Online Learning in Engineering Courses Using Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks

Abstract

The Information and Communication Technologies have been increasingly playing an essential role to support teaching and learning, especially in engineering courses, by taking advantage of online resources and online experiments. In particular, Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks are simultaneously a subject of interest for several engineering courses and a way to enable remote access to laboratory experimental setups. The Remote and Virtual Laboratory of the Department of Informatics Engineering of the University of Coimbra (Portugal) is part of the flock.uc.pt web-based platform under development to allow users to perform remote and virtual experiments in several engineering domains. This paper aims to describe its potential use mainly in engineering courses and lifelong learning programs. The main characteristics of some remote experiments and the potential of Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks to interact with laboratory systems are described.