Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Electromagnetic Signatures Of A Fpga Using An Aprel Em-Isight System, Karynn A. Sutherlin

Theses and Dissertations

Large military platforms have encountered major performance and reliability issues due to an increased number of incidents with counterfeit electronic parts. This has drawn the attention of Department of Defense (DOD) leadership making detection and avoidance of counterfeit electronic parts a top issue for national defense. More defined regulations and processes for identifying, reporting, and disposing of counterfeit electronic parts are being revised to raise awareness for this aggregating issue, as well as enhance the detection of these parts. Multiple technologies are currently employed throughout the supply chain to detect counterfeit electronic parts. These methods are often costly, time-consuming, and …

Spectral And Temporal Interrogation Of Cerebral Hemodynamics Via High Speed Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging, Rex Chin-Hao Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging (LSCI) is a non-scanning wide field-of-view optical imaging technique specifically developed for cerebral blood flow (CBF) monitoring. In this project, a versatile Laser speckle contrast imaging system has been designed and developed to monitor CBF changes and examine the physical properties of cerebral vasculature during functional brain activation experiments.

The hardware of the system consists of a high speed CMOS camera, a coherent light source, a trinocular microscope, and a PC that does camera controlling and data storage. The simplicity of the system’s hardware makes it suitable for biological experiments.

In controlled flow experiments using a …

Water Withdrawal And Consumption Reduction Analysis For Electrical Energy Generation System, Narjes Nouri

Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing concern over shrinking water resources. Water use in the energy sector primarily occurs in electricity generation. Anticipating scarcer supplies, the value of water is undoubtedly on the rise and design, implementation, and utilization of water saving mechanisms in energy generation systems are becoming inevitable. Most power plants generate power by boiling water to produce steam to spin electricity-generating turbines. Large quantities of water are often used to cool the steam in these plants. As a consequence, most fossil-based power plants in addition to consuming water, impact the water resources by raising the temperature of water withdrawn …

An Economical Model Development For A Hybrid System Of Grid Connected Solar Pv And Electrical Storage System, Mohammad Hasan Balali

Theses and Dissertations

Energy sources management is one of the most important concern in the recent decades. There are finite amount of non-renewable energy sources and one day they will run out if they have been used as primary sources of energy. Renewable energy sources have been significantly reduced the environmental effects. For most of them the source of energy is non-depletable.

One of the concerns associated with renewable resources is uncertainty or unavailability. Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) can help to have more reliable and more efficient systems by adjusting the charge and discharge time and rate. In this study, an economic model …

Adaptation Of Moiré Phase Tracking To A Mobile Device For Field 3d Data Collections, Amar Nikhanj

Theses and Dissertations

The accelerating technologies of mobiles devices such as tablets and phones provide an ability to

perform high intensity calculations all while obtaining precise data with increasingly more accurate

sensors. Image metrology and 3D motion tracking can take advantage of these improvements as

they require both significant processing power and camera controls not seen in mobile devices until

very recently. This thesis discusses the development of 3D motion tracking using Google Nexus

tablets and applying the technology to the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) to demonstrate

the technology’s application to field measurements. RULA analysis determines the stress placed on

a human …

Multi-Mode Analysis Of Dual Ridged Waveguide Systems For Material Characterization, Jason G. Crosby

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, two nondestructive dual ridged waveguide (DRWG) material characterization systems are investigated. The single and clamped DRWG probe geometries were analyzed in previous work; however, that research only incorporated the dominant DRWG mode. Here, that restriction is removed and the existence of evanescent higher- order modes is considered. Theoretical analysis of the single and clamped DRWG probes is presented and discussed. The approach taken here is similar to that presented in previous research: Love's equivalence theorem is used to remove the DRWG apertures which are replaced with equivalent magnetic currents radiating in the presence of the background parallel-plate …

Novel Applications Of A Thermally Tunable Bistable Buckling Silicon-On-Insulator (Soi) Microfabricated Membrane, Robert A. Lake

Theses and Dissertations

Buckled membranes are commonly used microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures. Recent work has demonstrated that the deflection and stiffness of these membranes can be tuned through localized joule heating. These devices were implemented into the design and fabrication of two novel device applications, a tunable pressure sensor and a steerable micromirror. A differential pressure across the membrane causes de reflection, up or down, which can be measured and related to a specific pressure. By tuning the stiffness of the membrane, its pressure response is varied providing a wider range of application for the pressure sensor. A 2.0mm by 2.0mm square membrane …

Intelligent Novel Methods For Identifying Critical Components And Their Combinations For Hypothesized Cyber-Physical Attacks Against Electric Power Grids, Ming Wang

Theses and Dissertations

As a revolutionary change to the traditional power grid, the smart grid is expected to introduce a myriad of noteworthy benefits by integrating the advanced information and communication technologies in terms of system costs, reliability, environmental impacts, operational flexibility, etc. However, the wider deployment of cyber networks in the power grid will bring about important issues on power system cyber security. Meanwhile, the power grid is becoming more vulnerable to various physical attacks due to vandalism and probable terrorist attacks. In an envisioned smart grid environment, attackers have more entry points to various parts of the power grid for launching …

Design And Comparison Of Si-Based And Sic-Based Three-Phase Pv Inverters, Wei Fu

Theses and Dissertations

The opportunities for both power density and efficiency improvements of photovoltaic (PV) inverter have come with the development of commercially available wide bandgap (WBG) devices such as Gallium Nitride (GaN), and Silicon Carbide (SiC).

