Engineering Commons^™

A Wearable Mechatronic Device For Hand Tremor Monitoring And Suppression: Development And Evaluation, Yue Zhou

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tremor, one of the most disabling symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), significantly affects the quality of life of the individuals who suffer from it. These people live with difficulties with fine motor tasks, such as eating and writing, and suffer from social embarrassment. Traditional medicines are often ineffective, and surgery is highly invasive and risky. The emergence of wearable technology facilitates an externally worn mechatronic tremor suppression device as a potential alternative approach for tremor management. However, no device has been developed for the suppression of finger tremor that has been validated on a human.

It has been reported in …

Demand-Side Load Management Using Single-Phase Residential Static Var Compensators, Muhammad Kamran Latif

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Distribution systems are going through a structural transformation from being radially-operated simple systems to becoming more complex networks to operate in the presence of the distributed energy resources (DERs) with significant levels of penetration. It is predicted that the share of electricity generation from DERs will keep increasing as the world is moving away from the power generation involving carbon-emission and towards cleaner energy sources such as solar, wind, and biofuels. However, the unstable behavior of the renewables resources presents challenges to the already existing distribution systems. One such problem is when the distribution feeder experience variable power supply due …

Fractional Order State Feedback Control For Improved Lateral Stability Of Semi-Autonomous Commercial Heavy Vehicles, Rasheed Mazen Abdulkader

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the growing development of autonomous and semi-autonomous large commercial heavy vehicles, the lateral stability control of articulated vehicles have caught the attention of researchers recently. Active vehicle front steering (AFS) can enhance the handling performance and stability of articulated vehicles for an emergency highway maneuver scenario. However, with large vehicles such tractor-trailers, the system becomes more complex to control and there is an increased occurrence of instabilities. This research investigates a new control scheme based on fractional calculus as a technique that ensures lateral stability of articulated large heavy vehicles during evasive highway maneuvering scenarios. The control method is …

Design, Modeling And Control Of A Two-Wheel Balancing Robot Driven By Bldc Motors, Charles T. Refvem

Master's Theses

The focus of this document is on the design, modeling, and control of a self-balancing two wheel robot, hereafter referred to as the balance bot, driven by independent brushless DC (BLDC) motors. The balance bot frame is composed of stacked layers allowing a lightweight, modular, and rigid mechanical design. The robot is actuated by a pair of brushless DC motors equipped with Hall effect sensors and encoders allowing determination of the angle and angular velocity of each wheel. Absolute orientation measurement is accomplished using a full 9-axis IMU consisting of a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer, and a 3-axis magnetometer. …

Vision-Based Autonomous Tracking Of A Non-Cooperative Mobile Robot By A Low-Cost Quadrotor Vehicle, Cheikhna Ahmed Tidiane Sy

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The goal of this thesis is the detection and tracking of a ground vehicle, in particular a car-like robot, by a quadrotor. The first challenge to address in any pursuit or tracking scenario is the detection and unique identification of the target. From this first challenge, comes the need to precisely localize the target in a coordinate system that is common to the tracking and tracked vehicles. In most real-life scenarios, the tracked vehicle does not directly communicate information such as its position to the tracking one. From this fact, arises a non-cooperative constraint problem. The autonomous tracking aspect of …

Desarrollo De Un Juguete Educativo Armable, Que Permita El Aprendizaje Correcto Del Cepillado Dental, Jhon Alejandro Celis Méndez, Luis Arturo Penagos Gómez

Ingeniería en Automatización

El presente documento se constituye como la memoria técnica y a su vez la guía para el entendimiento del prototipo denominado por los autores como “ODONTODRILO”, el cual surge a partir del proyecto titulado “Desarrollo de un juguete educativo armable, que permita el aprendizaje correcto del cepillado dental”. En este sentido, se tiene que el proyecto consistió en diseñar, fabricar e implementar un juguete educativo armable, que permita el aprendizaje correcto del cepillado dental en niños de temprana edad. A partir de la necesidad citada, se definió un marco metodológico que consiste en tres etapas, la primera de ellas se …

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 …

An Application Of Sliding Mode Control To Model-Based Reinforcement Learning, Aaron Thomas Parisi

Master's Theses

The state-of-art model-free reinforcement learning algorithms can generate admissible controls for complicated systems with no prior knowledge of the system dynamics, so long as sufficient (oftentimes millions) of samples are available from the environ- ment. On the other hand, model-based reinforcement learning approaches seek to leverage known optimal or robust control to reinforcement learning tasks by mod- elling the system dynamics and applying well established control algorithms to the system model. Sliding-mode controllers are robust to system disturbance and modelling errors, and have been widely used for high-order nonlinear system control. This thesis studies the application of sliding mode control …

