Virtual laboratories for engineering education

An essential element in engineering education is the laboratory that provides hands-on experience in order to apply the theory learned. New telematics technologies open the way to also include this area in the tele-education context. Here, remote sensor data acquisition and remote control methods are essential. In several national and European projects, the Fachhochschule Ravensburg-Weingarten - University of Applied Sciences in Weingarten, Germany, has realised demonstrator experiments and tested them in educational practice with students. Technology approaches, as well as the potential and the limitation for education, are outlined in this paper. The employed methods of remote sensor data acquisition exhibit a high transfer potential to industrial tele-maintenance, tele-diagnosis and tele-control.