About virtual interactions with real objects

Mihaela Garabet1,2, Ion Neacşu1

(1) Theoretical High School “Grigore Moisil” 33, Timişoara Bvd, Bucharest, Romania

(2) University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics E-mail: mihaela.garabet@gmail.com

Abstract

The paper describes some interactions via http://portal.moisil.ro with real objects. In this case, a real object means an object able to sustain itself from the energetic point of view. In our case one real object will be a rover driven from a distance like Spirit on Mars. Our rover use solar energy and is driven with virtual instrumentation. Another object handled from a distance is a radio transmission, an audio transceiver with laser. We will try to use, from a distance, a system for monitoring a terrarium which consist of a web cam, a ventilation cooler and a shaking recipient for nourishing our turtles. Our lab has also o soil moisturizer system for our green plants which works with solar energy. Keywords: Project-based learning, real object, virtual interaction, virtual extraterrestrial communities

Introduction The major goal of our project is to bring our students closer to the real world, to give them a chance to apply their theoretical knowledge in practice in an integrated manner and from a different point of view comparing to the outcomes of the curricular standards.

On the other way we find it is a good way to develop the general competences prefigured in the Romanian curricular standards like: understanding and explain natural phenomenon and technological processes in everyday life, applying of the scientific investigation in Physics and the environmental protection.

We hope our students will learn a lot in this project because the manner of developing the activities is very different from the classic lessons, they can integrate their knowledge and they can act like the adults in the real life.

We started with the idea that the real intrinsic motivation is based on challenge, self discover and test the problem. So we light the fire in the class of Physics and we let it become a torch, like Sofocle said once, when he was referring to the children head.

Technology is progressing. Science enhances its development. The information is growing exponentially. Questions like the following are very natural today: Will humans one day live somewhere besides Earth? Are we on the brink of a new era in construction? With commercial space travel finally within our reach, will we see space colonies within our lifetime? And with Earth’s resources running low, will we soon be forced to move into previously uninhabitable areas of the planet? We envisioned some parts of an extraterrestrial colony. In our imagination Mars is the right place to make it.

That is why envisioning must be a continuous process to ensure that there is excellent alignment between the core aims, the educational philosophy and new innovative practice.

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About Project-based method We have applied project-based method on Physics subjects in order to make a research on the opportunities in which teams of learners collaborate about real life projects.

The challenge was to make some real objects like rovers, monitoring systems, radio transceivers, which are using solar energy and to handle them from a distance. We have chosen this activity because we are trying to familiarize the students with solving tasks like the adults in the real life.

We intended to value the students’ experiences, in their attitude toward the final product, in the promoting of the new informational and communicational technologies, to enhance the cooperation capacity and to discover themselves through communication.

The project method, is define as “a pedagogical method which allows the pupil to imply himself into the building of his knowledge interrelating with the colleagues and with the environment, the role of the teacher being of pedagogical mediator, privileged by pupils and knowledge that must be studied” (Arpin and Capra, 2001).

The project method plays an important role in the educational activity through the fact that it offers the pupils the possibility of realizing themselves, no matter their capacities and character.

Coming from the dynamism of the actual time which imposes the learning of innovative type which is characterized through its anticipative, creative, and participative character, the teacher has the role of organizing educational activities to facilitate the efficient learning, using dynamic methods and techniques, one of them being the project group work (Garabet and Miron, 2010).

The team of students, teachers and engineers project and develop the objects we will describe and the interaction with them.

The real objects The real objects have the role to enhance the learning of the basic electronics: transistors, chips, amplifiers, stepper motors, servomotors, etc.

We have to notice that is a long journey from the first probe of an object to the final design and the interaction with it from a distance. All the objects we have made are using solar energy because we are considering that the students must be familiarized with devices that use green energy, in order to use them in their future life.

The audio transceiver is a device that allows us to take any sound source, and to transmit it over a laser beam. We have used a laser for the transceiver and a photovoltaic cell for the receiver. It contains a Laser Pointer supplied with 4.5 to 6 volts, a sound source with an output jack and an earphone jack to fit the sound source (a radio in our case). The sound source will turn the audio into an electrical current to be transmitted over the jack, wire, and the transformer. This will vary the amount of resistance on the other side between the batteries and laser pointer, making the intensity of the light directly affected by the intensity of the audio (amplitude modulation).

The receiver, a photovoltaic cell, works the opposite way, varying the amount of current depending on the intensity of the light it receives. And so, we can make long distance radio transmissions.

Figure 1. The first version of the rover

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The rovers had many versions. They are using stepper motors powered by solar panels. The first one was driven through wires as it can see in the figure 1. Now we are working at the wireless version. We intend to tool it with sensors for light, temperature and proximity in order to explore the surroundings, like Spirit and Opportunity on Mars.

The virtual interaction

The interaction with real object from a distance is happening by remote connection and Moisil live, one of the facilities of our school portal http://portal.moisil.ro/Pages/moisil_live.htm.

The team uses virtual instrumentation LavVIEW for driving the rover from a distance. They have studied many schemes of using integrated circuits in order to communicate with the rovers- figure 2.

Figure 2. The command circuits of the rover

Another real system develop for distance use is made for monitoring a terrarium which consist

of a web cam, a ventilation cooler and a shaking recipient for nourishing our turtles. Our lab has also o soil moisturizer system for our green plants which works with solar energy.

Conclusions

The work in this approach invigorate our learning environment, energizing the curriculum with a real-world relevance and sparking students' desire to explore, investigate and understand their world.

We have noticed that students are more likely to retain the knowledge gained through this approach far more readily than through traditional textbook-centred learning. In addition, students develop confidence and self-direction as they move through both team-based and independent work. They have developed better communication with their peers and adults, and often work within their community while seeing the positive effect of their work.

The increasing interest of our students for the space colony problems is the best feed back for us. They are able to talk free about this subject. They are able to give scientific arguments. They are asking what happens if… And more important they are able to link the theories they have already studied at Physics, Chemistry, Biology, for construct on a solid base their knowledge.

References

Arpin, L., Capra, L., (2001). L’apprentissage par projets. Montréal, Chenelière Didactique. Garabet, M., Miron, C.,(2010). Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2010, Pages

5130-5138 http://www.bobpearlman.org/BestPractices/PBL_Research.pdf http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=2310