Utilizing Trajectory Optimization In The Training Of Neural Network Controllers, Nicholas Kimball

Master's Theses

Applying reinforcement learning to control systems enables the use of machine learning to develop elegant and efficient control laws. Coupled with the representational power of neural networks, reinforcement learning algorithms can learn complex policies that can be difficult to emulate using traditional control system design approaches. In this thesis, three different model-free reinforcement learning algorithms, including Monte Carlo Control, REINFORCE with baseline, and Guided Policy Search are compared in simulated, continuous action-space environments. The results show that the Guided Policy Search algorithm is able to learn a desired control policy much faster than the other algorithms. In the inverted pendulum …

A Legal Study On Challenges Confronted By Unmanned Ships, Minhe Li

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Design And Analysis Of Modular Axial Flux Switched Reluctance Motor, Rochak Shiwakoti

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a new modular structure of the axial flux Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM). The design consists of four stator disks with each adjacent disk rotated 30 degrees apart and four rotor disks connected to a common shaft. The proposed design aims to reduce the unwanted radial force, mitigate the torque ripple, and improve the efficiency. The modular structure distributes the radial force and torque strokes along the axial length of the motor, potentially damping the torque pulsation. In addition, the modular structure would deliver the rating power at a lower current level, reducing the overall ohmic loss. Moreover, …

Design Optimization, Analysis, And Control Of Walking Robots, Wankun Sirichotiyakul

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Passive dynamic walking refers to the dynamical behavior of mechanical devices that are able to naturally walk down a shallow slope in a stable manner, without using actuation or sensing of any kind. Such devices can attain motions that are remarkably human-like by purely exploiting their natural dynamics. This suggests that passive dynamic walking machines can be used to model and study human locomotion; however, there are two major limitations: they can be difficult to design, and they cannot walk on level ground or uphill without some kind of actuation.

This thesis presents a mechanism design optimization framework that allows …

Swarm Behavior To Mitigate Rebound In Air Conditioning Demand Response Events, Jason Yasuto Kuwada

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Thermostatically Controlled Loads (TCLs) have shown great potential for Demand Response (DR) events. However, it has been commonly seen that DR events using TCLs may cause demand rebound, especially in homogeneous populations. To further explore the potential for DR events, as well as the negative effects, a stability and resilience analysis were performed on multiple populations and verified with agent based modeling simulations.

At the core of this study is an added thermostat criterion created from the combination of a proportional gain and the average compressor operating state of neighboring TCLs. Where DR events in TCLs are commonly controlled by …

Adaptive Physical Human-Robot Interaction (Phri) With A Robotic Nursing Assistant., Sumit Kumar Das

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, more and more robots are being investigated for future applications in health-care. For instance, in nursing assistance, seamless Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is very important for sharing workspaces and workloads between medical staff, patients, and robots. In this thesis we introduce a novel robot - the Adaptive Robot Nursing Assistant (ARNA) and its underlying components. ARNA has been designed specifically to assist nurses with day-to-day tasks such as walking patients, pick-and-place item retrieval, and routine patient health monitoring. An adaptive HRI in nursing applications creates a positive user experience, increase nurse productivity and task completion rates, as reported by experimentation …

Formally Designing And Implementing Cyber Security Mechanisms In Industrial Control Networks., Mehdi Sabraoui

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes progress in the state-of-the-art for developing and deploying formally verified cyber security devices in industrial control networks. It begins by detailing the unique struggles that are faced in industrial control networks and why concepts and technologies developed for securing traditional networks might not be appropriate. It uses these unique struggles and examples of contemporary cyber-attacks targeting control systems to argue that progress in securing control systems is best met with formal verification of systems, their specifications, and their security properties. This dissertation then presents a development process and identifies two technologies, TLA+ and seL4, that can be …

Hardware Implementation Of Boost Power Factor Correction Converter., Shruti Motilal Deore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays, there has been an increasing demand of unity power factor in electrical power sector. Due to the nonlinear nature of load equipment, switching devices, source voltage and current are out of phase with each other. Many power converters topologies are used for the power factor correction. The boost converter with controller is most common for power factor correction circuits. The controller objective is to maintain the output voltage regulation and input current tracking with source voltage. The voltage ripple present due to the ac component of the current tracking objective, hence instead of ignoring that ripple, it is used …

