The lab was created in 2011 as an open space where students from different high schools and university carreers bring innovative ideas to solve everyday problems or to invent new devices based on digital and electronic technologies. The lab was guided by professors and teacher assistants that provide the students with both theoretical and practical support to help them to develop the ideas. In these years, diverse projects were realized within the lab: from an electronic nose to detect ethane in biodigesters to an orthopedic hand with the control servomechanisms to provide movement to disabled boy. In the lab, Postgraduate students may find specific support to test new methods, algorithms or whatever can be provided by it. In the last years, students from foreign countries have participated in activities within the lab. During this time, the lab was opened beyond schools and universities and now different people with techonlogical interests participate actively in it.
At first, the lab counted with just a few elements, most of them used in regular computer engineering and electronic courses. Each semester, based on the needs of the different projects, new equipment was incorporated. At the moment there are two 3D printers, several osciloscopes, multimeters, Arduino and ARM kits, Raspberry and BeagleBond platforms, electronic components, and so on. There are also several peripherals to support communication, store, and display of data. There are also a drone and a mini drone and autonomous radio controlled cars. In the future, a mini CNC will be incorporated to the lab with several other tools like the laser cutter.
Laboratorio Abierto DIEC is an creative space where people learn and develop computing projects in an interdisciplinary and collaborative way. Although it is possible to develop an idea individually, most of them are developed in teams of at least two persons. Different disciplines like chemestry, mechanics, agronomics, or even social areas like economy or pedagogy used the lab as a place to propose and test new ideas. This produces a very rich interchange and interdisciplinary approach to the problems.
The lab collaborates also with different initiatives like science faiss and early vocation test programs in high schools. In this way, the activity of the lab is present in other cities and regions of the country.