Easy Java Simulations Research Articles

Solving Conformable Fractional Differential Equations with ``EJS Software and Visualization of Sub-diffusion Process

In this work, we numerically solve ordinary and conformable fractional differential equations using Easy Java Simulations software. Their solutions, including homogeneous and non-homogeneous parts, are compared in various time intervals. Using software’s visualization andsimulation features, we may better examine, compare, and evaluate solutions of analytical and numerical fractional differential equations. A kind of oscillatory behavior is seen in long enough times. In simulation of diffusion and sub-diffusion processes, two intriguing events have been observed.

Physics in traditions: the ritual of the owners of the Mexican sky.

Mexico is characterized by its immense cultural diversity, one culture of many is in the state of Veracruz where the Totonac culture lived. His developed of a ritual known as “The Papantla flyers”[1], which is related to fertility of the earth, this ritual consists of a group of five men who climb to the top of a 31-meter pole, tie a rope around their waist and throw themselves headlong into the void with open arms. A child, observing this ritual asks his father, “at the top, the pole has an engine that unrolls the rope and causes men to descend?”. In this work, we study the equations of motion associated to the trajectory of the men who are thrown into the void, through the design and construction of an experimental model. To compare the experimental results with the analytical solution obtained by proposing the analytical equation that describes its movement, at the same time emphasizing the use of computational tools for simulation of the model using Easy Java Simulation.

Design and evaluation of a three‐dimensional virtual laboratory on vector operations

AbstractIn Physics, many quantities are vectors, and their use requires typical operations such as addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication, scalar product (dot product), vector product (cross product), and scalar triple product. This is a very basic topic in all General Physics courses for Engineering degrees. However, we have detected that some students lack a deep understanding of vector operations and their properties. In this study, we present a virtual laboratory (developed using the tool “Easy Java Simulations”) for the study and understanding of these topics. The user can introduce the components of the input vectors and gets a three‐dimensional representation, which can be scaled and rotated for better visualization. Any of the aforementioned operations can be selected, and the result is shown both numerically and graphically. The user can also modify any represented vector. In this way, the virtual lab provides a real‐time visualization of how the change affects the result. The possibility of limiting the changes to either magnitude or direction is also included. The efficiency of the virtual laboratory has been tested analyzing the results obtained in two groups of students (virtual laboratory vs traditional resources). A satisfaction survey has been also carried out.

SIMULACIÓN CON EASY JAVA SIMULATIONS Y RENDIMIENTO ACADÉMICO DE LOS ESTUDIANTES DE ANÁLISIS MATEMÁTICO

Se implementa el Easy Java Simulations (EJS) como instrumento de apoyo en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje de los estudiantes de análisis matemático. Inicialmente se identifican las variables involucradas en el proceso de enseñanza - aprendizaje que desarrollan los estudiantes de la materia de análisis matemático, así como las dificultades que estos tienen, para con ello estructurar una guía de uso del EJS. La propuesta desarrollada permite obtener una aproximación teórica – práctica, identificando aquellos elementos que pueden ser de utilidad y aporte tanto para el docente como para el estudiante en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje de la matemática a través del EJS. Para culminar se comprueba que existen diferencias significativas entre un grupo de control y un grupo de intervención, al cual se implementó EJS, en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje de análisis matemático. Se concluye un efecto positivo en el rendimiento académico.

Pengembangan Laboratorium Virtual Fisika Osilasi

This research aims to develop a virtual lab application with oscillation concept. Oscillation concept in this application is described as pendulum motion. The application was developed by using the ADDIE model and Easy Java Simulations (EJSs) software. It has advantages compared with similar applications, which has a damping coefficient that similar with real world condition. Some other features of the application are the users can run and pause the simulation, observe the details of changes in pendulum movement angle by using step forward button, users can change pendulum mass, adjust the length of the rope, gravitational force, initial angle, damping coefficient, and can observe the change of pendulum angular position in parabolic graphs in real-time. The application was tested using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) concept. Based on the research results, the user satisfaction level is categorized as very useful. Therefore, it can be conclude that the application can be accepted and used well by the user.

