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Summary In December 2010, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED) [1] installed a Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR) [2]. VISIR is a remote laboratory for undergraduate electric and electronic circuits practice. It allows a student to wire a real circuit remotely and get results from real instruments on their PC screen. The purpose of UNED is to apply it, the second semester of this academic year 2010-2011, on the practice of the undergraduate engineering grades. On the other hand, to work on its development and integration with other outstanding learning technologies and research areas in which the department is currently researching to improve and enrich distance education. For instance, learning management system (LMS), fingerprints, mobiles, remote laboratories, web services, etc. UNED aims to be an active member in the VISIR community by sharing its lab resources and experiments with the rest of the community to enhance the experimentation skills in the electric and electronic engineering fields. Furthermore, it aims to bring out satisfactory results with respect to the practice as well as the research areas directed to the enhancement of the distance education quality level. This work reflects the acquired experience during the set up and the installation process of VISIR at UNED. The guide contains all the stages of the installation and the necessary configurations required for the VISIR start-up, correct usage and administration. This work aims to be a reference for any university interested in setting up a VISIR and to be a one more contribution from UNED to its community.

Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 6

2. HARDWARE DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................................. 7 2.1. PXI-Platform ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 2.2. Relay Switching Matrix .................................................................................................................................................................. 9

2.2.1. Component List ........................................................................................................................ 14

2.2.2. Max lists ................................................................................................................................... 17

3. SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION CYCLE ................................................................. 18 3.1. Web Interface .................................................................................................................................................................................. 19 3.2. Experiment Client .......................................................................................................................................................................... 19 3.3. Measurement Server .................................................................................................................................................................... 22 3.4. Equipment Server .......................................................................................................................................................................... 23

4. INSTALLATION .................................................................................................................................... 26 4.1. LabVIEW ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 28 4.2. NI Device Drivers ........................................................................................................................................................................... 28 4.3. Relay Switching Matrix Driver ................................................................................................................................................. 29 4.4. Component List ............................................................................................................................................................................... 29 4.5. Equipment Server Software ...................................................................................................................................................... 30 4.6. Measurement Server .................................................................................................................................................................... 31 4.7. Web Server ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 33

4.7.1. Text_WIKI Package ................................................................................................................. 33

4.7.2. Smarty ....................................................................................................................................... 34 4.8. Web Interface .................................................................................................................................................................................. 34

4.8.1. Database .................................................................................................................................... 35

4.8.2. HTTPS ...................................................................................................................................... 35

4.8.3. Config.php ................................................................................................................................ 38 4.9. Experiment Client .......................................................................................................................................................................... 40

4.9.1. Config.xml ................................................................................................................................ 40

4.9.2. Library.xml ............................................................................................................................... 40 4.10. Getting Started ................................................................................................................................................................................ 41

5. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK ................................................................................................ 42

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................... 43

[3]

Glossary API Application Programming Interface DPST Double pole, single throw GND Ground GPIB General Purpose Interface Bus HTML Hypertext Markup Language I2C Inter-Integrated Circuit IC socket Integrated circuit socket IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IP Internet Protocol IVI Interchangeable Virtual Instruments LabVIEW Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench LMS Learning management system LXI LAN Extensions for Instrumentation NI National Instruments PXI PCI Extensions for Instrumentation SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol SSL Secure Socket Layer TCP Transmission Control Protocol TLS Transport Layer Security USB Universal Serial Bus VISA Virtual Instrument Software Architecture VISIR Virtual Instrument Systems In Reality

[4]

