The advances in communication networks and web technologies, in conjunction with the improved connectivity of test and measurement devices make it possible to implement e-learning applications that encompass the whole learning process. In the field of electrical engineering, automation or mechatronics, it means not only lectures, tutorials, demos and simulations, but also practical labwork for training with real-world devices that are controlled remotely. To make e-labs attractive, they should be easily implemented and accessed on the web by a client. This keypoint raises technical issues that are recalled in this paper. Nonetheless pedagogical issues are equally important. The benefit of a remote lab must be evaluated and compared to simulation labs or hands-on. Here, to foster student motivation, a game-like scenario embedded in a learning management system is proposed.

Nowadays, communication and web services are part of our lives, including education, and e-learning applications are used more and more. However, teaching in engineering sciences requires an important amount of practical experiments. Hence, remote laboratories are an attractive solution, offering new tools for both teachers and learners. Our objective is to propose a fully open source remote laboratory for generic practice, in all fields of engineering education or applied sciences. This work is based on an open source Supervisory Control and a Data Acquisition platform programmed with Python. Interoperability is one of the main issues considered here to ensure a wide compatibility with multi-communication protocols and multi-instruments used in practical labwork.

A detached horizontally composite breakwater protecting the Saint Jean de Luz bay (French Basque Coast, Bay of Biscay, France) has been equipped with two pressure sensors displayed vertically onto the vertical wall. The two sensors recorded wave impact pressure in ten minute burst each hour at 10 kHz. In parallel, incoming waves were also recorded about 1 km off the structure with a directional wave buoy giving access to spectral wave parameters as well as raw data. Finally water level, wind magnitude and direction were also acquired. The whole dataset covers winter 2015-2016 from January to March. The results show first the statistical distribution of the measured parameters confirming preceding similar studies in which significantly lower impact pressure values were obtained compared to physical experiments or numerical simulations. A linear multivariate model has then been adjusted showing the overwhelming influence of wave heights to explain maximum pressure variability, followed by water level. Nevertheless this result has still to be confirmed for data reduced to impulsive impacts. Finally, interesting events supposedly corresponding to, or approaching flip-through impact type, have been identified and need further investigations.

E-learning is now widely used at university level to replace traditional lectures and exercises by digital document reading, quizzes, tutorials, videos, demos and simulations. However the most challenging part is to replace hands-on labs by virtual or remote labs. The difficulty is not only tied to technology (real-time synchronism, scheduling 24/24-7/7, security, mobility, interaction) but also to psychology and cognition aspects. Indeed in distance learning, there is no physical presence of a teacher or tutor to supervise students and drive their motivation, so that the student-teaching process becomes an open loop. Therefore there is a need to find a substitute for the teacher, thanks to technology help, in order to make it a closed-loop process, that is regulated even if there is no teacher in the loop. One needs to be able to evaluate the student mood (concentrated, bored, amused, perplexed...) and to boost the motivation in learning with appropriate tools (immersion, gaming, feedback).As regards the pedagogical strategy, a game-like approach is implemented: it is based both on the use of a Top 10 (best anserws to questions during the measurement real-time activity) and on the use of a track-game to find the right solution to an unknown circuit. This is inspired by e-games scenario (levels, lives, points, timer).Before and after the learning activity, the students answer questionnaires about satisfaction, motivation and psychological profile. From those questionnaires and from the scores obtained in the lab, we analyse the impact of game, robot, drone and camera video processing on the teaching process. We show that the behavior of students is highly affected by these tools, in a positive way as regards motivation.

To answer to the widespread use of computers and internet, our project (Laborem) is to implement new tools for teachers and learners as remote laboratories, the objective is to increase the student motivation. A robotic arm, a modular motherboard and generic plugs are used by students to build their circuits. The learning objectives are to implement basic electronic circuit and to practice instruments use for test and measurement. Our objective is to offer an open source and low-cost e-lab to unite a community of remote laboratories. Accordingly, we have developed a software running on single-board computer like a Raspberry Pi with a solution based on a HTML web interface for the front-end and Python code for the back-end. It is now possible to run an automatic installation script and to switch between different acquisition equipment (oscilloscope, arbitrary function generator). For the hardware part, we have designed and realized a motherboard to access to 16 different electronic circuit which can be modified. Switches are implemented to activate and to deactivate components, also digital devices are inserted in the plugs like potentiometer controlled by I2C protocol. Finally, all the elements are integrated in a plastic box realized with a 3D printer. Future works are focused on increasing communication protocols (web services or BACnet/IP) and connecting various engineering education centers.