Abstract : This paper details a distributed remote joint laboratory control and management system based on the Internet. The system integrates the WinCon-8000 embedded control system and corresponding I/O modules from ICP DAY, based on the Windows CE.NET real-time operating system and RISC CPU. It achieves seamless connection between experimental device sharing and on-site experimental control and management, realizing the application of advanced on-site industrial monitoring technology to teaching and improving the efficiency of higher education resource utilization. Keywords : Remote laboratory, WinCon-8000, Distributed control. Introduction: The "Remote Laboratory Software System" is a software product developed by integrating communication, automatic control, simulation, and artificial intelligence information processing technologies. It includes a distributed remote laboratory support software platform built on the Internet and application function modules for specific engineering fields. Currently completed application function modules focus on unit processes, and their application areas include undergraduate education in process engineering disciplines such as chemical engineering, environmental engineering, food engineering, and petroleum and natural gas engineering. The system has been successfully applied to the Zhejiang University Chemical Engineering Principles Experiment Remote Teaching Base. Approximately 1200 students from eight majors at Zhejiang University—Automation, Process Equipment and Control, Chemical Engineering and Technology, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Bioengineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, and Pharmacy—have used the system, which has been widely welcomed by faculty and students. Currently, Zhejiang University, East China University of Science and Technology, and Qinghai University are preparing to jointly establish the first distributed remote laboratory on the China Education and Research Network—the Inter-University Joint Remote Laboratory for Chemical Engineering Principles. This system will integrate high-quality experimental teaching resources for chemical engineering principles from the three universities, achieving resource sharing, improving the efficiency of educational resource utilization, promoting cooperation between universities in eastern and western China, and supporting the national strategy of developing western China. Zhejiang University, aiming to provide students with a hands-on understanding of advanced industrial field monitoring technologies, hopes to apply embedded system solutions to the next phase of laboratory construction. ICP Faraday Future (ICF) Co., Ltd. possesses advanced embedded control systems and supporting I/O modules for various fieldbuses, providing a series of complete product sets. Zhejiang University and Zhejiang University-Research Technology Co., Ltd. (Zhejiang University Heli Technology Co., Ltd.), the software developer for the remote laboratory, conducted in-depth research on ICP Faraday Future's products. However, lacking prior cooperation, they hoped to conduct trials before the formal construction of the distributed remote laboratory. Zhejiang University, Zhejiang University Heli Technology Co., Ltd., and ICP Faraday Future negotiated and unanimously agreed to use the embedded products donated by ICP Faraday Future to build a pilot experiment. If the experimental results meet the requirements, the model will be promoted in the upcoming distributed remote laboratory project. Zhejiang University selected the forced convection heat transfer film coefficient measurement experiment in the pipe as a model experiment and provided the necessary experimental equipment, sensors and control actuators. ICP DAY provided the following products free of charge: (1) W-8731 WinCon embedded controller 1 set; (2) I-87017 8CH analog input module 1 set; (3) I-87018 8CH thermocouple input module 1 set; (4) I-8024 4CH analog output module 1 set; (5) I-8054 8CH DI, 8CH DO module 1 set. Zhejiang University Heli Co., Ltd. provided the following products free of charge: (1) Embedded measurement and control server software for the forced convection heat transfer film coefficient measurement experiment in the pipe 1 set; (2) Student client software for the forced convection heat transfer film coefficient measurement experiment in the pipe 1 set; (3) Data exchange server software 1 set; (4) Management and monitoring tool software 1 set. Through the collaborative efforts of all three parties, the model project passed acceptance in May 2004. The acceptance results showed that the overall system indicators met the original design requirements, the system operated well, and the teaching requirements were met. Convective Heat Transfer Experiment Principle This experiment is used to determine the heat transfer film coefficient α1 of air during forced convection heat transfer in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger. The principle is based on the fact that the length-to-diameter ratio of the inner tube in the shell-and-tube heat exchanger is very large, and the temperature change of the inner wall surface is small when there is sufficient cooling water. The changes in air properties at the operating temperature are also not significant. Newton's law of cooling can be transformed into the following form: where all are average values, the qualitative temperature of the air properties is taken as , the qualitative temperature of the air properties is taken as , T is the arithmetic mean of , is the arithmetic mean of , is the inner surface area of ​​the tube, determined by the device, and G can be obtained by measuring the pressure difference across the orifice flowmeter using the formula. Below is a diagram of the entire experimental setup, indicating the measurement and control points: The experiment has nine measurement points: air outlet temperature and pressure, air flow rate, air inlet temperature, air outlet temperature, water pipe wall temperatures, and water inlet and outlet temperatures. There are five control points: power switch control, fan switch control, air flow regulating valve control, air heater temperature control, and water solenoid valve control. The following are