Unfolding the Curriculum: Physical Computing, Computational Thinking and Computational Experiment in STEM’s Transdisciplinary Approach

The aim of the present article is to analyze the relation of physical computing with the computational thinking dimensions and the transdisciplinary approach of STEM epistemology in inquiry-based learning environments, when the methodology of the computational experiment is implemented. We argue that computational science and computational experiment can be applied in connection with STEM epistemology, when physical computing activities are embedded in the curriculum for Higher Education students. In order to implement this connection, we present software applications that combine algorithms and physical computing. We believe that engaging students through their existing STEM courses in physical computing - in the form of the computational experiment methodology- is a strategy that is much more likely to succeed in increasing the interest and appeal of STEM epistemology. Different learning modules were designed, which covered the combination of easy java simulations (Ejs) with Arduino and Raspberry pi.

Unfolding the Curriculum: Physical Computing, Computational Thinking and Computational Experiment in STEM’s Transdisciplinary Approach

The aim of the present article is to analyze the relation of physical computing with the computational thinking dimensions and the transdisciplinary approach of STEM epistemology in inquiry-based learning environments, when the methodology of the computational experiment is implemented. We argue that computational science and computational experiment can be applied in connection with STEM epistemology, when physical computing activities are embedded in the curriculum for Higher Education students. In order to implement this connection, we present software applications that combine algorithms and physical computing. We believe that engaging students through their existing STEM courses in physical computing - in the form of the computational experiment methodology- is a strategy that is much more likely to succeed in increasing the interest and appeal of STEM epistemology. Different learning modules were designed, which covered the combination of easy java simulations (Ejs) with Arduino and Raspberry pi.

Parallel programming with Easy Java Simulations

Nearly all of today's processors are multicore, and ideally programming and algorithm development utilizing the entire processor should be introduced early in the computational physics curriculum. Parallel programming is often not introduced because it requires a new programming environment and uses constructs that are unfamiliar to many teachers. We describe how we decrease the barrier to parallel programming by using a java-based programming environment to treat problems in the usual undergraduate curriculum. We use the easy java simulations programming and authoring tool to create the program's graphical user interface together with objects based on those developed by Kaminsky [Building Parallel Programs (Course Technology, Boston, 2010)] to handle common parallel programming tasks. Shared-memory parallel implementations of physics problems, such as time evolution of the Schrödinger equation, are available as source code and as ready-to-run programs from the AAPT-ComPADRE digital library.

Virtual and Remote Laboratory with the Ball and Plate System

This paper presents a virtual and remote laboratory of the ball and plate system with augmented reality. The ball and plate is a non-linear, multi-variable and open-loop unstable system. Due to its inherent complexity, presents challenging problems, such as: 1) point stabilization control, to carry the ball to a specific position and hold it there, and 2) trajectory tracking control, in which the goal is to make the ball follows a predefined geometric trajectory (square and circle) minimizing the tracking error. The laboratory is composed by two parts: 1) a virtual laboratory developed in Easy Java Simulations (EJS), which is a 3D interactive simulation of the system; 2) a remote laboratory (developed with EJS and LabVIEW) to connect via Internet to a pilot plant of the system, situated in the laboratory. This laboratory is used in the Systems and Control Engineering Master Program offered by Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia and Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Conducting Online Lab Experiments with Blockly

Laboratory experimentation plays an essential role in control education. To reduce the high costs of maintaining apparatus in traditional labs and to support distance and blended learning, online laboratories are used as a possible alternative to conventional hands-on labs. In these labs it is often desirable to allow students to define their own experiments. This paper presents the definition and implementation of a generic experimentation language for conducting automatic experiments on existing online laboratories. The main objective is to use an online lab, created independently, as a component in which users can perform experiments. To achieve it, authors present the Experiment Application. It is composed by Blockly, to define and design the experiments, and Google Chart, review and visualize the experiment results. This tool offers benefits to students, teachers and, even, lab designers. For the moment, it can be used with any existing lab or simulation created with the authoring tool Easy Java(script) Simulations. Since there are repositories with hundreds of free available labs created with this tool, the potential applicability of the described tool is considerable. To illustrate the utility of the Experiment Application a very well-known system is used: the Simple Harmonic Oscillator system.

