DEVELOPMENT OF ONLINE INTERNET LABORATORY (ONLINE I-LAB) Adnan Salihbegovic Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina adnan.salihbegovic@etf.unsa.ba Abstract— In an internet assisted laboratory (online I- lab) the lab devices and pilot plants are tested, controlled and programmed through a client program or simple web browser at a remote computer. A user- controlled webcam allows monitoring the devices or pilot plant behavior. As an online lab can be used from many locations and at any time, it can be utilized much better than a conventional lab. By working with an online Internet accessible Lab, students and researchers shall not only carry out experiments but also learn how to work, program and design remotely monitored and controlled devices and processes. Online labs will support distributed group work over the Internet. Software to control and program the lab devices and pilot plants runs on central server. Furthermore, user lab access rights will be administered there or on delegated machines called service brokers. Work assignment text and hypermedia course material for the experiment are available from the same site over the Internet. The paper presents one online Internet accessible laboratory built at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Sarajevo within the laboratory for HMI/SCADA systems. Pilot plant constitutes of three tanks level control system controlled by Siemens Simatic S7-300 PLC controller. Web enabled HMI software with OPC communication to PLC controller is used to provide full monitoring and control to remote user over pilot plant operation. keywords: remote control laboratories, distance learning, e- learning, internet technologies, web services, thin clients I. INTRODUCTION Advancing technology has opened many doors in education. The next step in this direction is interactivity at teaching. Student is able to not only to see what is involved, but he or she is able to learn from hands on experience. Using computers can be a very effective way of accomplishing this. Students are more motivated and can learn more effectively if they have the opportunity to conduct experiments. Experiments allow a student to compare reality with simulations, collaborate with each other, and give them opportunity to follow their curiosity. Experiments allow a student to compare reality with simulations, collaborate with each other, and give them opportunity to follow their curiosity. Unfortunately, many engineering courses do not include lab component because of significant expense and space considerations. In response to this, I-Lab created remote web-accessible laboratories are providing a new framework of science and engineering courses. Remote laboratories allow for much more efficient use of laboratory equipment and give students the opportunity to conduct experiments from the comfort of an Internet accessible browser. These online Internet accessible labs are important in several learning situations. The first of these is the distance learning scenario. In this situation, learners execute a laboratory oriented course or exercise from their homes or places of employment. Individual learners are remote from each other so that collaboration is distributed. There are currently an increasingly large number of efforts to provide the online analog of the university classroom. However, there are comparatively few efforts to provide the online analog of the university laboratory, as lectures are much simpler to implement in the Internet environment. However, laboratory learning is a key part of a well designed curriculum. As the number of distance learners and distance learning programs increase, the demand for online laboratory access will also increase. places of employment. Individual learners are remote from each other so that collaboration is distributed. There are currently an increasingly large number of efforts to provide the online analog of the university classroom. However, there are comparatively few efforts to provide the online analog of the university laboratory, as lectures are much simpler to implement in the Internet environment. However, laboratory learning is a key part of a well designed curriculum. As the number of distance learners and distance learning programs increase, the demand for online laboratory access will also increase. This could for example, make available to other national 1