Engineering Commons^™

Cloudbots: Autonomous Atmospheric Explorers, Akash Binoj

Honors Scholar Theses

The CloudBot is an autonomous weather balloon that operates on the principle of variable buoyancy to ascend and descend in the atmosphere. This project aims to develop a device that will collect atmospheric measurements and communicate them mid-flight. The apparatus consists of a helium-filled balloon, the robotic payload, and an air cell. The fixed-volume helium balloon at the top provides an upwards buoyancy force, while the air cell at the bottom can hold a variable amount of pressure to adjust the weight of the CloudBot. By doing so, it is able to travel in storm conditions and collect valuable atmospheric …

Path Planning With Deep Neural Networks, Paul Simmerling, Brendan Sayers, Paulo Alcantara Silva

Honors Scholar Theses

This report will cover the work and plans of the ECE 2107 Senior design team. The goal of the project is to design and build a fully autonomous self-driving car. This car will have a complete sensor suite including LIDAR, an IMU, a camera, and encoders. It will be based on a multi-level system where the highest level uses a neural network for advanced signal processing and analysis. The current state of the project is discussed as well as the final results. Project management and other constraints will be briefly investigated. This team is building a self driving car testbed …

Machine Learning-Based Recognition On Crowdsourced Food Images, Aditya Kulkarni

Honors Scholar Theses

With nearly a third of the world’s population suffering from food-induced chronic diseases such as obesity, the role of food in community health is required now more than ever. While current research underscores food proximity and density, there is a dearth in regard to its nutrition and quality. However, recent research in geospatial data collection and analysis as well as intelligent deep learning will help us study this further.

Employing the efficiency and interconnection of computer vision and geospatial technology, we want to study whether healthy food in the community is attainable. Specifically, with the help of deep learning in …

Evaluating Driving Performance Of A Novel Behavior Planning Model On Connected Autonomous Vehicles, Keyur Shah

Honors Scholar Theses

Many current algorithms and approaches in autonomous driving attempt to solve the "trajectory generation" or "trajectory following” problems: given a target behavior (e.g. stay in the current lane at the speed limit or change lane), what trajectory should the vehicle follow, and what inputs should the driving agent apply to the throttle and brake to achieve this trajectory? In this work, we instead focus on the “behavior planning” problem—specifically, should an autonomous vehicle change lane or keep lane given the current state of the system?

In addition, current theory mainly focuses on single-vehicle systems, where vehicles do not communicate with …

Depressiongnn: Depression Prediction Using Graph Neural Network On Smartphone And Wearable Sensors, Param Bidja

Honors Scholar Theses

Depression prediction is a complicated classification problem because depression diagnosis involves many different social, physical, and mental signals. Traditional classification algorithms can only reach an accuracy of no more than 70% given the complexities of depression. However, a novel approach using Graph Neural Networks (GNN) can be used to reach over 80% accuracy, if a graph can represent the depression data set to capture differentiating features. Building such a graph requires 1) the definition of node features, which must be highly correlated with depression, and 2) the definition for edge metrics, which must also be highly correlated with depression. In …

Security Analysis Of The Uconn Husky One Card, Trevor Phillips

Honors Scholar Theses

The “Husky One Card” is the name given to student IDs at the University of Connecticut. It can identify students, faculty, and staff in a variety of situations. The One Card is used for meal plans, Husky Bucks (an equivalent of money, but valid only in the Storrs area), residence hall/ university facility access, and student health services. The current Husky One Card consists of a picture identification on the front and a standard 1-dimensional barcode and 3-track magnetic strip on the back.

The goal of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of cloning Husky One Cards, the ease …

Development Of The Codebase For Ece Design: Smartwatch Device And App For Continuous Glucose Monitoring, Keelin J. Becker-Wheeler

Honors Scholar Theses

This honors thesis describes the development of the codebase for the 2018 University of Connecticut ECE Senior Design project titled "Smartwatch Device and App for Continuous Glucose Monitoring''. The goal for the senior design project is to remove the dependencies imposed by a previously-designed prototype of a glucose-monitoring smartwatch, by creating a new custom device without those dependencies. Development of the new codebase involves splitting the tasks of an Arduino codebase into a number of logical components that are then implemented in C. This new codebase makes substantial improvements to the overall program structure and organization, as well as numerous …

