Augmented Reality Circuit Learning

Abstract

Building electronic circuits is one of the most common hands-on activities in learning STEM subjects. Beginning students often find it difficult to translate a circuit schematic into the construction of the physical circuit on a breadboard. In this paper, we describe an Augmented Reality circuit learning software that can provide students with step-by-step instructions by placing virtual circuit components on a physical breadboard. We propose a novel image processing pipeline that can robustly identify the planar structure of a breadboard, even in the presence of occluding circuit components on the breadboard. Using a commercially available library of 3D circuit component models, the estimated 3D structure of the breadboard allows us to render arbitrary circuit components on it in real time. Experimental results demonstrate that our algorithms are accurate and can produce realistic-looking virtual circuits.

Applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Electrical Engineering Education: A Review

“…IoT 1 [2] Machine Learning (Capsule networks) 1 [47] Python3 2 [54], [77] Java 1 [75] No mention 14 [41], [46], [49], [53], [56], [57], [58], [60], [61], [63], [65], [69], [71], [80]…”

“…AR technology has been applied in analog circuit analysis [38]- [48], digital circuit analysis [49]- [51], both analog and digital [52], and in circuits using passive components or for placing components on a breadboard [53], [54]. ARCC [38] is an AR application that explains electrical circuit concepts and clarifies misconceptions by analogies.…”

“…The authors in [53] developed a marker-based application for students to learn about various kinds of circuits such as linear DC circuits, single-phase and three-phase circuits, nonlinear electrical and magnetic circuits, and transformers. An application that can place virtual electrical components on a real breadboard was developed in [54]. The developed algorithm can track the breadboard with an error between 2.13% and 4.88% (see Figure 5).…”

“…In-house development software is the usage of programming languages to create an application. Examples are Python3 [54] [77], OpenCV [77], JavaScript [75] [105], and PHP [110].…”