Remote-LAB GymKT

Our first effort was to use the experimental USB board K8055 (from Velleman®) to manage remote experiments. Many users have already tried to solve the K8055 management board directly from the website. We have solved this problem with our own control server K8055-MARIE. See the links below for a description of our solution, technical support, download program, demonstrations, tutorials, etc.

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We are currently focusing on the ability to control remote experiments using the Arduino with Ethernet Shield. This solution would allow us to eliminate the control PC, allowing us to create simpler and less spatially (and financially) demanding experiments.

We have used this remote remote control method to modify these experiments:

• RAMBO – Robotic arm remote control
• DiANE – Study of diffraction phenomena
• AbRaHaM – Radiation Absorption in Materials
• GENIE – Weather Station

As soon as we reach a conclusion that is generally applicable to other developers, we will publish it here.

After focusing on controlling remote experiments using the Arduino module with the Ethernet Shield extension, we found that our remote tasks still require the presence of a classic PC. The reason for this was the use of classic USB cameras, which require the YawCam application to run for Internet broadcasting. The solution to this situation was the ESP32-CAM module, which proved to be suitable for building a simple and cheap IP camera. So we developed a prototype IP camera that allows you to both load still images and seamlessly steam the image. The camera also emulates the output of the previously used YawCam camera application. Thanks to this, this camera could replace the existing solution with a USB camera and a connected PC.

We now test the IP camera built on the ESP32-CAM module in the remote experiment:

• RAMBO – Robotic arm remote control

We also discovered the general purpose ESP32 module while solving this task. It turns out to be an interesting solution for creating remote experiments. We will certainly continue to work on this alternative as well.

An article describing the construction of an IP camera based on the ESP32-CAM module (including source codes and models for 3D printing) is in preparation…

Raspberry Pi is currently a very advanced solution that combines the advantages of a classic PC controller (convenient programming, use of operating system services, stability…) and a universal development module (direct pin control, low power consumption, speed…). With this module, we promise, among other things, the possibility of combining the remote control of experiments with their webcam management, which we treat separately.

We will inform other developers about our progress