A remote laboratory for microelectronics fabrication

During the last decade there has been a move towards using remote laboratories in engineering education. These labs allow students to control either electrical or mechanical systems remotely via the internet. At the University of South Australia (UniSA), we have been developing a remote lab that will allow users to visually inspect and test microelectronic circuits under a microscope. In this paper, we describe the architecture of the laboratory and discuss the obstacles that are faced in designing and building a remote laboratory that deals with the accurate manipulation of micro-probes for testing microelectronic circuits. Challenges include mechanical construction of probes, motor control for accurate positioning of probes and the development of a realistic graphical user interface (GUI) which will give students an environment that closely resembles that of a real lab. This laboratory is the extension of the existing, fully functional UniSA remote lab, NetLab, which has already been successfully used in teaching students on-campus as well as off-shore.