Integrated Online Wind Tunnel Experiments and Assessment for Contingency Scenario: Case Study at the British University in Egypt (BUE)

This paper presents an effort towards the development and the implementation of an integrated remote experimentation facility along with corresponding assessment for deployment in online contingency scenario. A sample real-time aerodynamics experiment has been developed to operate, fully remotely, along with corresponding real-time visualization. Although in the case of a remotely controlled experiment only single user will be able to access the setup at time, the instructor and other students will be meeting, virtually, during the lab session providing real-time technical support for the experiment’s operation, faster collaboration among students, and real-time feedback. The use of standard virtual meeting platforms during the lab session provides an enhanced students’ engagement for the remote experimentation exercise. The proposed operation scenario fits within the synchronous learning activities, with the biggest advantage of human connections. On the other hand, to match the on-campus lab session, two extra online tasks have been added within the allocated experiment’s time slot; these are pre-lab activities and post-lab assessment. The use of the two online tasks, besides the real-time testing task will allow more students to operate simultaneously in each lab session. The experiment has been fully designed and implemented using NI LabView software and NI cDAQ platform to conduct the real-time experiments with corresponding controls. Students will be able to run, remotely, the experiment using the free NI LabView run-time engine software. The pre-lab and the post-lab tasks will be performed using Google Forms, thus converting the complete lab session to an integrated online environment.