Remote access laboratory setup for physical computing courses

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced educational institutes worldwide to rapidly adapt to a remote-only learning environment. This poses significant challenges for laboratories involving hands-on training and interaction with specialized equipment, such as those of physical computing courses. In this context, we present a simple, low-cost solution for conducting remote laboratories in microcontroller and PLC programming, by adapting existing lab hardware and extending it to function remotely. A key element of the proposed setup is a physical input simulator board, which allows remote users to issue inputs (digital and/or analog signals) to the development hardware, through a graphical user interface application running on the workstation PC. The latter is also equipped with a camera and a light, so as to form a complete remote access and monitoring solution. This setup was used during the coronavirus lockdown in two courses of the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Hellenic Mediterranean University, receiving a very positive evaluation from the students. The proposed setup can also be used as a hybrid solution for laboratories during normal conditions, and to facilitate efficient use of teaching resources by allowing 24/7 access to the laboratory units.