IoT based autonomous MINI science and stem training laboratory experiment system and method

Abstract

The present invention relates to an IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory system and method used in distant training and face-to-face classroom training, including primary, secondary, high school and university formal education, which enables experiments with real materials by adjusting and operating the parameters of science experiment setups designed with physical real materials.

Description

[0001] IOT BASED AUTONOMOUS MINI SCIENCE AND STEM TRAINING LABORATORY EXPERIMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to an IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system and method that can be applied in distant training and face-to-face classroom training, including primary school, middle school, high school and university formal education.

[0004] In particular, the present invention relates to an IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system and method that enables experiments with real materials by setting and operating parameters on the management panel of science experimental setups designed with physical real materials.

[0005] State of the Art

[0006] Today, basic science experiments with online simulation cannot enable students to interact with real materials in fields such as physics, chemistry and biology. For example, when students perform an experiment with a simulation about chemistry, they only see what is happening on the screen and cannot witness real chemical reactions. Or, in the field of biology, they do not have the opportunity fo examine a real animal or plant with a microscope as often as they would like. Furthermore, experiments carried out with such simulations or ready-made experiment sets are one-sided and accordingly, there is no student-student and student-teacher interaction and no sharing of knowledge and experience.

[0007] In the state of the art, websites with online interactive experiment simulations include simulations of basic science experiments that students and / or teachers can perform on the screen on their own or in the classroom with a projector. On such platforms, experiments in fields such as physics, chemistry and biology are carried out by entering parameters through on-screen simulations. However, on these websites, a student / student group is not able to carry out hands-on training using real materials with a remote trainer and student group. In addition, especially in distant training, experiments with animation and simulation appeal only to the visual and auditory sensory channels of the student, however, it has been known for many years that the activation of all five senses in learning as much as possible has important effects on the permanence of learning. In a sense, existing distant training tools cause students to experience sensory loss during the learning process. The invention named IOT Based Mini Autonomous Science and STEM Training Laboratory will compensate for the sensory loss experienced by the teacher and the student by visualizing the environmental data it collects with numerical and graphical data with the help of its sensors.

[0008] Remote manageable laboratories enable a single laboratory in a centralized environment to be programmed remotely by a student who makes an appointment, using a computer and the internet, to carry out the desired experiment. The student watches the processes and results of the experiment in the central laboratory on the screen with a camera, so as a result, while such central laboratories prevent the student from working with real materials, the problem of sensory loss arises again. The installation of remotely managed laboratories requires physical space and high costs, which is one of the major obstacles to their widespread use.

[0009] Basic sciences experiment sets, on the other hand, have the advantage of being able to perform experiments with real materials. With such experiment sets, students can perform a limited number of experiments, especially at home, by following the instructions included in the set. For this reason, with such ready-made experiment sets, students cannot be provided with the opportunity to perform a large number of experiments with real materials in an online environment in cooperation and interactively with a trainer and student group of their choice.

[0010] As a result of the aforementioned issues and the limited supply of available solutions, it became necessary to carry out an improvement in the relevant technical field.

[0011] Aim of the Invention

[0012] The present invention relates to an IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system and method that eliminates the above mentioned disadvantages and brings new advantages to the related technical field.

[0013] The main aim of the present invention is to enable the teacher and student(s) to perform science and STEM experiments with real material simultaneously and mutually in distant training.

[0014] The aim of the present invention is to enable students in the same group to perform experiments together in distant training at the same time using the same data even though they are in different locations, so that students in different locations can simultaneously observe the results of the same experiment using real materials.

[0015] Another aim of the present invention is to enable a student to conduct experiments with real materials while studying with other students and the teacher in online training, so that even in an online environment, students can witness the reactions created by working with real materials in the field of basic science as if they were working in a laboratory in a school environment.

[0016] Another aim of the present invention is to combine the positive aspects of distant and face-to-face training, enabling students to have easy and regularly scheduled sessions with a trainer anywhere in the world and to conduct experiments with real materials as if they were in a face-to-face environment.

[0017] Another aim of the present invention is to have a mini-laboratory in front of each student during training instead of a central laboratory and to enable the student to observe the experiment live with real material in front of him / her, not on the screen, without experiencing the disadvantages of simulation type experiments.

