Engineering Commons^™

Hybrid Photovoltaic + Battery Energy System Grid-Tied Converter Capstone Review Thesis, Archer Taylor

University Honors Theses

Hybrid power converters present an opportunity to more efficiently harness energy from renewable sources. This paper reviews an undergraduate senior capstone project with the goal of designing and verifying the benefits of a hybrid converter, combining a photovoltaic array, battery energy system and a DC-AC inverter. The author recounts their experience throughout the 6 month period, detailing the research and design process followed by the prototype testing. Additionally, they reflect on the struggles of the capstone team and how to apply the learnings in the future.

Modeling, Simulation And Control Of Microrobots For The Microfactory., Zhong Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Future assembly technologies will involve higher levels of automation in order to satisfy increased microscale or nanoscale precision requirements. Traditionally, assembly using a top-down robotic approach has been well-studied and applied to the microelectronics and MEMS industries, but less so in nanotechnology. With the boom of nanotechnology since the 1990s, newly designed products with new materials, coatings, and nanoparticles are gradually entering everyone’s lives, while the industry has grown into a billion-dollar volume worldwide. Traditionally, nanotechnology products are assembled using bottom-up methods, such as self-assembly, rather than top-down robotic assembly. This is due to considerations of volume handling of large …

Effective Utilization Of Battery-Supercapacitor Hybrid Energy Storage Systems In Dc Nano-Grids, Seyyed Ali Ghorashi Khalil Abadi

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This PhD dissertation proposes novel control strategies to improve the flexibility and reliability of DC nanogrids by utilizing battery-supercapacitor hybrid energy storage systems (HESSs). The dissertation is divided into five sections, each addressing a specific challenge in DC nanogrids and proposing unique control strategies to overcome them. The proposed strategies include an adaptive control system for multiple nanogrids, a distributed power management strategy for a grid-connected DC nano-grid, a model predictive control strategy to improve voltage quality and stability in islanded DC nanogrids, a cloud HESS technology to improve voltage stability in clustered DC nanogrids, and a method of electric …

Quality-Of-Service Provisioning For Smart City Applications Using Software-Defined Networking, Basima Kurungadan

Theses

In the current world, most cities have WiFi Access Points (AP) in every nook and corner. Hence upraising these cities to the status of a smart city is a more easily achievable task than before. Internet-of-Things (IoT) connections primarily use WiFi standards to form the veins of a smart city. Unfortunately, this vast potential of WiFi technology in the genesis of smart cities is somehow compromised due to its failure in meeting unique Quality-of-Service (QoS) demands of smart city applications. Out of the following QoS factors; transmission link bandwidth, packet transmission delay, jitter, and packet loss rate, not all applications …

Data Center Power System Emulation And Gan-Based High-Efficiency Rectifier With Reactive Power Regulation, Jingjing Sun

Doctoral Dissertations

Data centers are indispensable for today's computing and networking society, which has a considerable power consumption and significant impact on power system. Meanwhile, the average energy usage efficiency of data centers is still not high, leading to significant power loss and system cost.

In this dissertation, effective methods are proposed to investigate the data center load characteristics, improve data center power usage efficiency, and reduce the system cost.

First, a dynamic power model of a typical data center ac power system is proposed, which is complete and able to predict the data center's dynamic performance. Also, a converter-based data center …

Model Predictive Control For Grid Scale Pv And Battery, Sahithi Chatradi

Theses and Dissertations

Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a control technique that uses prediction data to optimize costs over a given predictive horizon. There are many papers that use this technique to optimize cost in a substantially loaded microgrid, but these techniques are not feasible for utility-scale PV+Storage facility. In this study, MPC is used to optimize the cost for a utility-scale PV+Storage facility, by adding a factor of a possible curtailment. The thesis also presents the various factors that the MPC has in that utility size grid. These factors include line losses, net yield, and curtailment.

