical functional analysis Servers (the Lab Server and the Instrumentation Server).
because of its random aspects, such as: i) a variation in the The DAQ and the oscilloscope provide the interface
frequency promotes changes in the sensitivity; ii) the load between the UUT and the servers that make available the
(placed in the secondary windings) influences the output; experiment to remote users. The UUT contains the
iii) temperature interference, and others. mechanical apparatus, which includes the LVDT [13] and
Based on those characteristics, practical a step motor that controls the LVDT’s core displacement,
experimentation is very important for understanding the and the SCC/PCB used to handle the voltages received
LVDT’s operating mode. Considering all the previous from the second windings, plus an external power supply.
aspects, we decided to implement the remote For monitor purposes, we used two WebCams: the first
infrastructure described in the next section, which allows directed to the mechanical apparatus, allowing to observe
remotely controlling an LVDT and exploring its features the displacements of the LVDT’s core (with a resolution
and its operating mode. of one millimeter provided by a ruler) and the second
directed to the light indicators that provide visual feedback
III. THE REMOTE INFRASTRUCTURE on users’ actions performed on the SCC/PCB.
Providing remote access to the LVDT started with the According to figure 4, the SCC/PCB has two parts: part
specification and later implementation of a lab 1 consists in a wave generator plus switch 1; part 2 has
infrastructure able to be controlled through a PC two switches (2 and 3) and two half-wave rectifiers used
connected to the Internet. This infrastructure was designed to transform sinusoidal waveforms (received from the
in accordance to the results provided by an analysis of the windings) into one continuous voltage, which level
LVDT’s functionality, which indicated the use of an represents the displacement made by the LVDT’s core.
independent Signal Conditioning Circuit (SCC)2 . With
this approach, the SCC was implemented in a Printed
Circuit Board (PCB) able to be remotely reconfigured and
monitored in some specific points, allowing a deeper user
interaction.
As a primary requirement, we identified the ability to
control the LVDT’s core displacement. All those
displacements are monitored by a WebCam, which allows
seeing if user’s action causes any impact in the remote
infrastructure. The SCC/PCB was designed with several
light indicators monitored by a second WebCam. All these
Figure 4. Block diagram of the UUT used in the remote infrastructure
solutions, which will be further analyzed in the next
subsections, were implemented focusing an approach to a
real lab, given the user ability to reconfigure and test A Wien Bridge generates a sinusoidal waveform with
different points of the circuit and, at the same time, see amplitude and frequency able to be remotely modified by
what he/she is really doing. Since lab work is usually done changing the value of two variable digital resistors [14].
in teams, the infrastructure also includes a By remotely turning ON switch 1, this wave generator
videoconference tool, allowing real-time interaction connects to the primary winding of the LVDT. The user
among users. All the referred functionalities were may also measure the sinusoidal waveform using one
implemented in the remote infrastructure depicted in the oscilloscope channel connected between point test 1 and
block diagram of figure 3, which illustrates its physical reference gnd 1, both available at the SCC/PCB.
and logical modules. The two secondary windings are connected to two half-
wave rectifiers, each one composed by a diode, a resistor
and a capacitor (D1,2, R1,2 and C1,2), which give to the user
the ability to change the output signal by turning ON/OFF
Mechanical apparatus
Lab
2
There are several circuits comprising both the LVDT and the SCC.
(switches, light indicators, and the step motor used to LVDT interface
displace the LVDT’s core).
ruler
To support the usage of the remote experiment we Internet. The adoption of a synchronous communication
developed the Web site illustrated in figure 9, available tool (videoconference) and a visual feedback of the
from [20]. Developed with the Macromedia Flash, the remote experiment through WebCams, reduces the
Web site gives several useful links to support the perceptual distance to presential learning scenarios, which,
execution of the remote experiment. It supplies general for sure, will encourage people to use the remote lab.
information about LVDTs transducers with videos and In the future, some minor improvements can be made to
images, together with detailed technical information about the remote infrastructure, namely: i) translate all the
the specific LVDT used in our remote infrastructure. Also information of the Web site to English; ii) use a VLE to
available is a detailed technical report about the support the remote experiment; and iii) develop a more
development of the presented remote infrastructure (in user-friendly interface for the oscilloscope, together with
Portuguese), and an interface that allows users to choose an interface for the multimeter. In addition to the
one of the three possible interface configurations for previously referred improvements, future trial sessions
controlling/monitoring the remote lab, as described at the will be run next semester in the context of the
end of the subsection 3.2 (Minimum, Medium and High). Instrumentation & Measurement course for undergraduate
In attention to first time users, it is also available a video students, which may contribute for other future
exemplifying all the actions made remotely to improvements in the remote infrastructure.