Figure Index Figure 1. Common traditional instruments in an undergraduate ............................................................... 7 Figure 2. Relay switching matrix ................................................................................................................. 9 Figure 3. Component Board ...................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 4. Two leads components connected to DPST relays .................................................................... 10 Figure 5. Internal connection of a resistance connected to relay one and to the nodes (B, C) ................ 11 Figure 6. Internal connection of instruments with the nodes of the matrix ............................................... 12 Figure 7. A graph with 5 nodes and 10 branches ...................................................................................... 13 Figure 8. A circuit of 5 nodes and 3 components ...................................................................................... 13 Figure 9. Numbering single and dual pole relays on the component board ............................................. 14 Figure 10. Components installed in the component board ........................................................................ 15 Figure 11. Internal connection of the 6V power source using shortcut wires ........................................... 15 Figure 12. Internal connection of the 6V power source using single pole relays ..................................... 16 Figure 13. Operational amplifier connection ............................................................................................ 16 Figure 14. Component list ......................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 15. A max list for an operational amplifier circuit ........................................................................ 17 Figure 16. An overview about how VISIR works ....................................................................................... 18 Figure 17. VISIR web interface ................................................................................................................. 19 Figure 18. Client selects available modules .............................................................................................. 20 Figure 19. Virtual workbench of VISIR ..................................................................................................... 20 Figure 20. Pull-down component list menu ............................................................................................... 21 Figure 21. Measurement server running ................................................................................................... 22 Figure 22. Equipment server software running ......................................................................................... 23 Figure 23. The role of IVI in the frontal panel and the platform selection ............................................... 24 Figure 24. Overall operation process of VISIR ......................................................................................... 25 Figure 25. VISIR connected at UNED ....................................................................................................... 26 Figure 26. Connection of the DMM and the oscilloscope ......................................................................... 27 Figure 27. Connection of the DC power supply and the function generator ............................................ 27 Figure 28. Instruments defined in the Measurement & Automation Explorer .......................................... 28 Figure 29. Relay switching matrix defined in the Measurement & Automation Explorer ........................ 29 Figure 30. EquipmentServer.ini file .......................................................................................................... 30 Figure 31. Create wiki page ...................................................................................................................... 41

[5]

Table Index

Table 1. The role of each component of the NI PXI-platform……………………………………………………………..…....8

Table 2. Board label and I2C address scheme……………………………….…….…………………………………………………13

Table 3. The VISIR oscilloscope capabilities.………………………..………………………………………….……………………24

[6]

1. INTRODUCTION The Signal Processing Department (ASB) at Bleking Institute of Technology (BTH) in Sweden together

with National Instruments in USA (as a supplier of instruments) and Axiom EduTECH in Sweden (as a supplier of education, technical software, and engineering services for noise and vibration analysis) have launched the Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR) Project in the end of 2006. It is an open source remote laboratory project, financially supported by BTH and the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA).

In December 2010, the Electric and Computer Engineering Department of UNED installed a VISIR with

the aid and guidance of the project founder Ingvar Gustavsson, together with the two engineers, Johan Zackrisson and Kristian Nilsson, from Bleking Institute of Technology (BTH). This guide is an installation reference from the Department. It includes the gained experience during the installation. The guide consists of four main chapters. The first chapter (Hardware Description) describes the VISIR hardware components types, models and their suitable connection. The second chapter (Software Description and Operation Cycle) explains the VISIR operation cycle and the software role of each part during the operation and its source building. The third chapter (Installation) shows the VISIR installation step by step process at UNED and all the configurations needed to get it to run. The Fourth and the last chapter (Conclusion and Future works) discusses the main parts on which a future work could be realized , on the one hand, for the VISIR development and integration, and on the other hand to Develop the available remote lab technology and enhance distance education.

Most of the compiled information in this guide is retrieved from documents released by the project

founders through the project webpages [2] [3], all these documents are freely accessible. This guide provides complementary information to that is found in the project web pages. Accordingly, before installing a VISIR, the resources of the project web pages should be considered first.

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[31]

4.6. Measurement Server It is a server software written in C++ by Microsoft Visual C++. Since, it is built with Microsoft

compiler, therefore, the Microsoft runtime libraries (Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package) should be installed before running it. The server can be started by executing the file “measureserver_win.exe” inside the server software folder (see figure 21).