In this thesis, how the replacement of Silicon (Si) Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), with SiC Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) affects the power density and efficiency of a solar inverter implementation is presented. The focus is on achieving a minimum volume of the output filter which meet the current harmonic performance of IEEE standard, while meeting the thermal constraint of the semiconductor device. Efficiency improvements …

Modeling Of Energy Storage Systems For Building Intergation, Azadeh Mazaheri

Theses and Dissertations

An advanced Energy Storage device modeling, namely, Zinc Bromide, is proposed to integrate a new software Smartbuilds, developed by Marquette University, based on an integrated building. Smartbuilds will provide the platform to integrate all the components of the proposed Building which incorporate with renewable energy and energy storage system. The zinc bromide modeling results show that the battery’s open-circuit voltage is a direct function of the state of charge (SOC) of the battery. Furthermore, resistance is also a function of sate of charge at constant temperature. A Coulomb Counting technique is used to adjust the estimated SOC according to battery …

Virtual Droop Control Framework And Stability Analyses For Microgrids With High Penetration Of Renewables, Ashishkumar Kanubhai Solanki

Theses and Dissertations

Microgrids can provide the most promising means of integrating large amounts of distributed sources into the power grid and can supply reliable power to critical loads. However, managing distributed sources and loads within a microgrid during island and grid-tie modes and during transitions is a challenge. Stable operation of a microgrid is a concern specifically during the starting of motor loads, switching of large loads, and in presence of high penetration of renewable resources. Hence, a generalized control framework is required to regulate microgrid voltage and frequency, maintain power quality, manage Distributed Generations (DG) and ensure microgrid stability. Several control …

Discovering Key Players And Key Groups In A Soccer Team Using Centrality Measures, Ying Zhu

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I introduce that passing performance is crucial skill in the soccer game. I provide network centrality approaches to discover key players and key groups in a soccer team. The Utility Model of game theory evaluates each soccer player’s contribution to his team outcome. The approach of finding key players is to implement soccer passing network data with the combination of Nash Equilibrium with Bonacich Centrality Measure. We identify the key player by finding the top individual Inter-Centrality Measure, and also identify the key group of players that match better together in the game. The results verification will …

Optical Cryoimaging Of Tissue Metabolism In Renal Injuries: Rodent Model, Fahimeh Salehporchadgani

Theses and Dissertations

Injured tissues are often accompanied by morphological or biochemical changes that can be detected optically. Therefore, it would be valuable to visualize the changes in both structure and biochemistry responses of organs for early detection of disease and monitoring of its progression. Oxidative stress is a biochemical byproduct of these diseases. Thus, obtaining sensitive and specific measurements of oxidative stress at the cellular level would provide vital information for understanding the pathogenesis of a disease.

The objective of this research was to use a fluorescence optical imaging technique in order to evaluate the cellular redox state in kidney tissues, and …

Energy Neutral Operation Method For Hybrid Energy Storage Integrated With Wind Farm Using C-Rate And Frequency Spectrum Analysis, Young Jun Seo

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the author describes various evaluation criteria, in particular the C-rate (charge/discharge-rate), of energy storage (ES) systems to explain the efficiency and technical benefits of battery-ultracapacitor hybrid energy storage (HES), and the technical characteristics of subsequently derived short-duration and long-duration type ES. In addition, for effective use of energy storage, a straightforward state of charge (SOC) correction method for energy neutral operation is proposed, and through a simple comparative example of ES operation, the effectiveness of HES in relation to simple ES is explained. A case is considered in which a hybrid ES controls the wind power ramp …

Hyperspectral Tomographic Ftir Imaging Using Two Illumination Geometries For Polymer Phantoms, Zahrasadat Alavi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to carry out non-destructive 3D imaging by applying Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectro-microtomographic techniques, and develop corresponding methods of data analysis. This is done by collecting 3D synchrotron-based and lab-based (Thermal) FTIR hyper spectral data at the Synchrotron Radiation Center (SRC) for the first time. Despite other 2D imaging techniques, this does not manipulate the sample, and suppresses the need to microtome 3D biological, material or biomedical samples into slices to study by spectroscopic imaging techniques. Spectro-micro-tomography is applicable for scientific, industrial, energy, biomedical samples such as stem cell characterization and materials such as …

Probability Models For Wind-Penetrated Power Systems, Amir Hossein Shahirinia

Theses and Dissertations

A major challenge with the increase in wind power generation is the uncertain nature of wind speed. So far the uncertainty about wind speed has been presented through probability distributions. However, the uncertainty about these wind speed models has not yet been considered. In this dissertation we use the Bayesian approach to taking into account the uncertainty inherent in the wind speed model. Also the existing models that consider the uncertainty of the wind speed primarily view the distributions of the wind speed over a wind farm as being homogeneous. The Bayesian predictive model of the wind speed aggregates the …

