Engineering Commons^™

A Multi-Agent Systems Approach For Analysis Of Stepping Stone Attacks, Marco Antonio Gamarra

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Stepping stone attacks are one of the most sophisticated cyber-attacks, in which attackers make a chain of compromised hosts to reach a victim target. In this Dissertation, an analytic model with Multi-Agent systems approach has been proposed to analyze the propagation of stepping stones attacks in dynamic vulnerability graphs. Because the vulnerability configuration in a network is inherently dynamic, in this Dissertation a biased min-consensus technique for dynamic graphs with fixed and switching topology is proposed as a distributed technique to calculate the most vulnerable path for stepping stones attacks in dynamic vulnerability graphs. We use min-plus algebra to analyze …

A Novel Power Sharing Control Method For Distributed Generators In Dc Networks, Christina James

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The power sharing control method is a desirable solution to integrate multiple renewable energy generators into the grid and to keep them working synchronously. Power sharing control between different distributed generators is an important consideration for the stabilized operation of the power grid network. In this thesis work, a novel method is used with the concept of droop control technique and is designed to control power from each individual generator in DC network particularly. The proposed power sharing control method can be widely applied to grid connected network and to islanded power grid network for obtaining high efficiency of power …

Identifiability Of Additive, Time-Varying Actuator And Sensor Faults By State Augmentation, Jason M. Upchurch

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Faults in dynamical systems can have serious safety and reliability implications. For example, actuator and sensor faults have been factors in past incidents and mishaps in many aerospace systems. A large body of research is devoted to developing methods to detect and identify actuator and sensor faults in such systems.

One fault detection and identification menthol employs state augmentation, whereby a set of time-varying faults of interest are modeled as outputs of exogenous linear, time-invariant systems and augmented to the state of the nominal system model. The resulting model represents the system dynamics due to a particular actuator-sensor fault configuration. …

Fault Detection System For Solar Tracking Applications, Hareen Sekhar Illa

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Oil, coal and natural gas reserves are being depleted faster than forecasted due to continued increase in demand for energy sources. We need, therefore, to develop renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydro power and tidal energy. In spite of having very high potential, harvesting solar energy has been a challenge because of the relatively low efficiency of solar cells. In the past few years different methods have been developed to increase the efficiency of the photovoltaic (PV) system: (I) improve the efficiency of solar cells (ill use a solar tracking system to increase the received solar …

The Tracking Performance Of Distributed Recoverable Flight Control Systems Subject To High Intensity Radiated Fields, Rui Wang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

It is known that high intensity radiated fields (HIRF) can produce upsets in digital electronics, and thereby degrade the performance of digital flight control systems. Such upsets, either from natural or man-made sources, can change data values on digital buses and memory and affect CPU instruction execution. HIRF environments are also known to trigger common-mode faults, affecting nearly-simultaneously multiple fault containment regions, and hence reducing the benefits of n-modular redundancy and other fault-tolerant computing techniques. Thus, it is important to develop models which describe the integration of the embedded digital system, where the control law is implemented, as well …

Fault-Injection Experiment For The Statistical Characterization Of Faults In Avionics Communication System, Amy M. Yates

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Since flight control systems perform safety-critical functions, it is important to understand the possible effects on the closed-loop dynamical system's performance caused by these faults. The purpose of this project is to design the software and hardware needed to add fault-injection and monitoring capabilities to ROBUS-2, a flight communication system. ROBUS-2 is the current version of the fault-tolerant computer communication system used by the Scalable Processor-Independent Design for Enhanced Reliability (SPIDER), a general-purpose fault-tolerant integrated modular architecture (IMA) developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. The major components of SPIDER include processing elements (PEs) to perform calculations, bus interface units …

A Robust Method To Detect Concealed Weapons, Anand Gone

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Concealed weapons detection is a large problem that is faced by the Police Department nowadays. There are many disasters caused by poor detection of the weapons. Since public safety is at risk there is a need to design an efficient detector that can detect the weapons hidden under the clothing. This thesis presents a novel method for detecting concealed weapons under clothing using image processing techniques. In this thesis IR imagery is used to capture an image which works on the principle of law of black body radiation. Image thresholding is performed on the captured data using Sauvola's adaptive thresholding …

Modeling And Stability Analysis Of Nonlinear Sampled-Data Systems With Embedded Recovery Algorithms, Heber Herencia-Zapana

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Computer control systems for safety critical systems are designed to be fault tolerant and reliable, however, soft errors triggered by harsh environments can affect the performance of these control systems. The soft errors of interest which occur randomly, are nondestructive and introduce a failure that lasts a random duration. To minimize the effect of these errors, safety critical systems with error recovery mechanisms are being investigated. The main goals of this dissertation are to develop modeling and analysis tools for sampled-data control systems that are implemented with such error recovery mechanisms. First, the mathematical model and the well-posedness of the …