switch-controlled: power switch control, fan switch control, and water solenoid valve control. The following are continuously controlled: air flow regulating valve control and air heater temperature control. Control range: temperature: 20–140°C; flow rate: 0–0.03 kg/s. Control accuracy: temperature error within 0.2°C; flow rate error within 0.0003 kg/s. System Architecture Based on the characteristics and requirements of Internet applications, and considering factors such as system reliability, security, stability, ease of use, and system maintenance, the remote laboratory system is designed using a Client/Server architecture, consisting of a client, an embedded control subsystem, an experimental information server, a subnet server, remote reservation service management, a teacher client, and a management and maintenance terminal. Users remotely control and monitor experimental equipment via the client to complete experimental operations. The subnet server provides real-time data communication services between users, the embedded control subsystem, and the experimental information server, serving as the hub for distributed remote laboratory subsites. The embedded control subsystem provides on-site measurement and control services for the experimental equipment and ensures equipment safety. The remote laboratory system scheduling and data services are handled by the experimental information server. The ICP WinCon-8000 is an embedded platform with an Intel Strong ARM CPU chip, running the Windows CE.NET operating system. Compared to standard Windows OS, Windows CE.NET offers many advantages, including hard real-time capabilities, a small kernel, fast boot speed, deep interrupt handling, deterministic control, and low cost. It also provides application developers with sufficient development platforms, such as networking, Internet service, web server, FTP server, DCOM, and .NET Compact Framework software packages, allowing system developers to spend more time on application development and control logic refinement. Furthermore, WinCon-8000 programming can be done on a PC using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, which includes both Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET development tools. The compiled managed code is then downloaded to the controller after integration with the .NET Compact Framework. Alternatively, it can be compiled using Embedded Visual C++. In addition to the Windows CE Standard SDK, ATL, ActiveX Component, MFC, DCOM, and .NET Compact Framework provided by Microsoft, ICP DAY also provides the WinCon-8000 SDK for controlling the I-8000, I-87K, and I-7000 I/O modules. Due to the powerful functionality and ease of programming with WinCon-8000, we adopted WinCon-8731 as the embedded control system platform for our remote laboratory system. The W-8731 has seven I/O slots. It uses the I-8024 4CH analog output module to output model signals for airflow and air heater temperature control. Temperature signals are acquired by the I-87018 8CH thermocouple input module, pressure signals are acquired using the I-87017 8CH analog input module, and switch control uses the I-8054 8CH.DI and 8CH DO modules. The embedded control system software porting and development of the WinCon-8000 series controller is based on the Windows CE.NET embedded platform, which greatly facilitates the porting of the measurement and control subsystem originally running on Windows 98. The main tasks of the remote laboratory embedded control system are: data acquisition, equipment control, real-time access to the experimental information server database, data exchange with the subnet server, and monitoring communication with the teacher's end (providing teachers with the ability to monitor student experimental operations and provide guidance at any time). ICP DAY provides the I-8000 series products along with related SDKs, simplifying the programming work for data acquisition and equipment control. This allows the focus of the measurement and control subsystem porting work to shift to real-time access to the experimental information server database and data exchange with the subnet server. Due to the complexity of SQL Server CE 2.0 configuration and its requirement for other software support, TCP/IP communication with the experimental information server is adopted. Another advantage of this approach is that it allows for the reconstruction of the network communication code for data exchange with the subnet server, further reducing workload. The Windows CE.NET network API uses Winsock 2.0, which ensures the implementation of the overlapping model required for teacher-side monitoring. Conclusion After the construction of the remote heat transfer experimental prototype device, the overall performance indicators of the device are high. The accuracy of air and water temperature measurement reaches ±0.3℃, the flow measurement accuracy reaches 2%, the air temperature control accuracy reaches ±0.3℃, and the flow control accuracy reaches 5%. The system operates well overall. Furthermore, the geographical location of this experimental device is not limited; as long as it can be connected to the Internet, it can be integrated into a remote joint distributed experimental system, improving the device's utilization efficiency. The WinCon-8000 controller features a standard interface for industrial computers, meeting the needs of industrial control. Furthermore, due to its use of a low-power RISC CPU and its diskless, fanless architecture, it offers superior dust, shock, and moisture resistance, making it more resilient to the harsh environments of chemical engineering labs and the intermittent operation of experimental setups compared to industrial computers. A remote laboratory system based on the WinCon-8000 embedded control system, after being applied to chemical engineering principles experiments at Zhejiang University, has received unanimous praise from faculty and students. It is considered advanced and forward-looking in both concept and practice, possessing high potential for wider application. References: 1. Zhejiang University Heli Product Manual; 2. ICP DARPA Product Manual; 3. Wu Jia et al., Chemical Engineering Principles Simulation Experiments, Beijing: Chemical Industry Press, 2001.