Gate-Level Commercial Microelectronics Verification With Standard Cell Recognition, Leleia A. Hsia

Theses and Dissertations

Within the past two decades, the problem of counterfeit hardware has gained significant attention within the Department of Defense (DoD). Counterfeit electronics compromise national security systems as they may fail to meet durability requirements and/or contain malicious circuits [6, 16, 17]. This necessitates the development of methods to detect counterfeit electronics and prevent the counterfeit electronics from entering DoD systems. The DARPA TRUST program was established to address the need to verify integrated circuit (IC) electronics. This research describes the development of standard cell recognition (SCR) software intended to resolve conflicts in prior TRUST related applications of commercial software to …

Unique Two-Way Field Probe Concept Utilizing A Geodesic Sphere And Quad-Rotor, Travis A. Albee

Theses and Dissertations

Surveying the test volume of a radar range normally involves utilizing an antenna field probe to measure the electromagnetic field in that volume of space. Today, field probes vary in size and shape and can be difficult and time consuming to setup. They also have a limited range of motion due to their support structure and translational mechanism, which also has scattering mechanisms that can perturb the field they are measuring. Field probes are useful, but because of these shortcomings they can provide limited characterization of the field illuminating the measurement area. Leveraging quad-rotor technology, coupled with a two-way probe …

Initial Implementation And Testing Of A Tightly-Coupled Imu/Pseudolite System, James E. C. Kawecki

Theses and Dissertations

Currently, the 746th Test Squadrons (746th TS) Central Inertial and GPS Test Facility (CIGTF) operates one of the most accurate truth reference systems, called the CIGTF Reference System (CRS). CIGTF will be replacing the CRS with a new references system called UHARS (Ultra High Accuracy Reference System). UHARS will differ from CRS by adding the ability to use a non-GPS pseudolite system, as a new measurement source. This research effort describes the design of the extended Kalman filter which is developed in AFIT's SPIDER filter framework which implements a tightly-coupled pseudolite/INS filter.

Materials Characterization And Microelectronic Implementation Of Metal-Insulator Transition Materials And Phase Change Materials, Alexander H. Gwin

Theses and Dissertations

Vanadium dioxide (VO²) is a metal-insulator transition (MIT) material, and germanium telluride (GeTe) is a phase change material (PCM), both of which undergo several orders of magnitude increase in electrical conductivity from room temperature to their transition temperatures. They are candidates for many important technologies, including ultra-fast electronic memory, optical switches and filters, and active layers in terahertz metamaterials, among others. The physical mechanisms causing the phase transitions in these materials are explained and investigated experimentally. These materials were incorporated into six types of microelectronic devices, which were designed, fabricated, and tested at the Air Force Institute of …

Urban Environment Navigation With Real-Time Data Utilizing Computer Vision, Inertial, And Gps Sensors, Johnathan L. Rohde

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to obtain a navigation solution that used real data, in a degraded or denied global positioning system (GPS) environment, from low cost commercial o the shelf sensors. The sensors that were integrated together were a commercial inertial measurement unit (IMU), monocular camera computer vision algorithm, and GPS. Furthermore, the monocular camera computer vision algorithm had to be robust enough to handle any camera orientation that was presented to it. This research develops a visual odometry 2-D zero velocity measurement that is derived by both the features points that are extracted from a monocular camera …

Characterizing Multiple Wireless Sensor Networks For Large-Scale Radio Tomography, Tan Van

Theses and Dissertations

Radio Tomographic Imaging (RTI) is an emerging Device-Free Passive Localization (DFPL) technology that uses a collection of cheap wireless transceivers to form a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Unlike device-based active localization, DFPL does not require a target of interest to be wearing any kind of device. The basic concept of RTI utilizes the changes in Received Signal Strength (RSS) between the links of each transceiver to create an attenuation image of the area. This image can then be used for target detection, tracking, and localization. Each transceiver in the WSN must transmit sequentially to prevent collisions. This is not a …

Design Of An All-In-One Embedded Flight Control System, Joel D. Elmore

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes an all-in-one flight control system (FCS) that was designed for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The project focuses on the embedded hardware aspect of a stand-alone system with low-cost and reliability in mind.

Iii-V Nitride Based Microcantilever Heaters For Unique Multimodal Detection Of Volatile Organic Compounds At Low Temperature, Ifat Jahangir

Theses and Dissertations

Detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are widely used in industrial processes and household products, is very important due to significant health hazards associated with them. VOCs are commonly detected using photo-ionization detectors (PIDs), suspended hot bead pellistors, or heated metal oxide semiconductor functionalization layers. However, these techniques used for detecting VOCs often suffer from one or more of the following issues - high power consumption, limited selectivity, complicated functionalization technique and expensive characterization tools. On the other hand, microcantilevers offer excellent avenues for molecular sensing that arises out of their high sensitivity to various physical parameter changes induced …