Performance Of Adaptive Wireless Systems With Feedback, Sirisha Koduri

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Future generations of wireless systems will employ versatile transmitters and receivers based on software defined radios that are capable of adapting in response to changes in the operating environment to meet the specified quality of service requirements. In adaptive wireless systems, transmitters use feedback from the receiver to update characteristics of the transmitted signal to changing patterns of interference. In this thesis, the performance of transmitter adaptation algorithms with limited feedback and the system performance as a function in which the interference information is quantized for transmission over the feedback channel are analyzed. The results of this thesis were presented …

Mobius: An Omnidirectional Robotic Platform And Software Architecture For Network Teleoperation, Samuel Aaron Miller

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The following thesis presents the results of a project to develop and test an omnidirectional robotic system (hardware and software) at NASA Langley Research Center's Robotics and Intelligent Machines Lab. The impetus for the project was the unique capabilities of omnidirectional systems. Some of the many potential benefits these systems have include improved material-handling capabilities in constrained environments (such as might be found in extraterrestrial manned habitats), efficient camera-based vehicle teleoperation, and simplified route planning for autonomous robot operations.

The project's focus was to design, build, and test a system that used Mecanum wheels to achieve omnidirectional motion. In addition …

Analysis Of Error Recovery Effects On Digital Flight Control Systems, Arturo Tejada Ruiz

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Life-critical, real-time applications like flight-by-wire aircraft, rely on closed-loop digital control systems and fault-tolerant computer systems to reliably achieve the desired operation. The computer systems, however, may be affected by random hardware/software faults induced mainly by environmental conditions such as high intensity radiated fields (HIRF) and lightning. These harsh electromagnetic environments are known to induce common­ mode faults (CMF) in aircraft electronic systems, which disrupt fault-tolerant provisions and possibly affect the operation of the digital control system. Current flight-by-wire aircraft have computer systems that can neither detect CMF nor recover from them. New systems are under investigation that can recover …

Embedded Software Programming To Develop A Command Line User Interface For Monitoring And Debugging A Manually Driven Gas Regulator Control System, Syed N. Hyder

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents a complete embedded programming model and software codes for a command-line user interface for CONCOA's gas regulator control system. Control Corporation of America (CONCOA) manufactures high-pressure gas regulators, which mechanically control the pressure at their outlets. Since the control system is based on mechanical regulators, adding or stopping gas flow from the system can cause manifold fluctuation that could further cause the pressure to rise or fall with time. The main motivation for developing a command line user interface is to provide a centralized computer control to monitor and debug the gas regulator control system electronically by …

Studies Related To The Design And Implementation Of A Magnetic Suspension And Balance System, Syed Adeel Akhtar Jafri

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents studies related to the magnetic suspension and balance system (MSBS) of the Princeton/ONR High Reynolds Number Testing Facility (HRTF). The main motivation for developing the MSBS is to provide interference free aero/hydrodynamic testing of submersible models, which will lead to more accurate measurements. From the controls point of view, the main specification of the MSBS is to robustly control the position of a submersible model in five degrees of freedom (DOF), including three translational as well as pitching and yawing positions. The MSBS should not only regulate the submersible model's position but should also allow for small …

Newton Parameter Update Algorithm For Recurrent Neural Networks Applied To Adaptive System Identification And Control, Donald Allen Gates

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This paper shows that the combination of a second-order neural network parameter update algorithm and internal network feedback can be effectively used for adaptive, nonlinear, dynamical system identification and control. Adaptive neural identification and control algorithms are typically utilized for real-time applications where the rate of adaptation is often critical. A fast, adaptive network parameter update algorithm is presented.

Simulation results show that this algorithm is capable of quickly identifying and adapting to changes in system parameters, making it feasible to use for real-time control and fault accommodation applications.

Stability Analysis And Augmentation Of A Closed-Loop Computer Control System Subject To Electromagnetic Disturbances, Mustafa Doğan

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Most electronic and electrical equipment is not only a potential source of electromagnetic interference (EMI) but can also malfunction when exposed to certain levels of ambient EMI. This phenomena becomes more significant for digital control-computers automating the command and control performances in complex plants. Such EM disturbances can introduce transient signals on analog sensor and actuator lines, change data values on digital buses and in memory, or even produce logic changes in the CPU. The result of these so called computer upsets is the introduction of some degree of degradation in the quality of the control signal ranging from a …

Neural Generalized Predictive Control For Real-Time Control, Donald I. Soloway

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis a computationally efficient Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) algorithm is presented and implemented. The algorithm is more efficient than others because the number of iterations needed for convergence is significantly lower with Newton-Raphson. The main additional cost with Newton-Raphson algorithm is the calculation of the Hessian. This overhead is not a problem because of the reduced number of iterations, making the algorithm suitable for real-time control. For nonlinear control applications, a neural network is used as a dynamical system predictor leading to a Neural Generalized Predictive Control (NGPC) algorithm which is presented in detail in this thesis. An …

Text Independent Speaker Verification Using Binary-Pair Partitioned Neural Networks, Claude A. Norton Iii

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A method is presented for the application of binary-pair partitioned neural networks to the task of speaker verification. This technique is based on a previously developed neural network classifier for speaker identification.