There are few configurations should be done before starting the measurement server:

1) The max list files “.max” are considered the programing language of the measurement server. It acts as a virtual instructor. They should be written (as explained previously in the “Hardware Description” chapter) and inserted in the folder “/config/maxlists” which is located inside the measurement server software folder.

2) After writing all the max list needed, they should be put down in the “maxlists.conf” file which is located inside the “/conf/” folder.

3) The configuration file “measureserver.conf” contains all the necessary configurations for the server operation. It have to be created by copying all the contents inside the “measureserver.conf.dist” file into a simple text file and then change the extension into “.conf”. The “.dist” file is located in the “/conf/” folder. Likewise, the new created “measureserver.conf” file should be located in the same folder.

4) In the “measureserver.conf” file, it is very important to determine through which port the server is going to communicate with HTTP server, usually the TCP/IP port 80 is reserved for the “wampserver” (discussed later), so we have to choose another port (for example, the port 81).

5) In the “measureserver.conf” file, check “BypassAuth 1”, it checks if the user comes from the web interface or not.

6) To see a detailed screen while the server is running, so that it could be easier to detect any error, in the “measureserver.conf” file, check “LogLevel 5”.

The “measureserver.conf” file is configured at UNED as the following: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Port 2324 HTTPPort 81 #MaxClients 16 #MaxSessions 50 # Config file base directory #ConfBaseDir conf/ # Component type definitions #CompTypes component.types # Max list configuration file, should contain a list of maxlists to load #MaxListConfig maxlists.conf # If the circuits should be saved, set the directory path #SaveCircuits savedcircuits/

[32]

# If left empty, a default "allow all" flash policy is used PolicyFile flashpolicy.xml # Disabled all authentication, usable when testing without authentication backend BypassAuth 1 # Keep alive sessions are needed when using http AllowKeepAlive 1 # Module names should be separated by , and no space # Only one authentication module (like dbmysql) is allowed # Example LoadModules mod1,mod2,mod3 Enable logging Log 1 # Logs directory must exist for the logging to work) #LogDir logs # 1-5, 5 being the most verbose LogLevel 5 ### Equipment server module configuration UseEQ 1 #EQ.Host 127.0.0.1 #EQ.Port 5001 #EQ.RetryCount 4 #EQ.RetryTimeout 10 ### Database module configuration # DBEnabled 1 DB.Host localhost # DB.Port 3306 # DB.User <user> # DB.Password <password> # DB.Database <database> # DB.Database <database> ### GPIBcontrol module #Signal analyser adress GPIB.SignalAnalyser 0:9:0 # New line required at end of file

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

To set the database authentication module (it verifies that the user comes from web interface), you have to copy the file”libmySQL.dll” from the wampserver folder to the directory”conf/” in the measurement server software folder. Then set the (BypassAuth 0) and add the line “LoadModules eqcom, dbmysql”. As shown in the following code:

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[34]

4.7.2. Smarty Extract the smarty package in the folder: “C:\wamp\Smarty” Open to edit the file “php.ini”, which is located in the folder

“C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\bin” Under “Paths and Directories” type this line:

“ include_path = "C:\wamp\bin\php\php5.3.0\PEAR;C:\wamp\Smarty\libs" ”

To check that Smarty has been installed correctly:

Open to edit the file “index.php”, which is located in the folder “C:\wamp\www” Create the two folders: “C:\wamp\www\smarty\configs” and “C:\wamp\www\smarty\templates” Create the file “index.tpl” inside the folder “C:\wamp\www\smarty\templates” Open to edit the file “index.tpl” and add the following code:

<html> <body> Hello, {$name}! </body> </html>

At the end of the file code add the following code: <?php // load Smarty library require ('Smarty.class.php'); $smarty = new Smarty; $smarty->template_dir = 'C:\wamp\www\smarty\templates'; $smarty->config_dir = 'C:\wamp\www\smarty\configs'; $smarty->cache_dir = 'C:\wamp\Smarty\cache'; $smarty->compile_dir = 'C:\wamp\Smarty\templates_c'; $smarty->assign ('name','World!'); $smarty->display ('index.tpl'); ?> Start the WampServer and go to the WampServer homepage by typing: http://localhost/ or

http://127.0.0.1/. At the end of the page, you should see this message: “Hello, world!!”

