Lightweight Node.js']js & EJs']JsS-based Web Server for Remote Control Laboratories

This paper presents a new approach to develop a web server for remote Systems Engineering and Automatic Control laboratories based on Node.js and Easy JavaScript Simulations (EJsS). On one hand, Node.js, a JavaScript development and runtime platform to distribute non/blocking data-intensive event-driven real-time applications across different devices, is used 1) as the server that hosts the laboratory web-pages and 2) to support the real-time communication between the controller back-end (application that closes the control loop over the plant) and front-end (graphical user interface that lets students parametrize and observe the behavior of the controllers/systems under study from any web-browser). On the other one, EJsS, a powerful intuitive graphical tool to develop graphical/interactive interfaces and simulations, is used to generate the JavaScript and HTML5 controller front-end. The new strategy, deployable over different operating system (Linux, Mac OS and Windows) and against different controller back-ends (e.g. an application developed in C, a TwinCAT Programable Logic Controller, and a LabVIEW Virtual Instrument), is a lightweight versatile solution to set up a friendly remote control laboratory whose experiments can be accessed by the students from different types of devices (PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones). (C) 2016, IFAC (International Federation of Antomatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.