Influence Of Personality On Emotional Contagion Through Social Media, Theodore T. Jensen

Honors Scholar Theses

The rapid growth of computers and computing technologies in the recent past has led to dramatic changes in modern social interactions. Connectivity through the internet and social networking sites is a massive part of people's lives, with younger generations learning to interact more and more through these means. It is necessary to recognize the emotional influence of these forms of communication- their influence on mental health will grow as they become a larger part of the social fabric. Facebook and other social media have been shown to be a form of emotional contagion; emotional states can be transferred from one …

Presentation On Evaluating The Creation And Preservation Challenges Of Photogrammetry-Based 3d Models, Michael J. Bennett

UConn Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Creation And Preservation Challenges Of Photogrammetry-Based 3d Models, Michael J. Bennett

Published Works

Though the roots of photogrammetry can be traced back to photography’s earliest days, only recent advances in both digital technology and software applications have put the possibilities of 3D modeling from 2D source images in the hands of the greater cultural heritage community. The possibilities of such 3D digital rendering are many. With these possibilities come unique digital preservation challenges. This study explores basic close-range photogrammetry as applied to sample archival objects. Additionally, the latest BagIt and ZIP-based bundling formats along with repository-based solutions are also surveyed as potential 3D data management and archiving aggregators for resulting 3D models.

Design And Development Of Two Component Hydrogel Ejector For Three-Dimensional Cell Growth, Thomas Dunkle, Jessica Deschamps, Connie Dam

Honors Scholar Theses

Hydrogels are useful in wound healing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering applications, but the available methods of injecting them quickly and noninvasively are limited. The medical industry does not yet have access to an all-purpose device that can quickly synthesize hydrogels of different shapes and sizes. Many synthesis procedures that have been developed result in the formation of amorphous hydrogels. While generally useful, amorphous hydrogels exhibit limited capability in tissue engineering applications, especially due to their viscous properties. This endeavor aims to modulate the appropriate gelation parameters, optimize the injection process, and create a prototype that allows for the extrusion …

Design, Programming, And User-Experience, Kaila G. Manca

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis is a culmination of my individualized major in Human-Computer Interaction. As such, it showcases my knowledge of design, computer engineering, user-experience research, and puts into practice my background in psychology, com- munications, and neuroscience.

I provided full-service design and development for a web application to be used by the Digital Media and Design Department and their students.This process involved several iterations of user-experience research, testing, concepting, branding and strategy, ideation, and design. It lead to two products.

The first product is full-scale development and optimization of the web appli- cation.The web application adheres to best practices. It was …

Efficient Algorithms For Improving The Accuracy In Motifs Prediction, Jerlin C. Merlin

Master's Theses

Analysis of sequence homology has always played a major role in the understanding of biological factors such as protein domain identification, gene product relationships, and gene function determination. Short contiguous protein sequences that are conserved across proteins provide important information about such factors, and are of at most 15 residues in length. These segments of proteins are known as minimotifs. Identifying minimotifs has been of much use in the formulation of the hypothesis about the biological functions that otherwise might be uncharacterized. Mechanisms of motif predictions such as Minimotif Miner are widely used for predicting minimotifs. However, due to the …

Active Storage And Ssd Caching In An Object Storage Environment, Michael T. Runde

Master's Theses

The advancing performance and lowering costs required to implement additional processing power on system peripherals such as disk drives are increasingly allowing additional computing ability to be located directly on individual drives. Active Storage attempts to take advantage of this excess by moving some computationally intensive applications directly to the disk drives. This can remove the bottlenecks seen through interconnects between the drives and the CPU of an initiating system as well as remove the need for systems to handle these applications.

The contributions of this thesis are in two areas. The first is the development of a framework designed …

Presentation On Optimized Still Image Batch Processing Of Special Collections Bound Monographs And Manuscripts Using Dng, Jpeg 2000, And Embedded Xmp Metadata, Michael J. Bennett

UConn Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Optimized Still Image Batch Processing Of Special Collections Bound Monographs And Manuscripts Using Dng, Jpeg 2000, And Embedded Xmp Metadata, Michael J. Bennett

Published Works

Batch still image processing is examined in the context of operational bound monographs and manuscripts reformatting. The scaling of overall workflows through the flexible use of Lightroom, Photoshop, VueScan, and Jhove on parametrically-edited raw DNG and batch-rendered JPEG 2000 files is surveyed. Potential gains in processing efficiency, in comprehensive device data capture and preservation, in adaptable master image repurposing capabilities, and in the smoother growth of the required large-scale digital storage capacities that surround such operational conversions are considered.