4.8. Web Interface The VISIR web Interface package is written in PHP and hosted by the Apache HTTP server. The

package folder is called “trunk”, it should be placed in the folder “C:\wamp\www”. After that, some configurations should be done to start up the site. Next, these configurations are going to be discussed.

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4.8.1. Database To create a database for the web interface page follow the following steps:

Go to the link http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ . Go to “Run SQL query/queries” Type the SQL command: “create database electronics” and click on “Go”. Now a database called

electronics are created for the web interface page. Create the database contents by opening the link

http://localhost/trunk/sites/electronics/dbscripts/create_database.php

To create a database administrator:

Copy the file “C:\wamp\www\trunk\sites\electronics\dbscripts\create_admin.php” to the folder “C:\wamp\bin\php\php5.3.0”

Open the file “C: \wamp\bin\php\php5.3.0\create_admin.php” Change the code line 3:

“require_once "../config.php";” To: “require_once "C:/wamp/www/trunk/sites/electronics/config.php";”

Open the Command Prompt Go to the folder “C:\wamp\bin\php\php5.3.0” Type: “php create_admin.php admin@hotmail.com password” and press enter.(put your own

administrator email and password) If any error appears because of the location of the file “Smarty.class.php”: copy this file from the

folder “C:\wamp\Smarty\libs” into the included folder path that is shown in the error so that, the compiler could find it.

To check that the administrator account is created correctly:

Go to the link http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ Open the database “electronics” The created administrator account should be created in the table “anv”

4.8.2. HTTPS The VISIR web page requires Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). Therefore, the SSL/TLS

protocol should be installed to allow HTTPS connection. To allow HTTPS, follow the following steps.

Add an environment variable “OPENSSL_CONF” - Go to: Control Panel > System > Advanced > Environment Variables - Add a new system variable, name: “OPENSSL_CONF”, Value:”

C:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.11\conf\openssl.cnf” - Log out and then log in - Go to the Command Prompt - Type: “set | more” and press Enter

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- Make sure that the variable “OPENSSL_CONF= C:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.11\conf\openssl.cnf” exists among the listed variables

Generate key - Open the “Command Prompt” - Go to the directory “C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\bin” - Type the command: “openssl req -new > webserver.csr”, and press Enter - The command runs and prompts you to enter a PEM pass phrase and verify it. Write

down the phrase because you will need it later. It will then ask you to enter information that will be incorporated into your certificate request. When the command finishes, it has created several files, including “privkey.pem”, in “C:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.11\bin”.

Write RSA key - Open the “Command Prompt” - Type the command: “openssl rsa -in privkey.pem -out webserver.key” - You will be prompted for the pass phrase from the previous step. Then, the RSA key is

written and the file “webserver.key” is now available in the folder. Convert into signed certificate

- Open the “Command Prompt” - Type the command: “openssl x509 -in webserver.csr -out webserver.cert -req -signkey

webserver.key -days 365” - A certificate is created which will expire after one year.

