College of Engineering and Computer Science Virtual and Remote Lab Resources

Welcome to the Virtual and Remote Labs website! Below is a list of resources available for faculty members. Click the category above to jump directly to that section.

In an effort to aid student learning during remote instruction, UCF has re-invested in a one-year subscription to JoVE Science Education for the 2021-2022 academic year. Visit the Getting Started with JoVE page for more information.

Virtual Labs: In these labs, real experiments are virtualized or simulated and students can access them online.

Remote Labs: These types of labs enable faculty and students to access equipment and/or computers via the internet to perform experiments and laboratory tasks without being in the physical lab space.

UCF Apps: These apps allow access to desktop software that is typically available on campus computer labs or by purchasing and installing software on a student PC remotely.

CECS Task Force Reports: The college established three task forces to study and prepare recommendations for instruction in Summer 2020 and beyond. The three areas were – Labs, Senior Design Courses and Innovative Remote Instruction (IRI). The work was moved into the implementation phase and the reports are available below for archival purposes.

Virtual/Interactive Labs

WOLFRAM Demonstrations Project

Note: Has engineering & technology labs, simple graphics but it works.

School Applied Sciences
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Control Theory
Electrical Engineering (Circuit Design, Signal Processing)
Fluid Mechanics
Image Processing
Machines
Mechanical Engineering
Nanotechnology
Robotics
Signal Processing (Audio, Wavelets)

PhET Interactive Simulations

Note: Many experiments. Simple topics and graphics, but it works. Also, visit their website to sign up for the PhET Interactive Simulations newsletter.

Labster

Note: Limited to a few civil engineering simulations. Involve a cost for use. Need to contact a representative to get pricing details.

Praxilabs

Note: Very limited number of experiments, 3D simulations.

Heat and Thermodynamics
Properties of matter
Mechanics
Waves
Electricity

VIRTLABS Virtual Laboratories and Technical Simulators

Note: Limited utility, English and Russian support.

General [Choose areas from “Products” menu]
Thermodynamics
Mechanics

Merlot Labs

Note: A lot of apps are very old and may not run. Has serious compatibility issues.

Virtual Amrita Laboratories Universalizing Education

Note: Appears to suffer from broken links or incompatibility issues.

Energy3D

Note: Only focused on a limited field.

Interactive simulation for designing green buildings and power stations

BeyondLabz

Note: Useful for basic physics labs. Has preset labs with worksheets, can customize own lab activities. Will carry a cost.

Chemcollective

Note: Useful for chemistry.

IBM – Open P-TECH

Unity Technologies

Note: Involves a cost for use.

LabVIEW

Note: offers a free trial and will require a cost.

VEX Robotics

MATLAB

Note: offers a free trial and will require a cost.

GRANTA EduPack

Note: will require a cost.

SOLIDWORKS

Note: will require a cost.

ArcGIS Enterprise on Microsoft Azure

Note: will require a cost.

ImageJ

Easy Unit Converter

Note: includes various converters including engineering, math, and fitness.

Good Calculators

Note: provides a variety of online calculators, such as math and statistics, engineering, and conversion calculators.

Propel

Note: Helpful resource regarding learning more about product value management and manufacturing skills for you and your students.

Video Demos

Linkedin Learning

PBS (Engineering search results)

Note: PBS is a bit notorious for pulling videos, so the content on the website may not be stable. Use caution!

PBS (Computer Science search results)

Note: PBS is a bit notorious for pulling videos, so the content on the website may not be stable. Use caution!

Crash Course Computer Science

PBS LearningMedia

Note: May be more stable than PBS.

American Archive of Public Broadcasting

Note: May be more stable than PBS.

Alexander Street

JoVE Education Videos

Note: In an effort to aid student learning during remote instruction, UCF has re-invested in a one-year subscription to JoVE Science Education for the 2021-2022 academic year. This collection of STEM based videos and demonstrations covers a range of topics from psychology, to engineering, to clinical skills. The collection is available for all faculty and you can view the UCF Library Faculty Support Guide for steps on how to access JoVE from the UCF Library. For more information on adding JoVE content into your course, visit the Getting Started with JoVE page.

Example topics:

LabXchange

Note: Does not specifically target Engineering areas but physics is the closest relevant area.

Physics

Khan Academy

MetaCoders

Lab Kits and Remote Labs

eScience Labs – 2^nd Edition General Physics Version 1

Note: Involves a cost.

Remote Laboratory

Labs Land

Note: Remote laboratory access marketplace.

iOLab Wireless Lab System

Note: Will require a cost for students to rent.

University, Agency, or Organization Resources

SAGE Research Methods

SAGE Research Methods Videos

UCF Library Academic Resources during COVID-19 Situation

UCF Library Resources – Engineering & Computer Science

UCF Apps

Access desktop software available in computer labs
SPSS, SAS, and Microsoft Office access on apps
Access lab PCs in Technology Commons and the UCF Library
How-to documents and videos for installing and using files at UCF IT Knowledgebase

Research Articles

Visit the Virtual and Remote Labs Articles and Publications page for additional articles.

Grodotzki J, Ortelt TR, and Tekkaya AE. “Remote and virtual labs for engineering education 4.0: achievements of the ELLI project at the TU Dortmund University.” Procedia Manufacturing 26 (2018): 1349-1360. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351978918308023

Travassos Valdez M, Ferreira CM, Martins MJ, and Barbosa FM. “Virtual labs in electrical engineering education-The VEMA environment.” (2014). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7155714

Taft HR, “How to Quickly (and Safely) Move a Lab Course Online” – The Chronicle of Higher Education. (2020) https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-to-Quickly-and-Safely/248261

Budhu, Muniram. “Virtual laboratories for engineering education.” In International conference on engineering education, pp. 12-18. Manchester, UK, 2002. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=virtual+laboratories+for+engineering+education&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart

Bowen A, Reid D, and Koretsky M. “Development of interactive virtual laboratories to help students learn difficult concepts in thermodynamics.” (2015). https://journals.flvc.org/cee/article/view/87186

Lynch T, Ghergulescu I. “Review of Virtual Labs as the emerging technologies for teaching stem subjects.” In INTED2017 Proc. 11th Int. Technol. Educ. Dev. Conf. 6-8 March Valencia Spain, pp. 6082-6091. 2017. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b347/48a670aebd952a64f6c4664d5ca6939663c6.pdf

Tips for Recording Your Labs

Follow these tips from CDL for recording and uploading your own labs onto a video platform: https://cdl.ucf.edu/teach/resources/diy-video/

Refer to this technology guide from FMC on media production software to compare what may work best for your recording needs: https://cdl.ucf.edu/support/faculty/media-technology-guide/

Refer to the Zoom FAQs if you record your own lab with Zoom: https://cdl.ucf.edu/support/webcourses/zoom/faqs/