Digital Commons Network^™

Exploration Of Neural Structures For Dynamic System Control, Scott Frederick Hansen

Masters Theses

Biological neural systems are powerful mechanisms for controlling biological sys- tems. While the complexity of biological neural networks makes exact simulation intractable, several key aspects lend themselves to implementation on computational systems.

This thesis constructs a discrete event neural network simulation that implements aspects of biological neural networks. A combined genetic programming/simulated annealing approach is utilized to design network structures that function as regulators for continuous time dynamic systems in the presence of process noise when simulated using a discrete event neural simulation.

Methods of constructing such networks are analyzed including examination of the final network structure and the algorithm …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers (Vacnf) As Amperometric Biosensors On A Silicon-Compatible Platform, Kimberly Caitlin Macarthur

Masters Theses

This thesis presents fabrication, characterization and initial results of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNF)-based electrodes for use as electrochemical sensors. VACNFs are nanostructures that can be fabricated to the desired specifications using a plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition process and are ideal candidates for electrode material because of their excellent electrical and structural properties. The first step of the fabrication of VACNFs on silicon substrates involved photolithography to pattern the interconnects and the catalysts (nickel dots). VACNFs were then grown on silicon substrates from the nickel catalysts, whose size determines the growth of a single nanofiber or a forest of nanofibers. This …

Wireless Power Transfer System With Power Factor Correction For Electric Vehicles, Michael Christopher Pickelsimer

Masters Theses

Wireless power transfer is currently a popular topic of research. Because there are no mechanical connections between the transmitter and receiver, power can be transferred whenever a system is within range of a transmitter. Coil-to-coil efficiencies of over 95% at multiple kW have been recorded by researchers, proving that this type of charger has the potential to be a viable charging solution. Electric vehicles are a primary target for this technology because wireless power transfer systems may be able to provide power both while the vehicle is stationary or while in motion.

Despite the promises of high efficiency and high …

Modeling And Control Of Single Phase Grid-Tie Converters, Bradford Christopher Trento

Masters Theses

The penetration of renewable energy into the electric utility grid is growing worldwide. At the heart of these renewable sources is the power electronic systems used to convert the renewable source to an output that can be connected to the grid. In recent years, there has been a great deal of work in designing converters for grid-tie applications and is continuing to grow. With recent smart grid activities, it is not likely that this work will cease in the short term. Most of the recent research is in ancillary services that the converter can offer in addition to the normal …

A Memory Controller For Fpga Applications, Bryan Jacob Hunter

Masters Theses

As designers and researchers strive to achieve higher performance, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) become an increasingly attractive solution. As coprocessors, FPGAs can provide application specific acceleration that cannot be matched by modern processors. Most of these applications will make use of large data sets, so achieving acceleration will require a capable interface to this data. The research in this thesis describes the design of a memory controller that is both efficient and flexible for FPGA applications requiring floating point operations. In particular, the benefits of certain design choices are explored, including: scalability, memory caching, and configurable precision. Results are given …

Analog Testing, Characterization, And Low-Order Model Extraction Using Labview Automation, Jeremy Brantley

Masters Theses

Testing circuits is a hands-on, time intensive process; it is also one of the most important steps in a design cycle. The most well designed circuit is only an academic exercise if it does not work in real life. The time and cost associated with bench level testing pales in comparison to testing for extreme environments. Testing in extreme heat, cold or radiation introduces a large set of challenges that are rarely encountered in standard bench level testing. The two most pronounced problems are the inaccessibility of the devices under test and time constraints, both short and protracted. Due to …

Multi-Tag Access For A High Precision Ultra-Wideband Localization System, Nathan Carl Rowe

Masters Theses

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless positioning systems have many advantages for track- ing and locating items in indoor environments. Surgical navigation and industrial process control are potential applications for high accuracy UWB localization systems with millimeter or sub-millimeter accuracy. I present improvements made to an existing high accuracy, multi-tag, UWB localization system. The goal of this thesis was to improve the multi-tag performance of this system while maintaining the high localization accuracy, and to utilize the UWB system for digital communications allowing the existing narrowband 2.4 GHz transceiver to be eliminated.

This thesis presents a proof-of-concept for a multi-tag, UWB localization system …

A Gps-Based Mobility Power Model For Military Vehicle Applications, George William Bozdech

Masters Theses

In recent years, military vehicles have been equipped with hybrid, diesel-electric drives to improve fuel efficiency and stealth capabilities. These vehicles require an accurate estimate of the power duty cycles during distinct operating conditions. To meet this demand, a GPS-based mobility power and duty cycle analysis is one approach to predict the power requirements of on-road and off-road vehicles. The dynamic vehicle parameters needed to estimate the forces developed during locomotion are determined from the GPS tracking data, and these forces include the following: the motion resistance, gravitational, linear inertia, rotational inertia, and aerodynamic drag. The motion resistance force generated …

Design, Implementation, And Analysis Of A Time Of Arrival Measurement System For Rotating Machinery, Bryan Will Hayes

Masters Theses

The Non-contact Stress Measurement System (NSMS) acquires critical time of arrival data from multiple optical probes viewing a rotating piece of machinery, such as blades on a turbine engine rotor. The signal from each probe must be converted from light energy to an electrical signal, conditioned, and timed by a high speed counter to measure the time of arrival of the rotating machinery. This thesis describes, in detail, the design and analysis of the photo-detector electronics, analog signal conditioning electronics, and the timing electronics utilized in measuring the time of arrival. To measure the time of arrival with precision, the …

Power Aware Computing On Gpus, Kiran Kumar Kasichayanula

Masters Theses

Energy and power density concerns in modern processors have led to significant computer architecture research efforts in power-aware and temperature-aware computing. With power dissipation becoming an increasingly vexing problem, power analysis of Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) and its components has become crucial for hardware and software system design. Here, we describe our technique for a coordinated measurement approach that combines real total power measurement and per-component power estimation. To identify power consumption accurately, we introduce the Activity-based Model for GPUs (AMG), from which we identify activity factors and power for microarchitectures on GPUs that will help in analyzing power tradeoffs …