The main focus of this research was the development and testing of the algorithms necessary to extend the binary-pair partitioning approach from speaker identification to speaker verification. The method is based on the development of a user profile which is obtained from discriminative data provided by the binary-pair partitioned neural networks.

Experimental results are provided which demonstrate the viability of this approach, using the TIMIT speech corpus for …

Comparison Of System Identification Techniques For The Dexterous Orbital Servicing System (Doss), Allan Terrence Morris

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The major contribution of system identification is the development of analytical models of a system. Many identification techniques can adequately describe the input and output map. One of the challenges of these techniques is to correctly infer from the measured data the characteristics of the individual, contributing components producing a more accurate system model.

In this thesis linear, dynamic, multivariable state-space models for three joints of the Dexterous Orbital Servicing System (DOSS) are identified. DOSS is a representative space station manipulator at the NASA Langley Research Center. The dynamic models of the manipulator will first be estimated by applying nonparametric …

Dynamic Task Scheduling For The Atamm Multicomputer Operating System Using Embedded Firmware On Microcontrollers, Sudhir Sastry

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A dynamic task scheduling strategy for the distributed processing of large grain dataflow algorithms using embedded firmware on an ATAMM testbed consisting of interconnected microcontrollers is presented in this thesis. The ODU/NASA developed Algorithm to Architecture Mapping Model, ATAMM, uses marked graph models to specify data and control flow for the execution of iterative, deterministic large grain dataflow algorithms in a multicomputing environment. The testbed consists of a bank of four 68HC11 microcontrollers that communicate over a token bus. The token bus arbitration scheme used is contention free and well suited for real-time computing applications. The execution of data flow …

Design And Implementation Of Fuzzy Logic Controllers, Osama A. Abihana

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The main objectives of our research are to present a self-contained overview of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic, develop a methodology for control system design using fuzzy logic controllers, and to design and implement a fuzzy logic controller for a real system. In this thesis we first present the fundamental concepts of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic. Fuzzy sets and basic fuzzy operations are defined. In addition, for control systems, it is important to understand the concepts of linguistic variables, linguistic values, term sets, fuzzy rule base, inference methods, and defuzzification methods. Second, we introduce a four-step fuzzy logic control …

Study Of Direct Semiconductor Materials For An Optically Controlled Switch, Sung Taek Ko

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A model for a bulk GaAs photoconductive switch has been developed and solved to determine the performance of the device in closing and opening switch applications. The GaAs material has been characterized by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). Two electron traps (EL2 and EL5) and one hole trap (Cu_B} have been detected and were included in the model. Simulation studies are performed on several GaAs switch systems composed of different combinations and density of deep levels to investigate the influence of deep traps in a photoconductive switch system. The electron occupancy of each deep trap is traced in …

Design Of Multivariable Feedback Control Systems Via Spectral Assignment, Mohsen Marefat

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

During the past 15 year s significant advances have been made towards developing viable synthesis- techniques for multivariable feedback control systems. The entire aggregate of this theoretical work has been reviewed and consolidated. Diverse notations have been standardized into a single system. A two-step design philosophy for spectral assignment has been developed which first meets stability and time response requirements by assigning eigenvalues and eigenvector s and then provides for attainment of secondary objectives without significant deviation from the initial assignment. Finally, a computer-aided design package has been created to streamline the process of mathematical calculation and to allow users …

Design Of Multivariable Feedback Control Systems Via Spectral Assignment Using Reduced-Order Models And Reduced-Order Observers, Preston Ivanhoe Carraway Iii

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The feasibility of using reduced-order models and reduced-order observers with eigenvalue/eigenvector assignment procedures is investigated. A review of spectral assignment synthesis procedures is presented. Then, a reduced-order model which retains essential system characteristics is formulated. A constant state feedback matrix which assigns desired closed loop eigenvalues and approximates specified closed loop eigenvectors is calculated for the reduced-order model. It is shown that the eigenvalue and eigenvector assignments made in the reduced order system are retained when the feedback matrix is implemented about the full order system. In addition, those modes and associated eigenvectors which are not included in the reduced-order …

Simulation And Analysis Of A Second-Order System With An Added Finite Pole And/Or Zero, William Robert Bodwell

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An original system whose transfer functions consist of two infinite zeros and two finite poles is modified by the addition of a finite pole and/or finite zero. Statespace techniques are used to obtain equations for simulating the transfer functions on both analog and digital computers. Sample cases were selected and simulated to demonstrate the various types of responses. Analysis of the computer results and mathematical analysis of the transfer functions provide nomographs for estimating the response of the systems to a step-input and methods for obtaining equivalent pole/zero configurations.