I-Corps: Commercialization of Virtual Engineering Laboratories

该项目的目标是开发常见工程实验室实验的3D虚拟复制品，以提高学习效果并拓宽本科生获得工程实验室材料的途径。虚拟实验室提高了对学习的影响，因为用户有一种更安全的方式来探索实验，并且可以以在现实世界实验室中不可能实现的方式查看实验设备和设置。此外，用户可以自由地重复实验，只要他们想要的次数，而不消耗额外的现实世界的材料或实验室时间成本。此外，虚拟实验室允许用户安全地犯错误，并从成功和错误的实验中学习；由于安全和时间限制，这种“通过反例探索学习”目前在现实世界的实验室中是不可行的。该研究团队的目标是继续为工程实验室开发界面，特别是四个材料的3D虚拟游戏强度实验室，包括梁弯曲，柱屈曲，疲劳和压力容器测试。与项目第一阶段开发的三个已完成的虚拟模拟一起，它们涵盖了材料强度实验室课程的所有学习成果，并完成了该特定实验室改进后的学习体验的转化。这个学习模型可以很容易地扩展，以包括其他学科实验室的接口，如机械工程、化学、生物、物理等。

The goal of this project is to develop 3D virtual replicas of common engineering laboratory experiments that can improve learning impact and broaden access to engineering laboratory materials for undergraduate students. The virtual laboratory improves the learning impact in that users have a safer means to explore the experiments and can view the experimental equipment and setup in ways that are not possible in real-world laboratories. Additionally, users are free to repeat the experiments as many times as they want without consuming additional real-world materials or laboratory time costs. Further, the virtual laboratory allows users to make mistakes safely and learn from both successful and incorrect experiments; such "learning by exploring via negative examples" is currently not feasible in real-world laboratories due to safety and time constraints.This research team aims to continue developing interfaces for engineering labs, specifically four 3D virtual gaming strength of materials laboratories including Beam Bending, Column Buckling, Fatigue, and Pressure vessel tests. Together with the three completed virtual simulations developed in the first phase of the project, they cover all the learning outcomes of the Strength of Materials Lab course and complete the transformation of the improved learning experience for this specific lab. This learning model could easily be expanded to include interfaces for other subject labs such as mechanical engineering, chemistry, biology, physics, and others.