remote control laboratory using ejs applets and twincat programmable logic controllers文档.pdfVIP

This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION 1 Remote Control Laboratory Using EJS Applets and TwinCAT Programmable Logic Controllers Eva Besada-Portas, José A. Lopez-Orozco, Member, IEEE, Luis de la Torre, and Jesus M. de la Cruz, Member, IEEE Abstract— This paper presents a new methodology to develop In addition, traditional laboratories may sometimes not be remote laboratories for systems engineering and automation con- used to an extent consistent with their costs [4]. By allowing re- trol courses, based on the combined use of TwinCAT, a labora- mote access to these laboratories, their frequency of use can be tory Java server application, and Easy Java Simulations (EJS). increased thanks to the creation of networks of educational insti- The TwinCAT system is used to close the control loop for the se- lected plants by means of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) tutions interested in the same shared experiments. Although the deployed in PCs with the TwinCAT run-time tool. EJS is used to economic aspect is important, there are other benefits to these develop the laboratory front-end applets that let teachers and stu- laboratories: an improved accessibility with respect to their tra- dents parametrize and observe the behavior of the PLCs from any ditional counterparts (remote use allows even handicapped stu- computer. The laboratory Java server application establishes the connection between the EJS applets and the PLCs, fulfilling the dent