Simulation of partial differential equations models in Java

PurposeComputer simulations improve the knowledge of physical models and are widely used in teaching and research. Key aspects are to understand their solutions and to make interactive changes to the models, observing their effects in real-time. The drawback of creating interactive simulations of physical models is the high level of programming expertise required. The purpose of this study is to facilitate this task.Design/methodology/approachJava is the perfect language for this task; it yields high-quality graphics and is widely spread in the scientific community. Because many important physical models are described by means of partial differential equations (PDEs), the combination of Java with FreeFem++, a C++ PDE solver based on the finite element method, is considered.FindingsIn this study, a Java library is introduced to numerically solve PDE equations via a run-time connection with FreeFem++. The solution is encapsulated into Java objects that are ready to be used in different programming tasks. The library also includes new Java visualization elements for solutions and meshes in the context of the Open Source Physics project library. Together, the connection features and the visualization elements facilitate the creation of Java simulations by programming researchers. For those with less programming capabilities, this work has been included into Easy Java Simulations, a tool to further ease the creation of interactive simulations.Originality/valueThe present study approach allows simulating models given PDEs. The equations are solved either in local or in remote mode (e.g. by a network accessible to a high-performance computer) and visualized locally, providing a high degree of interactivity to the end user.

Simulation of leakage current measurement on medical devices using helmholtz coil configuration with different current flow

Leakage current measurement which can follow IEC standard for medical device is one of many challenges to be answered. The IEC 60601-1 has defined that the limit for a leakage current for Medical Device can be as low as 10 µA and as high as 500 µA, depending on which type of contact (applied part) connected to the patient. Most people are using ELCB (Earth-leakage circuit breaker) for safety purpose as this is the most common and available safety device in market. One type of ELCB devices is RCD (Residual Current Device) and this RCD type can measure the leakage current directly. This work will show the possibility on how Helmholtz Coil Configuration can be made to be like the RCD. The possibility is explored by comparing the magnetic field formula from each device, then it proceeds with a simulation using software EJS (Easy Java Simulation). The simulation will make sure the concept of magnetic field current cancellation follows the RCD concept. Finally, the possibility of increasing the measurement’s sensitivity is also analyzed. The sensitivity is needed to see the possibility on reaching the minimum leakage current limit defined by IEC, 0.01mA.

Design and Implementation of Remote Lab with Industrial Robot Accessible through the Web

This paper describes design and implementation of remote lab with industrial robot accessible through the web based on Moodle portal, Easy Java Simulations (EJS) and Arduino Sw & Hw. The main purpose of this lab is to improve study, training and programming knowledge in industrial and service robotics for students, teachers of secondary vocational schools and company workers that deal with problems that arise on real robotic workplaces. This lab allows the user to work from their homes and operates with industrial robot at real workplace. Such remote lab can also enable users to use expensive lab equipment, which is not usually available to all persons. Practical example of application of the lab with industrial robot on Department of Robotics, Technical University of Kosice, Slovakia is presented.

Novel Networked Remote Laboratory Architecture for Open Connectivity Based on PLC-OPC-LabVIEW-EJS Integration. Application in Remote Fuzzy Control and Sensors Data Acquisition.

In this paper the design and implementation of a network for integrating Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), the Object-Linking and Embedding for Process Control protocol (OPC) and the open-source Easy Java Simulations (EJS) package is presented. A LabVIEW interface and the Java-Internet-LabVIEW (JIL) server complete the scheme for data exchange. This configuration allows the user to remotely interact with the PLC. Such integration can be considered a novelty in scientific literature for remote control and sensor data acquisition of industrial plants. An experimental application devoted to remote laboratories is developed to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of the proposed approach. The experiment to be conducted is the parameterization and supervision of a fuzzy controller of a DC servomotor. The graphical user interface has been developed with EJS and the fuzzy control is carried out by our own PLC. In fact, the distinctive features of the proposed novel network application are the integration of the OPC protocol to share information with the PLC and the application under control. The user can perform the tuning of the controller parameters online and observe in real time the effect on the servomotor behavior. The target group is engineering remote users, specifically in control- and automation-related tasks. The proposed architecture system is described and experimental results are presented.

Virtual laboratory and learning management system in optimal control theory education

Virtual and remote laboratories that are commonly used in engineering education are mainly designed using Java programming language. The most popular and widely used learning management system is Moodle. This paper describes the development of a virtual laboratory using Easy Java Simulations software tool and its integration with e-learning tool Moodle. The virtual laboratory demonstrates how Easy Java Simulations and Moodle are used in optimal control theory education by the example of the well-known brachistochrone problem solution.

