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. 2022 Mar 31:11:e00301.
doi: 10.1016/j.ohx.2022.e00301. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Laborem Box: A scalable and open source platform to design remote lab experiments in electronics

Camille Lavayssière  1   2 , Benoît Larroque  1   2 , Franck Luthon  1   2
Affiliations

Laborem Box: A scalable and open source platform to design remote lab experiments in electronics

Camille Lavayssière et al. HardwareX. .

Abstract

Hybrid teaching (face-to-face and distance learning) enables students to better prepare and complete their courses. In science, technology, engineering and mathematics, it is important that practical training be an integral part of the curriculum. Laborem project developed at the technological university institute in Bayonne, France, enables undergraduate students to carry out part of their lab experiments in electronics remotely. Started in 2011, Laborem platform was based on proprietary solutions. Since 2017, the platform has migrated to open source software (PyScada) and open source interface box (Laborem Box), which was developed in order to enable the connection of several circuit boards to be studied. These boards, called plugs, are easily interchangeable and enable teachers to quickly adapt the proposed circuits to their course. The software also provides a simple front panel to adapt the human machine interface that is available for students. Laborem Box consists of a 3D printable box, a power supply board, a set of plugs, and a motherboard that enables students to study the selected plug. In addition, a single board computer is embedded and a hard disk can be used if necessary. This paper is intended to describe the hardware and software design of Laborem platform, and to serve as a guide to explain how to duplicate and deploy this system, primarily dedicated to undergraduate students for learning basic electronics.

Keywords: 3D printing; Blended learning; Hybrid education; Open hardware; Remote laboratory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overview of Laborem test bench.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overview of the Laborem Box.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Overview of Laborem system architecture.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The 3D box.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Motherboard.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Pre-wired band-pass filter of order 2.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Detail of the PCI Express port connections on a plug.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
The power supply card.
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Locations of screws used in assembly.
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Laborem Box I/O.
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
Wiring instructions.
Fig. 12
Fig. 12
Test plug used to check the motherboard connections.
Fig. 13
Fig. 13
4 LEDs on the motherboard indicate the selected plug.
Fig. 14
Fig. 14
Access to the teacher and student interfaces.
Fig. 15
Fig. 15
The easy-to-use student interface.
Fig. 16
Fig. 16
Laborem process including Moodle integration.
Fig. 17
Fig. 17
BNC, bananas and plugs connected to the Laborem Box.
Fig. 18
Fig. 18
PyScada asynchronous logic centered on the database.
Fig. 19
Fig. 19
Script flow.
Fig. 20
Fig. 20
Bode script flow.
Fig. 21
Fig. 21
Add a new plug device in the administration interface.
Fig. 22
Fig. 22
Fill in the new plug information.
Fig. 23
Fig. 23
Select the right Motherboard I/O Config.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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