Design and implementation of the feedback systems Web laboratory

Abstract

This thesis describes the design and implementation of a remote web-based laboratory (WebLab) for MIT's 6.302 Feedback Systems course. The WebLab system proposed consists of a three-tiered architecture where client and server communicate with each other via web services. On the front end, the user interacts with the system through the Lab Client's graphical user interface implemented as a Java applet. On the back end, the Lab Server processes experiment requests from users and runs them at the laboratory site. Once the experiment has been completed successfully, the Lab Server sends the measured data to the Lab Client for display on the screen and further manipulation by the user. Furthermore, the WebLab is designed to take advantage of the iLab framework for provision of authentication and authorization services, as well as common administrative tasks, such as user management and logging of experimental results.