Remotely Accessible Rapid Prototyping Laboratory: design and implementation framework

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the development and implementation of a Remotely Accessible Rapid Prototyping Laboratory (RRPL) established at Tennessee Tech University. Instructional materials and best practices are also reported.

Design/methodology/approach

The Rapid Prototyping (RP) Laboratory reported in this paper was established in Fall 2003 and funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant and Tennessee Tech University (TTU) matching funds. Since that time, over a thousand high school students and students studying computer aided design and manufacturing at Tennessee Tech University have practiced with the RP technology. In order to further extend a remote access capability to this current laboratory and let more engineering and technology students learn this technology via online access tools and resources, a new NSF grant was awarded in late 2006. Since that time, the remote RP laboratory development has been practiced by over 50 higher education institutions. In early 2009, another NSF grant was awarded to allow Metro Nashville Public School students to practice in the remote RP laboratory and choose Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) career academies for their future profession pathways. This paper will report the development and implementation of a remotely accessible laboratory for RP practices. The topics highlighted are the design of the laboratory, its remote delivery implementation to P16 (integrated system of education stretching from early childhood through a four‐year college degree) education systems and web‐based access statistics collected from counting resources.

Findings

Although on‐ground RP systems are commonly practiced by many institutions; such a unique application as reported in this paper was a pioneering effort, since RRPL was used by many educational institutions as part of their curricular practices.

Originality/value

The paper shows how the online accessible laboratory and its instructional materials provide a number of unique features in cost saving and sharing of the RP resources.

Citation

Fidan, I. (2012), "Remotely Accessible Rapid Prototyping Laboratory: design and implementation framework", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 344-352. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552541211250328