Store certificate files - Create the folder “C:\wamp\OpenSSL” with the following subfolders: “certs”, “crl”,

“newcerts”, “private” - Copy the files (“webserver.cert”, “webserver.csr”, “webserver.key”) from the folder

“C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\bin” to the folder “C:\wamp\OpenSSL\certs” - Copy the files (“.rnd”, “privkey.pem”) from the folder

“C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\bin” to the folder “C:\wamp\OpenSSL\private” Create error log files

- Create the two text files (“ssl_ErrorLog.txt“, “ssl_TransferLog.txt“) in the folder “C:/wamp/logs”

Modify “httpd-ssl” - Go to the folder “C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\conf\extra” - Make a backup copy of the file “httpd-ssl.conf” and rename it to “httpd-ssl.conf.old” - Open to edit the file “httpd-ssl.conf”

1. DocumentRoot "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/htdocs"

2. <Directory "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/cgi-bin"> 3. Edit the following lines: SSLSessionCache "shmcb:C:/Program Files/Apache

Software Foundation/Apache2.2/logs/ssl_scache(512000)". 4. ServerAdmin me@localhost. 5. ErrorLog "C:/Program Files/Apache Software

Foundation/Apache2.2/logs/error.log". 6. TransferLog "C:/Program Files/Apache Software

Foundation/Apache2.2/logs/access.log".

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7. SSLCertificateFile "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/conf/server.crt".

8. SSLCertificateKeyFile "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/conf/server.key".

9. #SSLCARevocationPath "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/conf/ssl.crl".

10. CustomLog "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/logs/ssl_request.log" \"%t %h %{SSL_PROTOCOL}x%{SSL_CIPHER}x \"%r\" %b".

- Replace the above lines with the following lines respectively: 1. DocumentRoot "C:/wamp/www" 2. <Directory "C:/wamp/www/"> 3. SSLSessionCache "shmcb:C:/wamp/logs" 4. ServerAdmin Admin-email 5. ErrorLog "C:/wamp/logs/ssl_ ErrorLog.txt" 6. TransferLog "C:/wamp/logs/ssl_TransferLog.txt" 7. SSLCertificateFile "C:/wamp/OpenSSL/certs/webserver.cert" 8. SSLCertificateKeyFile "C:/wamp/OpenSSL/certs/webserver.key" 9. SSLCARevocationPath "C:/wamp/OpenSSL/crl" 10. CustomLog "C:/wamp/logs/ssl_request.log" \

"%t %h %{SSL_PROTOCOL}x %{SSL_CIPHER}x \"%r\" %b" Modify the base directory

- Open to edit the file “C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\conf\openssl.cnf” - Change the line “dir= ./demoCA ” with “dir = C:/wamp/OpenSSL”

Modify “httdp.conf” - Make a backup copy of the file “C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\conf\httpd.conf” - Open to edit the file “C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\conf\httpd.conf” - Activate the following modules by removing the comment sign “#”:

1. LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so 2. LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so

- Under the following comment lines: # Secure (SSL/TLS) connections #Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf

Add the following code line: “Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf” Test https

- Open “command Prompt” - Type the command “httpd –t” - You should see syntax is OK. If not, then you may have miss some of the steps above

Check the port 443 is opened - Restart the Apache server - Open “command Prompt” - Type the command: “netstat -an | more” - If the port is not open, then you may have missed some of the steps above.

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4.8.3. Config.php The file “config.php” of the web interface package should be modified so that, the web site could be

adapted to our machine. It is very important to modify the file correctly to start the web page without any errors. First, the file should be created by copying the code inside the file “C:\wamp\www\trunk\sites\electronics\config.php.dist” and past it in a new created PHP file “C:\wamp\www\trunk\sites\electronics\config.php”. The file code to be modified is shown.