Live Access Control Policy Error Detection Through Hardware, Bryce Mendenhall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Access Control (AC) is a widely used security measure designed to protect resources and infrastructure in an information system. The integrity of the AC policy is crucial to the protection of the system. Errors within an AC policy may cause many vulnerabilities such as information leaks, information loss, and malicious activities. Thus, such errors must be detected and promptly fixed. However, current AC error detection models do not allow for real-time error detection, nor do they provide the source of errors. This thesis presents a live error detection model called LogicDetect which utilizes emulated Boolean digital logic circuits to provide …

A Machine Learning Approach To Intended Motion Prediction For Upper Extremity Exoskeletons, Justin Berdell

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

A fully solid-state, software-defined, one-handed, handle-type control device built around a machine-learning (ML) model that provides intuitive and simultaneous control in position and orientation each in a full three degrees-of-freedom (DOF) is proposed in this paper. The device, referred to as the “Smart Handle”, and it is compact, lightweight, and only reliant on low-cost and readily available sensors and materials for construction. Mobility chairs for persons with motor difficulties could make use of a control device that can learn to recognize arbitrary inputs as control commands. Upper-extremity exoskeletons used in occupational settings and rehabilitation require a natural control device like …

Modeling, Simulation, And Hardware-In-The-Loop Implementation Of Distributed Voltage Control In Power Systems With Renewable Energy Sources, Ali Dehghan Banadaki

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation develops and analyzes distributed controllers for power systems with renewable energy sources. A comprehensive state space modeling of voltage source inverters (VSIs) is developed specifically to address the secondary voltage control. This model can be used for simulation and control design. Unlike frequency, voltage is a local phenomenon, meaning that it cannot be controlled from a far distance. Therefore, a voltage zoning matrix that relates the sensitivity of the loads to the sources is proposed. The secondary voltage control is designed by applying the eigenvalue decomposition of the voltage zoning matrix to obtain the reference generators voltages. The …

Control Of Series Connected Battery Powered Modules, Joshua K. Wooten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Batteries are a very common type of power source used for all sorts of applications. However, these batteries do not last forever. The purpose of this thesis is to explain and implement a strategy which allows batteries to have a second life; to be able to be re-charged and re-used for another set period of time once they no longer meet a system’s requirements. The preferable way to do this is to make each cell have the same state of charge (SOC) which will lead to a longer lasting battery pack. These batteries will be hooked up to a battery …

Active Stability Monitoring And Stability Control Of Dc Microgrids Using Incremental Continuous Injection, Rohail Hassan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Electrified transportation and integration of renewable energy in the electric power grid requires the use of power electronic converters for integrating different forms of power; from ac to dc, dc to ac, dc to dc, etc. Recent trend towards electrifying automobiles, aircraft and ships, and increasing penetration of renewable energy has increased the required power levels and number of the power electronics converters connected together in a dc microgrid system. Stable operation of these interfacing converters for all operating conditions has been a topic of renewed interest in the last couple of decades. Traditionally, dc microgrids have been designed conservatively …

Direct Torque Control For Silicon Carbide Motor Drives, Mohammad Hazzaz Mahmud

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Direct torque control (DTC) is an extensively used control method for motor drives due to its unique advantages, e.g., the fast dynamic response and the robustness against motor parameters variations, uncertainties, and external disturbances. Using higher switching frequency is generally required by DTC to reduce the torque ripples and decrease stator current total harmonic distortion (THD), which however can lower the drive efficiency. Through the use of the emerging silicon carbide (SiC) devices, which have lower switching losses compared to their silicon counterparts, it is feasible to achieve high efficiency and low torque ripple simultaneously for DTC drives.

To overcome …

Adaptive Control And Parameter-Dependent Anti-Windup Compensation For Inertia Varying Quadcopters., Benjamin Edwards Farber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel parameter-dependent anti-windup compensator is developed to improve the performance of a saturation constrained model reference adaptive controller. The combined control structure solves the input saturation and stability problem for inertia varying quadcopters. The control synthesis follows the conventional two-step anti-windup design paradigm where a nominal controller is designed without consideration of the input saturation, and the anti-windup compensator is designed to minimize deviations from nominal performance caused by saturated inputs. To account for varying inertia of the quadcopter during package retrieval/delivery routines, the inertia parameters of the vehicle/package are estimated with an online recursive system identification technique, and …

Analysis Of Three-Phase Rectifier Via Three Different Control Methods And Switch Power Loss Comparison, Yichao Wang

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Traditional uncontrolled or phase-controlled rectifiers have the defects of lower power factor and nontrivial higher harmonics which causes the low efficiency of power, bad power quality, and so on. However, PWM rectifiers overcome the drawbacks mentioned above. They reduce the higher harmonics yielding better sinusoidal current on the grid side, achieve unity power factor and bidirectional power flow, and have better dynamic performance. So, it is favored more by academia and widely applied in high-performance power electronics devices. In this paper, the PWM rectifier is analyzed and a comparison of the switch loss on three-phase rectifier using three different control …