[0018] Another aim of the present invention is to provide the possibility of turning every classroom in the school or every student's study room into a laboratory by reducing the basic science experiments at the high school and middle school level to the size of a box that can be carried even by a middle school student or fixed to the wall, instead of professional remotely managed laboratories that require physical space and high costs to set up. Another aim of the present invention is to provide students with the opportunity to perform a larger number of experiments with real materials in an online environment, collaboratively and interactively with a group of trainers and students of their choice.

[0019] Another aim of the present invention is to provide student-teacher and studentstudent interaction, which are among the biggest supporters of learning.

[0020] The structural and characteristic features of the present invention will be understood clearly by the following drawings and the detailed description made with reference to these drawings. Therefore the evaluation shall be made by taking these figures and the detailed description into consideration.

[0021] Figures Clarifying the Invention

[0022] Figure 1 : Schematic diagram of IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2: View of the experiment device of IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 3: Schematic view of the experiment device of IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system of the present invention.

[0025] Description of the Part References

[0026] 10. IOT Service

[0027] 20. Communication network

[0028] 30. MQTT protocol

[0029] 40. Client

[0030] 50. Web Server

[0031] 60. Experiment device

[0032] 61. Tray

[0033] 70. Wi-Fi module

[0034] 80. Bluetooth module

[0035] 90. Device microcontroller

[0036] 100. 485 common communication integrators 110. 485 communication integrators

[0037] 120. Tray microcontroller

[0038] 130. Mobile device

[0039] Detailed Description of the Invention

[0040] In this detailed description, the preferred alternatives of the inventive IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system and method is described only for clarifying the subject matter such that no limiting effect is created.

[0041] In Figure 1 , schematic diagram of IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system of the present invention is given. Accordingly, IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system mainly comprises the following; IOT service (10) that transfers data over the MQTT protocol (30) via a communication network (20) running on the internet to serve as a swarm technology with internet of things capabilities, client (40) who registers to the loT service (10) and makes a selection for the experiment to be performed by distant training and sends the same to the loT service (10) via the web server (50), experiment device (60) operating the selected experiment tray (61 ) according to the parameters sent by the IOT service (10) via the MQTT protocol (30).

[0042] The IOT service (10), which forms the main structure of the inventive IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory system, is a network that serves as a swarm technology with Internet of Things features and transfers data over the MQTT protocol (30) via a communication network (20) running on the internet. This IOT service (10) transfers data between the client (40) and the experimental device (60), which is registered to the IOT service (10).

[0043] The client (40) makes a selection for the experiment to be performed by distant training and sends the same to the IOT service (10) via the web server (50).

[0044] The experiments to be performed by the client (40) are carried out on trays (61 ) with different experimental setups designed with physical real materials, as shown in Figure 2. Each of these surfaces comprises experiment trays (61) designed from real materials from a middle school science unit. In synchronous distant training, in the experiment device (60) in front of the teacher and student / students, the experiment tray (61 ) is pulled out to make the same easy to see.

[0045] Each experiment tray (61) has one tray microcontroller (120) as shown in figure 3. The tray comprises microcontrollers (120), 485 communication integrators (110). The experiment device (60) also has a device microcontroller (90) that communicates with the IOT service (10). Said device microcontroller (90) communicates with the 485 communication integrators (110) of each experiment tray (61 ) by using the 485 common communication integrators (100) and the tray enables the microcontroller (120) to operate the experimental setup in the tray (61 ).

[0046] The connection of the device microcontroller (90) in the experiment device (60) with the IOT service (10) is realized through the internet connection provided via the WiFi module (70) in the experiment device (60). In order for the Wi-Fi module (70) of the experiment device (60) to use the desired Wi-Fi connection, the necessary parameters are recorded to the device microcontroller (90) via the Bluetooth module (80) on the experiment device (60) with a mobile application installed on a mobile device (130). In this way, the Wi-Fi module (70), which provides the internet connection of the experiment device (60), can make the Wi-Fi connection at any time.