COMPUTER SIMULATION IN MECHANICS TEACHING AND LEARNING: A CASE STUDY ON STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF FORCE AND MOTION

The objective of this research was to develop a force and motion simulation based on the open-source Easy Java Simulation. The process of computer simulation development was done following the ADDIE model. Based on the Analysis and Design phases, the Development phase used the open-source Easy Java Simulation (EJS) to develop a computer simulation with physics content that was relevant to the subtopic. Computing and communication technology continue to make an increasing impact on all aspects of education. EJS is a powerful didactic resource that gives us the ability to focus our students’ attention on the principles of physics. Using EJS, a computer simulation was created through which the motion of a particle under the action of a specific force can be studied. The implementation phase is implemented the computer simulation in the teaching and learning process. To describe the improvements in the students’ understanding of the force and motion concepts, we used a t-test to evaluate each of the four phases. These results indicated that the use of the computer simulation could improve students’ force and motion conceptual competence regarding Newton's second law of motion.

EJS, JIL Server, and LabVIEW: An Architecture for Rapid Development of Remote Labs

Designing and developing web-enabled remote laboratories for pedagogical purposes is not an easy task. Often, developers (generally, educators who know the subjects they teach but lack of the technical and programming skills required to build Internet-based educational applications) end up discarding the idea of exploring these new teaching and learning experiences mainly due to the technical issues that must be mastered. To tackle this problem, authors present a novel technique that allows developers to create remote labs in a quick, didactical, and straightforward way. This framework is based on the use of two well-known software tools in the scope of engineering education, Easy Java Simulations and LabVIEW. The development exploits a new feature of Easy Java Simulations known as EJS-elements that enables Java developers to create and integrate their own authoring libraries (elements) into EJS, thus increasing its application possibilities. Particularly, the EJS element here presented allows to LabVIEW programs be controlled from EJS applications through a communication network. This paper presents the element creation details and how this can be used to create web-enabled experimentation environments for educational purposes. A step by step example of development of a remote lab for automatic control education is described.

The Ball and Beam System: A Case Study of Virtual and Remote Lab Enhancement With Moodle

Web-based labs are key tools for distance education that help to illustrate scientific phenomena, which require costly or difficult-to-assemble equipment. Easy Java Simulations (EJS) is an authoring tool that speeds up the creation of these kind of labs. An excellent proof of the EJS potential is the open source physics (OSP) repository, which hosts hundreds of free EJS labs. Learning management systems, such as Moodle, provide social contexts where students interact with each other. The work described in this paper looks for the synergy of both tools, EJS and Moodle, by supporting the deployment of EJS labs into Moodle and thus enriching them with social features (e.g., chat, forums, and videoconference). To test this approach, the authors have created the ball and beam lab, which helps students of automatic control engineering to train different advanced techniques (robust, fuzzy, and reset control), and compare their performance in relation to a conventional proportional-integral-derivative control.

Adding automatic evaluation to interactive virtual labs

Automatic evaluation is a challenging field that has been addressed by the academic community in order to reduce the assessment workload. In this work we present a new element for the authoring tool Easy Java Simulations (EJS). This element, which is named automatic evaluation element (AEE), provides automatic evaluation to virtual and remote laboratories built with EJS by using the server application Goodle grading management system (GMS). The integration of both tools entitles a professor to create interactive virtual and remote laboratories and automatically evaluate the work of their students. As a test bed two case studies are presented; a non-linear controller design virtual laboratory used in an advanced control master course and a servomechanism virtual laboratory used in an undergraduate basic control course.

Bringing partial differential equations to life for students

Teaching partial differential equations (PDEs) carries inherent difficulties that an interactive visualization might help overcome in an active learning process. However, the generation of this kind of teaching material implies serious difficulties, mainly in terms of coding efforts. This work describes how to use an authoring tool, Easy Java Simulations, to build interactive simulations using FreeFem++ (Hecht F 2012 J. Numer. Math. 20 251) as a PDE solver engine. It makes possible to build simulations where students can change parameters, the geometry and the equations themselves getting an immediate feedback. But it is also possible for them to edit the simulations to set deeper changes. The process is ilustrated with some basic examples. These simulations show PDEs in a pedagogic manner and can be tuned by no experts in the field, teachers or students. Finally, we report a classroom experience and a survey from the third year students in the Degree of Mathematics at the University of Murcia.