How IIT Bombay’s Virtual Lab Is Changing the Way Students Learn Engineering?

If you are speculating about, “How IIT Bombay’s Virtual Lab Is Changing the Way Students Learn Engineering?”, you have ended up in the right place! The virtual lab at IIT Bombay is transforming Engineering education for students in a variety of ways. While physical labs have limited access over scheduled hours, IITB Virtual Lab is available 24/7 anywhere with a stable internet connection. High tuition fees are required for physical labs, whereas, the virtual lab will offer open access to students free of cost. Additionally, experiments at physical labs can only be performed at physical labs under strict supervision of instructors, while experiments conducted at the IITB Virtual Lab will be safe and risk-free even if you push the parameters or limits of a specific equipment. Let us take you through the means by which the virtual lab at IIT Bombay continues to influence how students study engineering!

Ways in Which IIT Bombay’s Virtual Lab Is Changing the Way Students Learn Engineering

Democratization of technical education can be fundamentally achieved by discarding the concept of physical labs and opting for digital labs. The various manners in which the IITB Virtual Lab can become a game-changer in the history of engineering education in India are provided here.

Achieving Physical Access to Expensive Experiments

The biggest challenges in learning faced in a traditional setting include the budget constraints of a college or university and the number of machines available. Due to budgetary restrictions or funding shortages, it becomes increasingly difficult for the colleges to purchase sophisticated machinery and equipment. However, this gap is bridged by virtual labs. Zero-cost learning is made possible for the students by providing them an opportunity to perform experiments that would otherwise require an investment worth millions of dollars. You can now study completely free of charge.

Independent Learning Anytime & Anywhere!

Geographical independence is the greatest contribution of IIT Bombay’s virtual labs. A student sitting on the IIT Bombay campus and a student residing in a remote village both are entitled to avail themselves of sophisticated simulations of the IIT-level.

Experiments at physical labs are often conducted once a week and limited to rigorous 2-hour slots. Due to the introduction of virtual labs by IIT Bombay, the lab will be made accessible 24x7 and you are not required to wait for a specific lab hour scheduled by the institute.

If you find an experiment complex and challenging, you have the privilege to revisit it and go through it on the weekends or at 2 in the morning to strengthen the understanding you have gained.

Improved Conceptual Understanding

Better conceptual clarity can be achieved through virtual labs. This is because you will be able to conduct an experiment fifty times in the duration that would be normally required in setting up one single experiment. This will help you comprehend the fundamental concepts of Physics far more quickly and effectively.

In a traditional experiment, there is no scope for repetition and you typically only get only one opportunity to critically evaluate the data and findings. Contrastingly, you can perform the same experiment fifty times in the virtual labs until you have mastered the concept fully and thoroughly.

Increased Accessibility

Virtual labs also increase scalability in a way they serve the needs of a wide number of students efficiently without compromising performance. While not more than 20-30 students can be accommodated in a physical lab at a time, a virtual lab is accessible to thousands of simultaneous users at once.

The "Safe-to-Fail" Nature of Experiments

The threat of destroying expensive machinery and equipment remains one of the largest obstacles in Engineering. If you make a single mistake while performing an experiment in a physical lab, like overlooking a wrong connection, you could destroy a circuit board or cause damage to an instrument worth $10,000. Hence, students are often reluctant to engage in new experiments because they are fearful.

On the other hand, experimentation is completely risk-free in virtual labs, in a way that even if a student connects a virtual circuit incorrectly or exerts excessive amounts of load on a virtual bridge, no physical consequences in reality will be observed and no expenses for repairing, preservation or maintenance will be required.

In virtual labs, you can also break the established technological limits of an equipment out of curiosity. If you wish to assess the ranges of the variables and components of the machinery in the virtual labs you can experiment with scenarios like doubling the voltage. If an unfortunate circumstance arises that the virtual bridge falls apart owing to defective structural framework, you are free to use the “reset” button and no one is injured.

Interactive and Immersive Pedagogy

A fully interactive, engaging, and immersive environment is achieved through the integrated teaching methods found in the virtual labs. Through simulations or training sessions, you will be able to modify the parameters of an equipment, such as voltage, load, or temperature, and view and analyze the graphical results or consequences in real time.

Speaking of interactive simulations, you will have the opportunity to witness invisible processes like the flow of electrons in a semiconductor or the distribution of stress in a beam through the application of 3D modelling and animations.

Remote triggering is also possible in a way that some advanced modules enable the students to operate the physical machinery at IIT Bombay remotely through the internet while viewing the end results through an on-site camera.

Integration of Theory & Practice

IIT Bombay’s virtual labs also bridge the gap between theory and practice. A challenge frequently encountered in Engineering education is that students merely memorize formulas without applying them or putting them into practice. A virtual lab offers pre-lab training and hence it has become a common prerequisite for instructors or professors. In order to ensure that students truly comprehend exactly what they are performing or executing, it is crucial for them to complete the virtual simulation first to understand the procedure and safety protocols. Only then will they be permitted to enter the physical lab and operate or experiment with the actual equipment.

How to Access IIT Bombay’s Virtual Lab?

You can get access to the virtual lab introduced by IIT Bombay by following the steps mentioned below:

1. Go to the portal @vlab.co.in.
2. Next, choose the discipline you are pursuing among "Electronics & Communications," "Mechanical Engineering," etc.
3. Find the institute by searching for laboratories that have clearly been identified as IIT Bombay.
4. You will find a "Simulation" tab present in most labs. For running some simulations, you might be required to enable JavaScript. You may also need to use a particular browser like Chrome.

Some of the mention-worthy virtual Lab modules developed by IIT Bombay in collaboration with its partner institutes include Digital Logic Design Lab, 8051 Microcontroller Lab, Virtual Electromagnetics Lab, and Digital Applications Lab for Digital Electronics & Electrical Engineering; Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Analysis & Synthesis of Mechanisms, and Dynamics of Fluid Flow for Mechanical Engineering; and Computer Networking, Python Programming Lab, and Computer Graphics Lab for Computer Science & Software, etc. among others. They act as a powerful bridge between academia and real-world industry!