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With the main objectives of complementing the process rather than eliminating the real experience from the student, and making it more efficient, the Electrical and Computing Engineering Department at ITESM Campus Monterrey has been developing and using, for the last 3 years, computer emulations of real industrial processes at the Tele-Engineering Lab. The obtained results have shown that the students perform much better than in a traditional laboratory session. An Emulation is a computer model that mimics the operation of a real or proposed system. With Emulations, different solutions can be implemented and tested without the availability of the real system. Emulations are goal directed experimentation using dynamic models. Hence, it provides repeatable experimentation opportunities under controlled and extreme conditions [1-3]; students are able to experience several possible problems before facing them in real systems. As it is expected and even desired, students make mistakes while programming. A serious mistake on a computer screen is infinitely preferable to a mistake in a real system. Another important aspect to consider is that every single student has his/her own learning method and also his own rhythm. One cannot expect to get the same results, in the same manner, from two different students [4, 5]. It is important to keep in mind that there may be several solutions for the same assignment and that the complexity between different solutions may vary. When students are restricted to obtain a solution in a certain period of time within a laboratory session, their chances to reach a correct solution could be limited. By handing the emulations to the students, the laboratory concept is extended. The students are then able to program, test, and debug their PLC programs without being restricted to a scheduled laboratory session. The laboratory, is therefore, virtually always available. |
