Using Curvo Studio in the classroom

Why it suits a classroom

Curvo Studio needs no installation, licence or account to use the simulators, so it works on school laptops, tablets and phones with just a browser. The interface is available in English, Turkish, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German and Italian, which helps in mixed-language groups.

Each simulator shows a 3D model, live readings and characteristic curves together, so one change on screen shows its effect in three ways at once.

Live demonstrations

For a demonstration, project a simulator and change one parameter at a time while students predict the result.

Good starting points are raising the load on the induction motor to show slip increasing, sweeping the applied voltage on a diode to show the forward knee, and raising the primary voltage on the transformer until the core flux density passes its 1.6 T limit.

Because nothing can break, you can deliberately push a component past its rating, such as overloading a resistor or taking a Zener beyond its power limit, and discuss what the warning means.

Three activity ideas

Activity 1, diode characteristic. Students open the PN diode simulator, choose the 1N4148 preset and record the current at 0.5 V, 0.6 V, 0.7 V and 0.8 V. They should find roughly 0.1 mA, 0.8 mA, 6 mA and 47 mA, and notice that every 0.1 V multiplies the current by about 7.7. They then repeat with the 1N4001 preset and compare. The guide on reading a diode I–V curve explains the result.

Activity 2, LED colours and resistors. Students open the LED simulator, select each colour preset and find the applied voltage that gives 20 mA. They tabulate forward voltage against colour and then calculate the series resistor needed for a 5 V supply. The guide on LED series resistors gives the method.

Activity 3, slip against load. Students open the induction motor simulator with its default 4 kW, four-pole, 50 Hz motor and record rotor speed at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% load. They compute slip each time, plot it against load, then lower the line voltage and see how the stall point moves. The slip guide has the reference numbers.

Saving and sharing work

Students and teachers can sign in with Google or an email address to save a simulation as a project, with a title and notes. A project can be reopened, updated, duplicated or deleted, and an account can hold up to 50 projects. Signing in is optional and is only needed for saving.

Curvo Studio does not currently offer a link that shares a saved project with another person. To hand work in, students can export it as a report instead, or you can simply share the web address of a simulator and tell them which parameters to set.

PDF and CSV export for lab reports

Each simulator can produce a report of the current state. The report lists the component, the parameters and the readings, and includes the scene and charts. Saving it as a PDF uses the browser's own print dialog, so the text stays selectable.

The readings can also be downloaded as a CSV file, with plain dot-decimal numbers so it opens correctly in any spreadsheet. For the motor simulators it also includes sampled speed and current over time. In the iOS and Android apps, exported files are passed to the system share sheet, so students can send them by email or save them to a drive.

A short habit that helps: ask students to note the preset and parameter values in their report, so you can reproduce their result in the simulator when marking.