Simulating a laboratory experience for an on-line EMC course

At Utah State University, we have begun developing an online version of our EMC course, to be made available to our distance education students. Because a "laboratory experience" is very important to help reinforce the lecture material, we have tried to replicate the laboratory experience with virtual instruments, components and exercises. To do this, we are developing a series of laboratory modules using the programs LabVIEW and MATLAB. The combination of these two programs allows us to develop and use laboratory modules that give the student a virtual laboratory experience that closely approximates what he or she would see in the real laboratory environment. The paper reports on the design, development and implementation of laboratory modules suitable for use with an on-line EMC course.