control/monitor the infrastructure, which facilitates their
initial actions. Besides a general information about the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Web site (date, authors, etc.), it is also available a lab
guide (in Portuguese), divided in several topics, that helps This work was partially supported by the Remote
users to run an experiment for learning the operation mode Experimentation Network (RExNet) project through the
of both the LVDT and the SCC. ALFA-II program that comprehends cooperation between
higher education institutions of the European Union and
Latin America [4].
REFERENCES
[1] Wikipedia, "E-learning." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning ,
2006.
[2] PEARL, "Practical Experimentation by Accessible Remote
Learning." http://iet.open.ac.uk/pearl/, 2001-2004.
[3] MARVEL, "Virtual Laboratory in Mechatronics: Access to
Remote and Virtual e-Learning." http://www.marvel.uni-
bremen.de/, 2002-2005.
[4] RExNet, "Remote Experimentation Network."
http://www.rexlab.net/, 2005-2007.
[5] PROLEARN, "Professional Learning - Network of Excellence
(online experiment descriptions)." http://prolearn-
oe.org/bin/view/OE/ExperimentDescriptions, 2005.
[6] Müller, D.; Bruns, F. W.. “Experiential Learning of Mechatronics
in a Mixed Reality Learning Space.” EDEN 2005 Conference.
Helsinki, Finland. June 20-23, 2005.
Figure 9: Web site developed to access the remote experiment
[7] S. K. Esche, "On the Integration of Remote Experimentation into
Undergraduate Laboratories-Pedagogical Approach." International
The remote experiment feasibility in an IM lecture Journal of Instructional Media, 2003.
context will be evaluated in future trials. Supported by the [8] J. Garcia-Zubia and A. d. Moral, "Suitability and Implementation
lab guide, students will run the LVDT’s experiment in a of a WebLab in Engineering." 10th IEEE International Conference
real teaching scenario where we expect to gather results on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, 2005.
that may indicate future improvements in the remote [9] ESIB, "ESIB - The National Unions of Students in Europe."
infrastructure. http://www.esib.org/BPC/welcome.html , 2006.
[10] RexLab (UNISUL Remote Lab, Brazil), Temperature control
V. CONCLUSION through the WEB, available at
http://www.rexlab.unisul.br/projetos/temperatura/, 2006.
The tendency to include the Remote Experimentation [11] DAQ, "PowerDAQ/PD2-DIO64." http://www.ueidaq.com/, 2001.
concept in the teaching/learning process in school and [12] TDS3014B, "Tektronix TDS3014B-100MHz OSCILLOSCOPE."
industry is still growing. The features supplied by RE http://www.metrictest.com/top_models/TEK%20TDS3014B.html,
brings it as an important complement to real labs since it 2006.
provides a real-time remote interaction with real [13] AC/25, "LVDT Displacement Transducer." Solartron Metrology -
experiments together with communication tools that http://www.solartronmetrology.com/, 2005.
enable communications among users during an [14] DALLAS-semiconductor, "DS1267 Dual Digital Potentiometer
experiment, anytime from anywhere, reducing costs and Chip." http://www.dalsemi.com /
http://www.datasheetcatalog.com 2005.
increasing flexibility.
[15] Ferreira, J. M., Müller, D., “The MARVEL EU project: A social
Based on several advantages brought by RE, this paper constructivist approach to remote experimentation.” 1st Remote
has described another remote infrastructure that allows a Engineering and Virtual Instrumentation International Symposium
real-time interaction with an important transducer in the (REV'04), Villach (Austria), 28 - 29 September 2004.
industrial automation area, named LVDT. The [16] LabVIEW, "National Instruments Corporation."
implemented infrastructure gives users the ability to http://www.ni.com/labview/, 2005.
interact with an LVDT, together with a Signal [17] Run-timeEngine, "LabVIEW Run-time Engine."
Conditioning Circuit, using a PC connected to the http://www.ni.com/labview/, 2006.