OUTLOOK OF A WEB-BASED OSCILLOSCOPE CLONE FOR E-LEARNING

Abstract

This paper overviews the software architecture, implementation, applications, and preliminary user experience of a computer application that mimics an Oscilloscope and a Signal Generator, in the context of a course on fundamentals of electrical circuit analysis (TCIRC, ECE degree @ ISEP). This web app (available at http://osciloscopio.dee.isep.ipp.pt/) can operate in Simulation mode or Acquisition & Control mode, namely for: i) students to e-learn the basic operation and functionality of an Oscilloscope and Signal Generator and prepare for the lab class & test; ii) live in-class teaching & demos iii)  producing waveforms for slides, exercise books, lab scripts and exams; iv) capturing real circuit signals, for further analysis and processing; v) remote experimentation, to complement or replace in-loco work. This tool has been used by over 200 students under the TCIRC course, firstly for off-class preparation of a lab script on the basic operation of the Oscilloscope and Signal Generator, and a couple of weeks later to train for their first lab test. Overall, their "user experience" has been quite positive, as we have inferred from almost two hundred answers to a questionnaire.