Remote Data Collection.

with Ray Wisman

Why Do a Remote Lab?

• Provide access to equipment from home or other locations away from the lab.
• Provide multiple access to a single piece of expensive equipment.
• Collect data from a remote or dangerous location.
• Access data from many different remote locations simultaneously.
• Access experiments from multiple platforms (Mac, PC, Linux) using the same, web based interface.
• Provide experiments that take longer than a typical 2.5 hr lab period.

Examples:

• Collection of light intensities at remote sites across the U.S.
• Continuous simultaneous collection from multiple sites over several days.
• Turn on a remote sound source and take a sample using JAVA oscilloscope.
• Remote collection of radioactive decay data (JAVA applet).
• Potential for semester long decay experiments.
• Remote data collection for advanced lab class (ELF/ULF project).
• Multiple students simultaneously collect data from antennas located at a remote listening post.
• Remote oscilloscope.
• Computer science students tell a remote computer to send a digital signal of their choice. They capture and analyze the signal using a JAVA oscilloscope.
• Remote and local data collection from a sound card as A/D device.
• TCP2SoundCard software available from us.
• FFT sound labs for introductory calculus based lab class.
• Part one: LabPro is attached to local computer with microphone. Students bring instruments to make sound samples and use Excel to analyze samples.
• Part two: Students change one cell in Excel to sample and analyze an "unknown" source located at a remote site.

Advantages:

• Easy; can be made to work with Excel as the front end. 
  
• Will work with ANY serial device.
  
• Will work locally or remotely over the Internet.
  
• Inexpensive (<$300 for the LabPro). Platform independent.
  
• Students have complete control of the experiment.
  
• Potential for new kinds of experiments (data collection by multiple simultaneous users from multiple sites).
  
• Free software available at:    Http://Physics.ius.edu/Projects.html

Http://Physics.ius.edu