Backstepping Control And Transformation Of Multi-Input Multi-Output Affine Nonlinear Systems Into A Strict Feedback Form, Khalid Salim D. Alharbi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents an improved method for controlling multi-input multi-output affine nonlinear systems. A method based on Lie derivatives of the system's outputs is proposed to transform the system into an equivalent strict feedback form. This enables using backstepping control approaches based on Lyapunov stability and integrator backstepping theory to be applied. The geometrical coordinate transformation of multi-input multi-output affine nonlinear systems into strict feedback form has not been detailed in previous publications. In this research, a new approach is presented that extends the transformation process of single-input single-output nonlinear. A general algorithm of the transformation process is formulated. The …

Verification Of Stochastic Reach-Avoid Using Rkhs Embeddings, Adam J. Thorpe

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A solution to the terminal-hitting and first-hitting stochastic reach-avoid problem for a Markov control process is presented. This solution takes advantage of a nonparametric representation of the stochastic kernel as a conditional distribution embedding within a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). Because the disturbance is modeled as a data-driven stochastic process, this representation avoids intractable integrals in the dynamic recursion of the reach-avoid problem since the expectations can be calculated as an inner product within the RKHS. An example using a high-dimensional chain of integrators is presented, as well as for Clohessy-Wiltshire-Hill (CWH) dynamics.

Nonlinear Attitude And Pose Filters With Superior Convergence Properties, Hashim Abdellah Hashim Mohamed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis, several deterministic and stochastic attitude filtering solutions on the special orthogonal group SO(3) are proposed. Firstly, the attitude estimation problem is approached on the basis of nonlinear deterministic filters on SO(3) with guaranteed transient and steady-state measures. The second solution to the attitude estimation problem considers nonlinear stochastic filters on SO(3) with superior convergence properties with two filters being developed in the sense of Ito, and one in the sense of Stratonovich.

This thesis also presents several deterministic and stochastic pose filtering solutions developed on the special Euclidean group SE(3). The first solution includes two nonlinear deterministic …

Analysis, Design And Demonstration Of Control Systems Against Insider Attacks In Cyber-Physical Systems, Xirong Ning

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation aims to address the security issues of insider cyber-physical attacks and provide a defense-in-depth attack-resilient control system approach for cyber-physical systems.

Firstly, security analysis for cyber-physical systems is investigated to identify potential risks and potential security enhancements. Vulnerabilities of the system and existing security solutions, including attack prevention, attack detection and attack mitigation strategies are analyzed.

Subsequently, a methodology to analyze and mathematically characterize insider attacks is developed. An attack pattern is introduced to represent key features in an insider cyber-physical attack, which includes attack goals, resources, constraints, modes, as well as probable attack paths. Patterns for such …

System Identification Based On Errors-In-Variables System Models, Hyundeok Kang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We study the identification problem for errors-in-variables (EIV) systems. Such an EIV model assumes that the measurement data at both input and output of the system involve corrupting noises. The least square (LS) algorithm has been widely used in this area. However, it results in biased estimates for the EIV-based system identification. In contrast, the total least squares (TLS) algorithm is unbiased, which is now well-known, and has been effective for estimating the system parameters in the EIV system identification.

In this dissertation, we first show that the TLS algorithm computes the approximate maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of the system …

A Low-Cost Experimental Testbed For Multi-Agent System Coordination Control, Victor Fernandez-Kim

LSU Master's Theses

A multi-agent system can be defined as a coordinated network of mobile, physical agents that execute complex tasks beyond their individual capabilities. Observations of biological multi-agent systems in nature reveal that these ``super-organisms” accomplish large scale tasks by leveraging the inherent advantages of a coordinated group. With this in mind, such systems have the potential to positively impact a wide variety of engineering applications (e.g. surveillance, self-driving cars, and mobile sensor networks). The current state of research in the area of multi-agent systems is quickly evolving from the theoretical development of coordination control algorithms and their computer simulations to experimental …

Weight Controlled Electric Skateboard, Zachary Barram, Carson Bertozzi, Vishnu Dodballapur

Computer Engineering

Technology and the way that humans interact is becoming more vital and omnipresent with every passing day. However, human interface device designers suffer from the increasingly popular “designed for me or people like me” syndrome. This design philosophy inherently limits accessibility and usability of technology to those like the designer. This places severe limits of usability to those who are not fully able as well as leaves non-traditional human interface devices unexplored. This project set out to explore a previously uncharted human interface device, on an electric skateboard, and compare it send user experience with industry leading human interface devices.