Lawn Buddy, Jayson Johnston, Andrew Brown, Jacob Maljian

Electrical Engineering

Grass lawns are a common hallmark of the American home. In 2019, a survey from the National Association of Landscape Professionals found that 81% of all Americans owned a lawn [1]. Mowing is a time consuming and costly chore that is part of maintaining a grass lawn. The manual labor in mowing a lawn can exceed 40 hours per year [2]. People commonly incur weekly costs on mowing services to save time. Traditional gas powered mowers are physically demanding and use engines that need routine maintenance. They operate loudly enough that users should be wearing hearing protection and the noise …

Study Of A Symmetrical Llc Dual-Active Bridge Resonant Converter Topology For Battery Storage Systems, John K. George

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A symmetrical LLC resonant converter topology with a fixed-frequency quasi-triple phase-shift modulation method is proposed for battery-powered electric traction systems with extensions to other battery storage systems. Operation of the converter with these methods yields two unique transfer characteristics and is dependent on the switching frequency. The converter exhibits several desirable features: 1) load-independent buck-boost voltage conversion when operated at the low-impedance resonant frequency, allowing for dc-link voltage regulation, zero-voltage switching across a wide load range, and intrinsic load transient resilience; 2) power flow control when operated outside the low-impedance resonance for integrated battery charging; 3) and simple operational mode …

An Analytic Study Of Pursuit Strategies, Mark E. Vlassakis

Theses and Dissertations

The Two-on-One pursuit-evasion differential game is revisited where the holonomic players have equal speed, and the two pursuers are endowed with a circular capture range ℓ > 0. Then, the case where the pursuers' capture ranges are unequal, ℓ₁ > ℓ₂ ≥ 0, is analyzed. In both cases, the state space region where capture is guaranteed is delineated and the optimal feedback strategies are synthesized. Next, pure pursuit is considered whereupon the terminal separation between a pursuer and an equal-speed evader less than the pursuer's capture range ℓ > 0. The case with two pursuers employing pure pursuit is considered, and …

Desarrollo De Un Controlador Para Un Motor Asíncrono Con Aplicación En Automóviles Eléctricos De Tracción De Carga En Entornos Semiestructurados, Daniel Esteban Cruz López, Juan José Gómez Fierro

Ingeniería Eléctrica

Como alternativa para el problema de transporte y tracción de carga surgen los vehículos eléctricos. Estos requieren de controles particulares, específicamente diseñados para su aplicación. En este sentido se plantean las características de diseño de controladores que, según el tipo de motor, deben garantizar el funcionamiento a partir de parámetros dependientes de la máquina de inducción y su entorno. Se plantea el diseño de un controlador para un motor de inducción asíncrono, adaptable a un vehículo eléctrico que desempeñe sus funciones en un entorno semiestructurado, determinado por las características del sector rural colombiano. Por esta razón, se aborda el proyecto …

A Comparative Analysis Of Reinforcement Learning Applied To Task-Space Reaching With A Robotic Manipulator With And Without Gravity Compensation, Jonathan Fugal

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Advances in computing power in recent years have facilitated developments in autonomous robotic systems. These robotic systems can be used in prosthetic limbs, wearhouse packaging and sorting, assembly line production, as well as many other applications. Designing these autonomous systems typically requires robotic system and world models (for classical control based strategies) or time consuming and computationally expensive training (for learning based strategies). Often these requirements are difficult to fulfill. There are ways to combine classical control and learning based strategies that can mitigate both requirements. One of these ways is to use a gravity compensated torque control with reinforcement …

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 …

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 …

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 …

H2 Control For Improved Stability Of Multi-Area Electric Power System With High Levels Of Inverter-Based Generation, Muthanna Abdulkareem Al-Sarray

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increased generation capacity from non-dispatchable energy resources such as wind and solar has created challenges to ensuring the reliable delivery of electric power. This research develops a systematic three-step method of assessing the reliability of electric power systems under a variety of different possible fault conditions to ensure that overall system stability is preserved in a manner the meets regulatory requirements. The first step is a risk-based reliability method (RBRM) that accounts for the probability of a line outage versus the severity of impact. This allows system planners to judiciously allocate expenses for reliability improvements based on the greatest economic …

