Papers by Kristian Nilsson
International Journal of Online Engineering (iJOE), 2008
in this paper, we present a way for students to access and operate laboratory equipment, controll... more in this paper, we present a way for students to access and operate laboratory equipment, controlled by a laboratory computer via a remote access program. In this way, the solution is not dependent on the specific laboratory equipment, as long as the equipment can be remotely controlled. The system can easily be altered to be used in another laboratory setup. Students are able to make reservations of experiment sessions through a web interface, which is administrated by the system administrator. The solution proposed in this paper is one way to speed up the development of remote accessible laboratories. Most of the proposed solution is based on open source software and the hardware is built on ordinary consumer parts, which makes the proposed remote laboratory architecture cost effective.

IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 2000
Three key issues should be addressed to enable universities to deliver engineers who have a solid... more Three key issues should be addressed to enable universities to deliver engineers who have a solid documented laboratory experience enabling them to design goods and services complying with the requirements of a sustainable society. First, introduce learning objectives of engineering instructional laboratories in courses including laboratory components. Second, implement individual student assessment. Third, introduce free access to online experimental resources as a supplement to the equipment in traditional laboratories. Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) in Sweden and the University of South Australia (UniSA) have created online laboratory workbenches for electrical experiments that mimic traditional ones by combining virtual and physical reality. Online workbenches not only supplement traditional ones, but they can also be used for low-cost individual assessment. BTH has started a project disseminating the BTH workbench concept, The Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR) Open Laboratory Platform, and invites other universities to set up replicas and participate in further development and standardization. Further, online workbenches offer additional learning possibilities. UniSA has started a project where students located in different countries can perform experiments together as a way to enhance the participants' intercultural competence. This paper discusses online laboratory workbenches and their role in an engineering education appropriate for a sustainable society.

The Signal Processing Department (ASB) at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) has created two ... more The Signal Processing Department (ASB) at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) has created two online lab workbenches, one for electrical experiments and one for mechanical vibration experiments, mimicking and supplementing workbenches in traditional laboratories. Since some years, the workbenches are used concurrently with on-site ones in regular supervised lab sessions. The students are also free to use them on their own around the clock e.g. for preparation. The electronic workbench can be used simultaneously by many students. The aim of a project known as VISIR (Virtual Systems in Reality) founded by ASB at the end of 2006, is disseminating the online lab workbenches using open source technologies. The goal is to create a template for a grid laboratory where the nodes are workbenches for electrical experiments, located at different universities. This paper focuses on standards, pedagogical aspects, and measurement procedure requirements.
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Papers by Kristian Nilsson