1 <?php 2 $openlabs_dir = "/usr/home/zeta/dav/openlabsweb/trunk"; 3 $distpath = $openlabs_dir . "/common/inc"; 4 $incpath = ini_get("include_path"); 5 ini_set("include_path", $incpath.":".$distpath); 6 // database settings 7 $site_db_hostname = "localhost"; 8 $site_db_user = "electronics"; 9 $site_db_password = "X"; 10 $site_db_db = "electronics"; 11 $src_dir = $openlabs_dir . "/sites/electronics"; 12 $log_dir = $src_dir . "/logs"; 13 $site_admin = "staff@some.domain"; 14 $site_mailfrom = "staff@some.domain"; 15 $site_name = "electro_lab"; 16 $site_root = ""; // url prefix if the site isn't located at the root 17 // smarty settings 18 $smarty_template_dir = $src_dir."/templates"; 19 $smarty_compile_dir = "/path/to/webcache/electronics"; 20 $smarty_shared_templates = $openlabs_dir . "/common/templates"; 21 require_once "openlabs.smarty_helper.inc"; // initialises smarty 22 // page constants 23 $site_index = "index.php"; 24 $admin_index = "admin.php"; 25 $teacher_index = "teacher.php"; 26 $instructor_index = "instr.php"; 27 $student_index = "student.php"; 28 $smarty->assign("site_url", "http://dev.openlabs.bth.se"); 29 $smarty->assign("site_root", $site_root); 30 $smarty->assign("site_index", $site_root."/".$site_index); 31 $smarty->assign("admin_index", $site_root."/".$admin_index); 32 $smarty->assign("teacher_index", $site_root."/".$teacher_index); 33 $smarty->assign("student_index", $site_root."/".$student_index);

34 $smarty->assign("experiment_index", $site_root."/experiment.php"); 35 // number of seconds for a non-reserved experiment 36 $g_immediate_experiment_time = 60 * 60; // 1h 37 $g_allow_http_proxy = false; 38 $g_proxy_measurement_server = "localhost"; 39 $g_proxy_measurement_port = 2324; 40 // wiki settings 41 $wiki_index = $site_root . "/index.php"; 42 $wiki_edit = $site_root . "/index.php?sel=wiki_edit"; 43 $wiki_upload_dir = "/usr/home/zeta/dav/openlabsweb/trunk/sites/electronics/public/wiki_upload"; 44 $wiki_upload_root = $site_root . "/wiki_upload"; 45 // meta settings 46 $description = "A meta page description"; 47 $keywords = "keywords, separated, by, comma"; 48 //$smarty->assign("page_description", $description); 49 //$smarty->assign("page_keywords", $keywords); 50 // ldap example configuration 51 /* 52 require_once "openlabs.auth.inc"; 53 LDAPAuth::AddLDAPLookup("ldap.someplace", "OU=Staff,O=XXX", "mail=%s"); 54 LDAPAuth::AddLDAPLookup("ldap.someplace", "OU=Staff,O=XXX", "uid=%s"); 55 LDAPAuth::AddLDAPLookup("ldap.someplace", "OU=People,O=XXX", "mail=%s"); 56 */ 57 // function returns maximal number of seats/simultanious sessions 58 function GetMaxSessions() { return 16; } 59 // use db based sessions 60 require_once "openlabs.session_db.inc"; 61 ?> Regarding to all the assumptions made in this guide, we would only have to change the following code

lines. 2 $openlabs_dir = "c:/wamp/www/trunk"; 5 ini_set("include_path", $incpath.";".$distpath); 12 $log_dir = $src_dir . "/logs"; // the logs file should be created manually in the folder “C:\wamp\www\trunk\sites\electronics” 13 $site_admin = "admin@hotmail.com"; // the administrator email 14 $site_mailfrom = "admin@hotmail.es";// the administrator email 16 $site_root = "/trunk/sites/electronics/public"; 19 $smarty_compile_dir = "C:/wamp/Smarty/templates_c"; 28 $smarty->assign("site_url", "http://62.204.201.71/trunk/sites/electronics/public");// 62.204.201.71 Is the IP of the hosting server machine 43 $wiki_upload_dir = "c:/wamp/www/trunk/sites/electronics/public/wiki_upload";

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4.9. Experiment Client The experiment client is a software package written in Adobe Flash. The package should be extracted to

the folder “C:\wamp\www\trunk\sites\electronics\public”.

