Moving away from simulations: Innovative assessment of Mechatronic subjects using remote laboratories

In response to the rapid growth of online teaching and learning, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) has been developing a number of remotely accessible laboratories. In this paper, we present our newly developed remote lab robotic rig that uniquely addresses challenges in Mechatronic courses. The rig contains a mobile robotic platform equipped with various sensory modules placed in a maze with a pantograph power system enabling continuous use of the platform. The software architecture employed allows users to develop their simulations using the Player/Stage simulator and subsequently upload the code in the robotic rig for real-time testing. This paper presents the motivation, design concepts and analysis of students' feedback responses to their use of the remote lab robotics rig. Survey results of a pilot study shows the participants highly agreeing that the remote lab contributes to, “deeper understanding of the subject matter”, “flexible learning process” and “inspire research in robotics”.