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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Kinematical Modelling And Its Analytical Inverse Kinematic Solution For The Handling Mechanism Of An Agricultural Robot, Sinem Gozde Defterli Jan 2016

Kinematical Modelling And Its Analytical Inverse Kinematic Solution For The Handling Mechanism Of An Agricultural Robot, Sinem Gozde Defterli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early detection of the crop diseases helps to prevent failure in the amount and the quality of the production. In agricultural robotics, the idea of a disease detection robot is a fresh and an innovative hot-button topic. The exclusion of the diseased parts from the strawberry plants for further analyses is one of the main tasks of a recently developed strawberry robot. To this purpose, the handling mechanism in the robot needs to achieve an accurate manipulation task to reach the target. Reaching, cutting and storing the diseased leaf are challenging and delicate processes during the procedure of the handling …


Approximated Control Affine Dynamics Mode For An Agricultural Field Robot Considering Wheel Terrain Interaction, Pablo Menendez-Aponte Jan 2016

Approximated Control Affine Dynamics Mode For An Agricultural Field Robot Considering Wheel Terrain Interaction, Pablo Menendez-Aponte

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As populations and the demand for higher crop yields grow, so to does the need for efficient agricultural wheeled mobile robots. To achieve precise navigation through a field it is desirable that the control system is designed based on an accurate dynamic model. In this paper a control affine model for a custom designed skid-steer differential drive wheeled mobile robot is found. The Terramechanic wheel terrain interaction is adopted and modified to consider wheels with a torus geometry. Varying slip ratios and slip angles are considered in the terrain reaction forces, which is curve-fitted using a nonlinear least squares approach …


Geolocation Of Diseased Leaves In Strawberry Orchards For A Custom-Designed Octorotor, Christian Garcia Jan 2016

Geolocation Of Diseased Leaves In Strawberry Orchards For A Custom-Designed Octorotor, Christian Garcia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, technological advances have shown a strive for more automated processes in agriculture, as seem with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with onboard sensors in many applications, including disease detection and yield prediction. In this thesis, an octorotor UAV is presented that was designed, built, and flight tested, with features that are custom-designed for strawberry orchard disease detection. To further automate the disease scouting operation, geolocation, or the process of determining global position coordinates of identified diseased regions based on images taken, is investigated. A Kalman filter is designed, based on a linear measurement model derived …


The Impact Of Automation Reliability And Fatigue On Reliance, Ryan Wohleber Jan 2016

The Impact Of Automation Reliability And Fatigue On Reliance, Ryan Wohleber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research is to inform the design of dynamic interfaces to optimize unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operator reliance on automation. A broad goal of the U.S. military is to improve the ratio of UAV operators to UAVs controlled. Accomplishing this goal requires the use of automation; however, the benefits of automation are jeopardized without appropriate operator reliance. To improve reliance on automation, this effort sought to accomplish several objectives organized into phases. The first phase aimed to validate metrics that could be used to gauge operator fatigue online, to understand how the reliability of automated systems influences …


An Experimental Investigation Of Heat Transfer For Arrays Of Impingement Jets Onto The Featured Surfaces With Cylindrical And Elliptical Raised Surfaces, Marc A. Medina Jan 2016

An Experimental Investigation Of Heat Transfer For Arrays Of Impingement Jets Onto The Featured Surfaces With Cylindrical And Elliptical Raised Surfaces, Marc A. Medina

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study focuses on multi-jet impingement for gas turbine geometries in which the objective is to understand the influence of the roughness elements on a target surface to the heat transfer. Current work has proven that implementing roughness elements for multi-jet impingement target surfaces has increased heat transfer ranging anywhere from 10-30%. This study has chosen to investigate three different roughness elements, elliptical in cross-section, to compare to smooth surface geometries for multi-jet impingement. An experimental was taken for this study to extend the current knowledge of multi-jet impingement geometries and to further understand the heat transfer performance. A temperature …


Characterization Of Dispersion And Residual Stress In Nanoparticle Reinforced Hybrid Carbon Fiber Composites, Alex Selimov Jan 2016

Characterization Of Dispersion And Residual Stress In Nanoparticle Reinforced Hybrid Carbon Fiber Composites, Alex Selimov

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Hybrid carbon fiber reinforced composites are a new breed of materials that are currently being explored and characterized for next generation aerospace applications. Through the introduction of secondary reinforcements, such as alumina nanoparticles, hybrid properties including improved mechanical properties and stress sensing capabilities can be achieved. In order to maximize these properties, it is necessary to achieve a homogeneous dispersion of particulate filler. Utilizing the photoluminescent properties of alumina, it is possible to compare local levels of particle concentration through emission intensities as a way to determine the effectiveness of the tested manufacturing parameters in increasing material homogeneity. Parameters of …