The Uconn Vpc: A Collaborative Story About Desktop Virtualization, Tony Molloy, Jeremy Pollack, Ed Swindelles

UConn Library Presentations

The UConn vPC is a collaborative IT project among the UConn School of Business, the School of Engineering, and the University Libraries. The project delivered virtual desktops to UConn students beginning the fall semester of 2011. Students now have access to UConn-licensed applications from their PCs, Macs, and mobile devices from anywhere in the world where they have Internet access. This session discusses both the technology behind the service and the collaboration between the academic units that built a scalable, centralized service. An overview of the service can be found at http://vpc.uconn.edu.

Computational Modeling For Transportation Network Security, Sherif A. Tolba

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Accurate Estimation Of Isoform And Gene Expression Levels From Next Generation Sequencing Data, Marius Nicolae

Master's Theses

Massively parallel transcriptome sequencing is quickly replacing microarrays as the technology of choice for performing gene expression profiling due to its wider dynamic range and digital quantitation capabilities. However, accurate estimation of expression levels from sequencing data remains challenging due to the short read length delivered by current sequencing technologies and still poorly understood protocol- and technology-specific biases.

To date, two main transcriptome sequencing protocols have been proposed in the literature. The most commonly used one, referred to as RNA-Seq, generates short (single or paired) sequencing tags from the ends of randomly generated cDNA fragments. An alternative protocol, referred to …

Automation Of Orthodontic Wire Tester For Performing Three Point Bending Tests, Adithya Venkatesan

Master's Theses

Abstract

Understanding the biomechanical factors in orthodontics is important in order to improve the overall effectiveness of actual clinical treatment. An accurate method to study the threedimensional (3D) force systems and the resulting movements of teeth during orthodontic treatment is needed along with the understanding of the material properties of any orthodontic wire. Until recently, most of the orthodontic biomechanics literature was limited to twodimensional experimental studies. Recent advances in threedimensional computer modeling have also been developed but have been limited to the manual control of tooth movement. Overall, there is very little published evidence in the literature on the …

Public Transit Accessibility And Need Indices: Approaches For Measuring Service Gap, Sha Mamun

Master's Theses

The integration of transit needs into transit accessibility indexing is important for the evaluation of existing transportation systems and, service gaps, and for the identification of priority areas for future investments in transportation infrastructure. This thesis details an accessibility-based transit need indexing model that focuses on the necessity of evaluating transit needs and transit accessibility simultaneously. A need index is developed to identify areas in high need of public transit services using economic and socio-demographic information and a composite accessibility index is developed to identify levels of access to transit services and shortcomings in service provision. The need for transit …

Robust Region Tracking In Multi-Agent Systems Utilizing Sliding Mode Control: Theory And Applications, Mark Bacon

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a methodology to bring controlled agents within a moving region despite agent interaction dynamics, uncertain forces and parameter variation. The logic is derived from traditional Sliding Mode Control theory with an expanded boundary layer which allows position deviation from the region center to specified bounds. As an example of the utility of this control, multiple methods of herding (controlling passive agents by appropriate positioning of controlled agents) are presented.

Raw As Archival Still Image Format: A Consideration, Michael J. Bennett, F. Barry Wheeler

Published Works

Source materials like fine art, over-sized, fragile maps, and delicate artifacts have traditionally been digitally converted through the use of controlled lighting and high resolution scanners and camera backs. In addition the capture of items such as general and special collections bound monographs has recently grown both through consortial efforts like the Internet Archive's Open Content Alliance and locally at the individual institution level. These projects, in turn, have introduced increasingly higher resolution consumer-grade digital single lens reflex cameras or "DSLRs" as a significant part of the general cultural heritage digital conversion workflow. Central to the authors' discussion is the …

Presentation On Raw As Archival Still Image Format: A Consideration, Michael J. Bennett, F. Barry Wheeler

UConn Library Presentations

No abstract provided.