4.9.1. Config.xml The file “C:\wamp\www\trunk\sites\electronics\public\flash\config.xml” should be configured to the

current running machine as shown: <configuration> <hostname>62.204.201.71</hostname> <port>2324</port> <http>1</http>#http set to one means that the client uses http as default <httpurl>http://62.204.201.71:81/measureserver</httpurl> <teacher>1</teacher> #if you set it at 0, the component button will not be shown to the students #<ignorecookie>1</ignorecookie> #<allow_continuous>1</ allow_continuous > #<proxyurl>http://localhost/proxy.php</ proxyurl >…not adjusted </configuration>

4.9.2. Library.xml the file “C:\wamp\www\trunk\sites\electronics\public\flash\breadboard\library.xml” describes all the

available components for the user, it should be modified with regard to the available components on the breadboard. For instance, to add a resistor of 4 K ohm, insert the code:

<component type="R" value="4.0k" pins="2"> <rotations> <rotation ox="-27" oy ="-7" image="r_4k.png" rot="0"> <pins><pin x="-26" y="0" /><pin x="26" y="0" /></pins> </rotation> <rotation ox="-8" oy ="-26" image="r_4k.png" rot="90"> <pins><pin x="0" y="-26" /><pin x="0" y="26" /></pins> </rotation> </rotations> </component>

And the image “r_4K.png” should be inserted in the folder “C:\wamp\www\trunk\sites\electronics\public\flash\breadboard\images”

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5. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK The VISIR software is an open source to catalyze developers to study it and expand its application range.

In this way, many efforts could be done to modify the software structure as well as the hardware design to implement it in more complex applications. From the possible works, the experiment protocol could be expanded to include new types and modules of instruments, the structure of the relay switching matrix could be developed to include more component range, instruments, and more complex circuits, etc. Moreover, the VISIR integration with other learning technologies could lead to creation of a rich remote laboratory platform; it could be integrated with a learning management system (LMS) or with other remote lab technologies such as iLAB [4]

Another important objective of the VISIR project is to create a lab community consisting of all the

participant universities and organizations. Consequently, it would be possible to create a grid laboratory where the nodes are online lab workbenches distributed among those universities. This would allow sharing lab recourses and sharing online workbenches. At the same time, it would allow the project development. The International Association of Online Engineering (IAOE) has organized a Special Interest Group for VISIR (SIG VISIR) [16] to be the first approach towards the community concept.

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REFERENCES [1] Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED). Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.ieec.uned.es/ . [2] VISIR webpage at Bleking Institute of technology. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.bth.se/tek/asb.nsf/0/cccfd186b0e24c0dc125722200271db8?OpenDocument. [3] VISIR - Software Development and Installation webpage. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://svn.openlabs.bth.se/trac. [4] PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI). Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.pxisa.org/. [5] LXI Consortium. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.lxistandard.org/. [6] History of GPIB. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3419. [7] National Instruments – Test and Measurements. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.ni.com/. [8] PC/104 Consortium. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.pc104.org/. [9] I2C-Bus: What’s that?. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.i2c-bus.org/. [10] Licenses – GNU project – Free software. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.gnu.org/licenses/. [11] IVI Foundation. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.ivifoundation.org/. [12] VISA Specifications. Retrieved, January 3, 2011 from http://www.ivifoundation.org/specifications/default.aspx. [13] NI LabVIEW – Improving the productivity of Engineers and Scientists. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from www.ni.com/labview/. [14] NI Device Drivers released August 2010. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2064/lang/en. [15] The Apache HTTP Server Project. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://httpd.apache.org/. [16] Hypertext Preprocessor. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.php.net/. [17] MySQL: The world most popular database. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.mysql.com/. [18] PHP Template Engine- Smarty. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://www.smarty.net/. [19] Wikiformating. Retrieved, January 30, 2011 from http://svn.openlabs.bth.se/trac/openlabsweb/wiki/WikiFormatting