Flame-Turbulence Interaction For Deflagration To Detonation, Jessica Chambers Jan 2016

Flame-Turbulence Interaction For Deflagration To Detonation, Jessica Chambers

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Detonation is a high energetic mode of pressure gain combustion that exploits total pressure rise to augment high flow momentum and thermodynamic cycle efficiencies. Detonation is initiated through the Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition (DDT). This process occurs when a deflagrated flame is accelerated through turbulence induction, producing shock-flame interactions that generate violent explosions and a supersonic detonation wave. There is a broad desire to unravel the physical mechanisms of turbulence induced DDT. For the implementation of efficient detonation methods in propulsion and energy applications, it is crucial to understand optimum turbulence conditions for detonation initiation. The study examines the role of turbulence-flame …


Structural Health Monitoring Of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, Luca Letizia Jan 2016

Structural Health Monitoring Of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, Luca Letizia

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This work is focusing to study the structural behavior of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs). These COPVs are found in many engineering applications. In the aerospace field, they are installed onto spaceships and aid the reorientation of the spacecraft in very far and airless, therefore frictionless, orbits to save energy and fuel. The intent of this research is to analyze the difference in performance of both perfectly intact and purposely damaged tanks. Understanding both the source and location of a structural fault will help NASA engineers predict the performance of COPVs subject to similar conditions, which could prevent failures of …


Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis Of Combined Regenerative And Discrete Film Cooling In A Rocket Nozzle, Charlotte M. Pearce Jan 2016

Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis Of Combined Regenerative And Discrete Film Cooling In A Rocket Nozzle, Charlotte M. Pearce

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Conjugate heat transfer analysis has been carried out on an 89kN thrust chamber in order to evaluate whether combined discrete film cooling and regenerative cooling in a rocket nozzle is feasible. Several cooling configurations were tested against a baseline design of regenerative cooling only. New designs include combined cooling channels with one row of discrete film cooling holes near the throat of the nozzle, and turbulated cooling channels combined with a row of discrete film cooling holes. Blowing ratio and channel mass flow rate were both varied for each design. The effectiveness of each configuration was measured via the maximum …


Design And Investigation Of Vitiated-Air Heater For Oblique Detonation-Wave Engine, Matthew M. Hoban Jan 2016

Design And Investigation Of Vitiated-Air Heater For Oblique Detonation-Wave Engine, Matthew M. Hoban

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A facility was designed to provide high-enthalpy, hypersonic flow to a detonation chamber. Preliminary investigation identified 1300 K and Mach 5 as the total temperature and Mach number require to stabilize an oblique detonation wave inside the detonation chamber. Vitiated-air heating was the preheating method chosen to meet these capabilities. The vitiator facility heats compressed air while still retaining about 50% of the original oxygen content. Schlieren flow visualization and conventional photography was performed at the exit plane of a choke plate, which simulated the throat of a converging-diverging nozzle. A shock diamond formation was observed within the jet exhausting …


High Temperature Shock Tube Ignition Studies Of Co2 Diluted Mixtures, Owen Pryor Jan 2016

High Temperature Shock Tube Ignition Studies Of Co2 Diluted Mixtures, Owen Pryor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Energy demand is expected to grow by 20% over the next 10 years. In order to account for this increase in energy consumption new and novel combustion techniques are required to mitigate the effects of pollution and fossil fuel dependency. Oxy-fuel combustion in supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) cycles can increase plant efficiencies up to 52% and reduce pollutants such as NOX and CO2 by 99%. Supercritical engine cycles have demonstrated electricity costs of $121/MWh, which is competitive in comparison to conventional coal ($95.60/MWh) and natural gas power plants ($128.4/MWe). This increase in efficiency is mainly driven by the near-liquid density …


Smart Material Actuation And Morphing For Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Caio H. Da Silva Lima Jan 2016

Smart Material Actuation And Morphing For Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Caio H. Da Silva Lima

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to outline the design, analysis, and characterization of an axially compressed piezocomposite actuator and, in particular, to determine the correlation and accuracy of two models used to predict deflection of an axially compressed piezocomposite bimorph. Restrictions in material properties lead to vehicle inefficiencies caused by the discontinuous geometry of deflected control surfaces in unmanned aircraft systems. This performance disadvantage in discrete control surfaces is caused in part by the sharp edges that are formed when the surface is pivoted. Flow continuity over the body of a vehicle is important in minimizing the effects of …