Methodology and Development of Industrial-Scale Remote Access Control Laboratory

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there were significant disruptions to education in Turkey, just like worldwide. The idea of creating a remote access control laboratory was proposed to address the laboratory access problem for students in the Department of Control and Automation Engineering (CAE) at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). However, as the number of experiment setups increases, these systems' maintenance, robustness, and reusability emerge as significant challenges. This paper suggests a methodology for developing industrial-scale remote access control laboratory applications using industrial automation and industry 4.0 architectures. The methodology was successfully integrated into the remote access control laboratory system with six experimental setups in the department of CAE at ITU, enabling students to take the control laboratory classes online. The remote-access control laboratory system enabled quarantined students to participate in lab lessons, reducing the need for face-to-face experiments and enabling social distancing. This system continued post-pandemic, becoming crucial for control laboratories.