An Improved Operational Amplifier iLab with a More Realistic Looking Interface

Babatunde Isaac Ishola; Olawale Babatunde Akinwale; Lawrence O. Kehinde; Kayode Peter Ayodele; Oluwapelumi Olufemi Aboluwarin

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Computers in the Laboratory
Tagged Division: Computers in Education
Page Count: 18
Page Numbers: 25.164.1 - 25.164.18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--20924
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/20924
Download Count: 874

Lawrence Kehinde has been a professor of electronic and electrical engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria since 1988. He was the Director of ICT, as well as the founding Principal Investigator of the University's iLab group in collaboration with MIT, USA. Currently, he coordinates a State Research and Educational Network. His present work includes developing virtual and remote labs for students' experimentation. He just concluded a three-year visiting professor job at the Texas Southern University, Houston.

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Kayode Peter Ayodele

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Oluwapelumi Olufemi Aboluwarin

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Abstract

An improved Operational Amplifier iLab with a More Realistic Looking Interface by Ishola B.I., Ayodele K.P., Kehinde L.O., Akinwale O.B., Aboluwarin O.O Department of Electronic and electrical Engineering Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria AbstractRealistic interfaces for iLab-based operational Amplifier experiments have previouslybeen reported. Motivated by experiences and students’ feedback gathered in the past,an even more realistic interface for Op-amp experimentation using iLab technology ishereby presented.The emphasis in the current work was on the design of a new client and consequently,the system under test (SUT) remains largely unchanged from previously-reportediterations of the lab. The only notable exception is that in the current SUT, theoperational amplifier circuit also allows the construction of a difference amplifier. Asbefore, remote configurability and data acquisition are achieved through a 100-channelswitch array and a NI USB-6251 DAQ card controlled by the experiment enginerespectively.The realistic-looking interface of the client is implemented using Adobe Flex technology.It utilizes a metaphor fabricated around realistic images of breadboards, componentsand instruments. To allow the flexibility available in a real lab where students can utilizean arbitrary set of breadboard nodes in wiring up a particular circuit, the client utilizes adepth-first-search algorithm to construct circuits from an arbitrary number of studentnode-to-node connections. An attempt was made to prevent student disorientation byemploying the use of intuitive control actions to zoom and pan the view, as well as hideinterface elements as desired.Lab assessment was done in two phases. First, a questionnaire was administered tostudents after using the lab. Their responses were compared with those for a previousgeneration of the operational amplifier lab. Secondly, a small study was carried out toverify a previous argument that realistic interfaces improved students’ laboratoryexperience. The results of the study are discussed and attempts are made to extend theimplications to other remote laboratories. Furthermore, the performance of the LabVIEWdll approach to experiment control is compared with a previous approach using the NIDAQmx library.KeywordsRealistic interface, iLab, operational amplifier,

Citation
Format

Ishola, B. I., & Akinwale, O. B., & Kehinde, L. O., & Ayodele, K. P., & Aboluwarin, O. O. (2012, June), An Improved Operational Amplifier iLab with a More Realistic Looking Interface Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--20924

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -     An improved Operational Amplifier iLab with a More Realistic Looking Interface                                              by          Ishola B.I., Ayodele K.P., Kehinde L.O., Akinwale O.B., Aboluwarin O.O                    Department of Electronic and electrical Engineering                       Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria                                           AbstractRealistic interfaces for iLab-based operational Amplifier experiments have previouslybeen reported. Motivated by experiences and students’ feedback gathered in the past,an even more realistic interface for Op-amp experimentation using iLab technology ishereby presented.The emphasis in the current work was on the design of a new client and consequently,the system under test (SUT) remains largely unchanged from previously-reportediterations of the lab. The only notable exception is that in the current SUT, theoperational amplifier circuit also allows the construction of a difference amplifier. Asbefore, remote configurability and data acquisition are achieved through a 100-channelswitch array and a NI USB-6251 DAQ card controlled by the experiment enginerespectively.The realistic-looking interface of the client is implemented using Adobe Flex technology.It utilizes a metaphor fabricated around realistic images of breadboards, componentsand instruments. To allow the flexibility available in a real lab where students can utilizean arbitrary set of breadboard nodes in wiring up a particular circuit, the client utilizes adepth-first-search algorithm to construct circuits from an arbitrary number of studentnode-to-node connections. An attempt was made to prevent student disorientation byemploying the use of intuitive control actions to zoom and pan the view, as well as hideinterface elements as desired.Lab assessment was done in two phases. First, a questionnaire was administered tostudents after using the lab. Their responses were compared with those for a previousgeneration of the operational amplifier lab. Secondly, a small study was carried out toverify a previous argument that realistic interfaces improved students’ laboratoryexperience. The results of the study are discussed and attempts are made to extend theimplications to other remote laboratories. Furthermore, the performance of the LabVIEWdll approach to experiment control is compared with a previous approach using the NIDAQmx library.KeywordsRealistic interface, iLab, operational amplifier,
AU  - Babatunde Isaac Ishola
AU  - Olawale Babatunde Akinwale
AU  - Lawrence O. Kehinde
AU  - Kayode Peter Ayodele
AU  - Oluwapelumi Olufemi Aboluwarin
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - An Improved Operational Amplifier iLab with a More Realistic Looking Interface
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/20924
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--20924
ER  -