Democratizing Control Laboratories: The CE2Labs Initiative
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17979/ja-cea.2026.47.13701Keywords:
Control education, Teaching innovation, Open sourceAbstract
The shortage of physical lab models in university control engineering laboratories is a widely recognized problem at the international level. In response to this challenge, this paper presents CE2Labs (Unlocking the Development and Experiences of Control Education Labs), a teaching innovation project funded by the IFAC Activity Fund and developed by an international team of educators and laboratory engineers from universities in Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The project proposes the design and construction of low-cost, open-source physical lab models at different levels of complexity, ranging from 3D-printed mechanical devices to Arduino-based and custom electronics solutions, as well as the development of an open-access web platform where educators worldwide can access the materials and share experiences. As an innovative element, the project incorporates gamification strategies inspired by the escape room concept to promote more dynamic learning experiences in the control lab. This paper describes the project and the results obtained during its first development phase.
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Copyright (c) 2026 José Luis Guzmán Sánchez, Juan Diego Gil , Fernando Cañadas-Aránega, Igor M.L. Pataro, Enrique Rodríguez-Miranda, José González-Herández, Manuel Muñoz-Rodríguez, Manuel Berenguel
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