A Concurrent Testing Facility Approach to Validate Small Satellite Combined Operations

Federated remote laboratories allow for the execution of experiments ex situ. The coordination of several laboratories can be used to perform concurrent experiments of combined space operations. However, the latency of the communications between facilities is critical to performing adequate real-time experiments. This paper presents an approach for conducting coordinated experiments between floating platforms at two remote laboratories. Two independently designed platforms, one at Luleå University of Technology and the other at La Sapienza University of Rome, were established for this purpose. A synchronization method based on the Simple Network Time Protocol was created, allowing the offset and delay between the agents to be measured.Both platforms exchange data about their measured time and pose through a UDP/IP protocol over the internet. This approach was validated with the execution of simulated operations. A first demonstrative experiment was also performed showing the possibility to realize leader/follower coordinated operations. The results of the simulations and experiments showed communication delays on the order of tens of milliseconds with no significant impact on the control performance. Consequently, the suggested protocol was proven to be adequate for conducting coordinated experiments in real time between remote laboratories.

At-home Plant Growing Kits Foster Positive Student Experiences in an Online Horticulture Course

Hands-on activities are an essential part of horticulture education. However, facilitating hands-on activities in online horticulture courses is challenging partly due to a lack of literature that describes remote laboratories in the discipline. Here we describe our experience planning and executing a remote strawberry-growing activity in an online horticulture course at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Students received strawberry-growing kits that contained a strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) plant, substrate, and fertilizer. Instructions on growing the strawberry plant were delivered online and students had to provide weekly updates about the status of their plant for 5 weeks. At the end of the semester, students provided feedback about the hands-on activity in the form of an essay. Their answers were analyzed using text mining to gauge their perception of the activity. About 77% of students expressed positive sentiments about the remote activity including excitement, enjoyment, and knowledge gain. Students who expressed negative sentiments about the activity (≈23% of the total) focused on plant casualties and difficulties related to management practices. Overall, student essays and weekly updates reflected a relevant and engaging cognitive exercise in horticulture. Our results suggest that remote laboratories can improve the student experience in online courses and provide a footprint for successful implementation of similar activities in online horticulture courses.

Monitoring and Security of Fiber Optic Lines in Cloud Computing within the Operation of Remote Laboratories

<p class="0keywords"><em>In this article, we want to point out what security and monitoring of fiber optics are.</em> <em>By increasing the number of RLs and, of course, connecting several locations through FO, we were able to build a cloud solution with a high level of security. However, the distance between the Datacentres (DTCs) is often large and there are many pitfalls on the road associated with the operation of the optical path, so we were forced to find a suitable monitoring solution. The main problems described are the bending or kinking of the optical fiber as well as the need for monitoring the safety of the fiber at the lowest level. In this article, we will describe how we have dealt with this issue and we will also mention specific cases where our monitoring system was very useful for us. With the help of it, we eliminated problems faster than we could have done in a common situation while waiting for an Internet Service Provider (ISP), etc.</em></p>

Virtual Reality Based Digital Twin System for Remote Laboratories and Online Practical Learning

There is a need for remote learning and virtual learning applications such as virtual reality (VR) and tablet-based solutions which the current pandemic has demonstrated. Creating complex learning scenarios by developers is highly time-consuming and can take over a year. There is a need to provide a simple method to enable lecturers to create their own content for their laboratory tutorials. Research is currently being undertaken into developing generic models to enable the semi-automatic creation of a virtual learning application. A case study describing the creation of a virtual learning application for an electrical laboratory tutorial is presented.