Flight Director Embedded System And Mobile Ios Application, Anthony Epshteyn

Computer Engineering

For my senior project, I was asked to assist an Aerospace Engineering professor with the design of his new glider. He needed to create a flight director-type instrument so that his pilot could get the aircraft’s positional data during flight. This positional data came from a powerful sensor mounted on the fuselage. To interface with the sensor, I created an embedded system comprised of a ESP32 micro-controller communicating with the sensor via UART/RS-232. The micro-controller was mounted on a breadboard and connected to the sensor via jumper wires. The ESP32 featured a Bluetooth chip that allowed for communication using the …

Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle Controller With Pid Stability Regulation, Christian E. Aguirre

Electrical Engineering

The earth’s oceans and rivers remain widely unexplored. Hobbyists and companies across the globe invest money and resources into remotely operated vehicles (ROV) to further expand underwater knowledge. Each ROV includes a controller that operates motors and monitors other crucial system vitals. The ROV Controller project makes the process of designing an ROV simpler and more affordable by providing a multi-purpose programmable controller.

The ROV controller features programmable digital inputs/outputs and analog inputs. The controller processes control signals from analog joysticks, digital signals from a gyroscope and utilizes a MUX to expand the analog input capabilities of the Arduino. The …

Viewpoint Optimization For Autonomous Strawberry Harvesting With Deep Reinforcement Learning, Jonathon J. Sather

Master's Theses

Autonomous harvesting may provide a viable solution to mounting labor pressures in the United States' strawberry industry. However, due to bottlenecks in machine perception and economic viability, a profitable and commercially adopted strawberry harvesting system remains elusive. In this research, we explore the feasibility of using deep reinforcement learning to overcome these bottlenecks and develop a practical algorithm to address the sub-objective of viewpoint optimization, or the development of a control policy to direct a camera to favorable vantage points for autonomous harvesting. We evaluate the algorithm's performance in a custom, open-source simulated environment and observe affirmative results. Our trained …

Design And Control Of Fiber Encapsulation Additive Manufacturing, Matt Saari

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

This work presents the design, development, and analysis of the Fiber Encapsulation Additive Manufacturing (FEAM) system developed at the Laboratory for Additive Manufacturing Robotics \& Automation at the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University. The innovation introduced by FEAM is the ability to insert a continuous fiber of different material into the flowing extrudate. Correctly positioning the fiber feed inside the extrudate while turning the fiber in arbitrary directions is a critical aspect of the technology. This will allow for the full exploitation of the capabilities of the FEAM technology to produce robotic components that actuate and sense. …

Local And Central Controllers For Microgrids, Edgar Ariel Escala Calame

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this thesis is to serve as a guide, so readers are able to learn about microgrids and to design simple controllers for different AC microgrid applications. In addition, this thesis has the objective to provide examples of simulation cases for the hierarchical structure of a basic AC microgrid which can be used as a foundation to build upon, and achieve more complex microgrid structures as well as more sophisticated power-converter control techniques.

To achieve these objectives, the modeling of voltage source converters and control design in the z-domain are presented. Moreover, the implementation and transient analysis …

Autonomous Boat Control Software Design Using Model-Based Systems Engineering, Noah Nelson

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

While there is considerable buzz about self-driving cars, self-driving boats are actually more fully developed. The Boat Hardware Control Platform Team was tasked with developing a fleet of small autonomous boats that travel to a destination while avoiding obstacles and staying in formation. The author’s specific task was to develop software used by the boats to detect obstacles and plan a route to a destination. This was done using a method inspired by self-driving cars, which shows promise, but is still being tested at the time of writing. The entire project incorporated model-based systems engineering, which proved to be useful.

Real-Time Fault Detection And Reconfiguration Of A Three-Phase Electric Motor Drive, Danyal Mohammadi

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Variable-frequency drives (VFDs) are widely used for control of electrical machines such as induction motors (IMs) or permanent-magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs). Similar to other electrical devices, these drives are subject to failure. Several types of faults are associated with VFDs. For instance, faults such as an open-switch fault, a short-circuit switch fault are the two common faults in VFDs. These faults can yield catastrophic consequences if proper remedial action is not taken.

A unique remedial topology for the post-fault period and a new pulse width modulation (PWM) strategy are proposed so that not only the motor drive can continue the …