Successful online education - GeckoCIRCUITS as open-source simulation platform

Abstract

Modern lectures in power electronics should be complemented by interactive content, e.g. computer assisted learning via web-based applets or exercises employing a circuit simulator. The online e-learning system “iPES” was established in 2001; since then the iPES Java applets are frequently used in academia and industry to teach the basics of power electronics. This paper introduces new features of the open-source power electronics circuit simulator GeckoCIRCUITS, which enable a more flexible way to generate online content in comparison to iPES. In particular, the animation of current paths in a circuit model as well as a new language translation and internationalization scheme will be presented in detail. Finally, the popular iPES platform will be enhanced or replaced with Java applets based on GeckoCIRCUITS.