[0047] The client (40) can send the desired command to the targeted experiment device

[0048] (60) previously recorded in the loT service (10) using the MQTT protocol (30) via the IOT Service (10). Accordingly, the client (40) may want to operate an experiment tray

[0049] (61) on the experiment device (60) it owns or may want to read sensor data from the experiment device (60).

[0050] The experiment method realized with the IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system subject to the present invention is as follows; a) The client (40), who registers to the IOT service (10), logs in to the web server (50) with its username and password and selects the science experiment it wants to perform on the interface provided by the web server b) The selection made by the client (40) via the web server (50) is sent to the IOT service (10) via the web server (50), c) The IOT service (10) sends the received parameters to the device microcontroller (90) via the Wi-Fi module (70) using the MQTT protocol (30), d) The device microcontroller (90) receives the desired command packet and delivers the command packet to the tray microcontroller (120) of the relevant tray (61 ) by using the 485 communication integrators (110) of the tray (61 ) where the desired experiment is located via the 485 common communication integrators (100), e) The tray microcontroller (120) of the relevant tray (61 ), which receives the incoming command packet, performs the operations related to which experiment is desired to be run in the tray (61 ) or from which sensor data is desired to be read.

[0051] In the aforementioned process step (e), when the client (40) wants to read a sensor value from the experiment device (60), the data read from the sensor is sent from the experiment device (60) to the IOT service (10) via the MQTT protocol (30) and transmitted from the IOT service (10) to the web server (50) and displayed on the web server (50).

Claims

CLAIMS1. SOT (internet ot Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system used in distant training and face-to-face classroom training including primary, secondary, high school and university formal education, characterized in that, it comprises the following;IOT service (10) that transfers data over the MQTT protocol (30) via a communication network (20) running on the internet,- Client (40) who registers to the loT service (10) and makes a selection for the experiment to be performed by distant training and sends the same to the loT service (10) via the web server (50),Experiment device (60) with different experiment trays (61) designed with physical real materials on each surface, which communicates with the IOT service (10) and operates the selected tray (61) according to the parameters sent by the IOT service (10), Wi-Fi module (70) disposed in the experiment device (60),- Microcontroller (90) disposed in the experiment device (60) that enables the experiment device (60) to communicate with the IOT service (10) via the MQTT protocol (30) via the internet connection provided by the Wi-Fi module (70).

2. An IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a Bluetooth module (80) contained in said experiment device (60), which stores parameters to the device microcontroller (90) via a mobile application installed on a mobile device (130) to enable the Wi-Fi module (70) of the experiment device (60) to utilize a desired Wi-Fi connection.

3. An IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a tray microcontroller (120) located in said tray (61 ) and communicating with the device microcontroller (90) to operate the experimental setup in the tray (61 )4. An IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment system according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises 485 common communication integrators (100) and 485 communication integrators (110) for communication between said device microcontroller (90) and tray (61).

5. An IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment method used in distant training and face-to- face classroom training including primary, secondary, high school and university formal education, characterized in that, it comprises the following process steps; a) The client (40), who registers to the IOT service (10), logging in to the web server (50) with its username and password and selecting the science experiment it wants to perform on the interface provided by the web server (50), b) The selection made by the client (40) via the web server (50) being sent to the IOT service (10) via the web server (50), c) The IOT service (10) sending the received parameters to the device microcontroller (90) via the Wi-Fi module (70) using the MQTT protocol (30), d) The device microcontroller (90) receiving the desired command packet and delivering the command packet to the tray microcontroller (120) of the relevant tray (61) by using the 485 communication integrators (110) of the tray (61 ) where the desired experiment is located via the 485 common communication integrators (100), e) The tray microcontroller (120) of the relevant tray (61 ), which receives the incoming command packet, performing the operations related to which experiment is desired to be run in the tray (61 ) or from which sensor data is desired to be read.

6. An IOT (Internet of Things) based autonomous mini science and STEM training laboratory experiment method according to claim 5, characterized in that; it comprises the process step (e) of sending the data read from the sensor from the experiment device (60) to the loT service (10) via the MQTT protocol (30) and transmitting the same from the loT service (10) to the web server (50) and displaying the same on the web server (50) when a sensor value is desired to be read from the experiment device (60).

Images