Control Strategy For A Small-Scale Microgrid Based On Battery Energy Storage System-Virtual Synchronous Generator (Bess-Vsg), Wei Gao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As one of widely deployed renewable energy resources, PV power is playing a very important role in microgrids today. It has advantages such as making the best of natural solar energy and being friendly to our environment. In this thesis, solar PV based microgrid is studied using modeling and simulation. Microgrid can run in either grid-connected-mode or islanded-mode. However, there are also some disadvantages for solar power. For solar panel, its output is influenced by weather conditions such as illumination intensity and temperature. In addition, during the control process of grid-connected mode, it is hard to guarantee its output power …

Duty-Cycle Based Physical Unclonable Functions (Pufs) For Hardware Security Applications, Mahmood Javed Azhar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Duty cycle and frequency are important characteristics of periodic signals that are exploited to develop a variety of application circuits in IC design. Controlling the duty cycle and frequency provides a method to develop adaptable circuits for a variety of applications. These applications range from stable on-chip clock generation circuits, on-chip voltage regulation circuits, and Physical unclonable functions for hardware security applications. Ring oscillator circuits that are developed with CMOS inverter circuits provide a simple, versatile flexible method to generated periodic signals on an IC chip. A digitally controlled ring oscillator circuit can be adapted to control its duty cycle …

Linear And Nonlinear Adaptive Attitude Control Of Asteroid-Orbiting Spacecraft Using State Feedback And Output Feedback, Nicholas Moya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis presents the derivation of both a linear and nonlinear adaptive control law for the attitude states of a spacecraft in orbit around rotating asteroids. The asteroid is assumed to be irregularly shaped and in an elliptical orbit around the sun. The linearized, time-varying spacecraft model will assume to include unknown parameters and will have external disturbances present. The objective is to control the roll, pitch, and yaw angle trajectories of the spacecraft such that they track desired reference trajectories. To achieve this, the control law will be composed of (1) a feedback controller, sufficiently robust to disturbance such …

Learn-To-Fly Control System Design, Alexander Brent Streit

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In order to improve aircraft flight control system development life cycle, new flight control techniques are being explored to allow the system to ``learn-to-fly" with limited a priori information of the aircraft's aerodynamic characteristics. One approach is to have a system identification process operating on-the-fly to generate mathematical models which can be used to update control laws. In this thesis, a wind tunnel experiment was conducted with a model aircraft set up to be free-to-roll, so system identification and control methods could be explored for a one-degree-of-freedom case. In particular this thesis covers the design of a novel control system …

Desarrollo De Una Estrategia De Control Predictivo Aplicado A Un Péndulo Invertido, Que Permita La Estabilización De Imágenes En Robots Para Exploración Agrícola, David Mateo Rojas Vallejo

Ingeniería en Automatización

La robótica es un campo de estudio tan amplio, que se puede extender prácticamente a cualquiera de las labores humanas; una de estas actividades es la agricultura, aunque para que esto se logre, primero se deben considerar factores mas específicos de un sistema robótico como: visión artificial, estructuras robóticas, control de sistemas, entre otros. En este proyecto se desarrolla una estrategia de control para una plataforma de péndulo invertido, que emula el sistema mecánico en donde se posicionaría la cámara de un robot agrícola. El sistema consiste en un péndulo invertido rotativo, y la estrategia de control que se implementó …

Ball Oscillating Bouncer, Eric Blok, Daniel Altemese, Ryan Nowacki, Maram Qurban

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this report is to document the need, objectives, marketing and engineering requirements, as well as validate the design of an autonomous control device capable of continuously bouncing a table tennis ball on a paddle. This includes the design of a self correcting system using lightweight materials, and as few sensors and components as possible to achieve a compact, portable design. To accomplish this, the system is designed to react to a ball falling from as short a distance as 10 centimeters above the paddle, meaning all sensor processing, control processing, and motor drives should be able to …

Photovoltaic Inverter Control To Sustain High Quality Of Service, Yan Chen

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing penetration of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) generation presents both challenges and opportunities for distribution systems. The intermittent nature of solar irradiance may lead to power quality degradation. At the same time, PV inverters –if properly designed and operated– can be used to improve power quality. The goal of this dissertation is to develop power flow optimization methods for power distribution networks with high penetration of PV generation. The approaches proposed in this dissertation have been tested using the modified version of the IEEE 34-node distribution system and the IEEE 123-node distribution system, as well as the validated model …