Digitized Teaching Lab Development for Comprehensive Materials Testing System

Engineering materials course labs requiring tensile tester represents a challenge especially for remote teaching.This project is to develop digitized teaching labs by utilizing a PASCO portable comprehensive material testing system.Three senior design students advised by two Mechanical Engineering Technology faculty members have developed digitized virtual lab.The system measures force with a max 1.6 KIP load cell and displacement with an optical encoder.It can be connected to a computer through a USB port or Bluetooth.The testing system has a web-camera to broadcast the physical testing process in real time and the software to display test data such as stress vs. strain curve to remote students via teleconference platform.The data collected can be exported from the software in Excel format to share with students to finish the lab report.The pre-made tensile specimen include commonly used engineering materials such as aluminum, brass, steel, acrylic, and polyethylene.The specimen can be ordered from the machine vendor or made in house.For non-destructive tests done by the system, the samples and fixtures are all included in the system.The testing system with a data collecting computer can be fitted into a 62-inch standard check-in suitcase.The senior design team showcases the project with the physical test system in a department conference, which can be treated as a trial test for transporting the system to distance learning facility.With the physical testing system, the remote students can finish the test following the instruction by the course instructor.Upon finishing the project, the senior design team passed the course with an A+ grade.From the department senior design conference survey, the judges' feedback for the project is very positive.The testing system can be adopted by engineering material course in any engineering or engineering technology program.The digitized portable equipment can be utilized on-site, remotely via online meeting, or transport to a distance learning location conveniently.A pilot study of implementing the system in an online machine design course shows promising results.