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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Control System Infrastructure For The Cal Poly Human Powered Helicopter: Upturn Ii, Douglas A. Thornber, Samuel J. Wahyou Jun 2013

Control System Infrastructure For The Cal Poly Human Powered Helicopter: Upturn Ii, Douglas A. Thornber, Samuel J. Wahyou

Aerospace Engineering

The Upturn was donated to Cal Poly in October 2012 by Neal Saiki from NTS. Our project was to replicate the old system to decrease the turn-around time in case of a crash during a test flight. The control system for the Upturn II was designed with the same considerations that were used for the Upturn. The result we got was inconclusive for the sensor selection, the new control system is heavier than the old system, and we couldn’t validate the system without doing a flight test. For the next iteration if some of the replication requirements are relaxed the …


Low-Cost Imu Implementation Via Sensor Fusion Algorithms In The Arduino Environment, Brandon Mccarron Jun 2013

Low-Cost Imu Implementation Via Sensor Fusion Algorithms In The Arduino Environment, Brandon Mccarron

Aerospace Engineering

A multi-phase experiment was conducted at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, to design a low-cost inertial measurement unit composed of a 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope. Utilizing the growing microprocessor software environment, a 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope simulated 6 degrees of freedom orientation sensing through sensor fusion. By analyzing a simple complimentary filter and a more complex Kalman filter, the outputs of each sensor were combined and took advantage of the benefits of both sensors to improved results. Gyroscopic drift was removed in the pitch and roll axes using the Kalman filter for both static and dynamic …


The Architecture Selection, Design, And Discharge Modeling Of A Passive Compensation, Iron-Core, Two-Phase, Permanent Magnet Compulsator To Power A Small Railgun Platform, Collin Macgregor Dec 2012

The Architecture Selection, Design, And Discharge Modeling Of A Passive Compensation, Iron-Core, Two-Phase, Permanent Magnet Compulsator To Power A Small Railgun Platform, Collin Macgregor

Aerospace Engineering

The goal of this project was to design and build a compensated pulsed alternator, or compulsator, to power the Cal Poly Electromagnetic Railgun Mark 1.1. This project examines the feasibility of implementing mechanical pulsed power supplies for repeatable use with a railgun load for orbital debris hypervelocity testing. The final system architecture chosen was a passively compensated, iron-core, 2-phase, permanent magnet compulsator. The Cal Poly Compulsator will be capable of storing 45 kJ of mechanical energy with a peak operating speed of 5,000 rpm at 190 V. Theoretical calculations resulted in the following predicted electrical performance values: a peak output …


Aerial Deployable Autonomous Solar Powered Glider, Brandon Groshong, Jacob Ohana Mar 2012

Aerial Deployable Autonomous Solar Powered Glider, Brandon Groshong, Jacob Ohana

Aerospace Engineering

Awareness of green solutions to powered flight is a new trend taking the Aerospace Industry by storm. One particular application that shows high promise is that of photovoltaics on small UAV-type aircraft to help extend flight time. The purpose of this report is to document both research and experimentation performed on a small RC aircraft in order to better understand the electrical requirements of such a device. Using that research, speculation on how it can be used to design a mobile Aerial Deployable Autonomous Solar Powered Glider will be performed. Technologies such as CIGS solar cells and Lithium Polymer batteries …


Comparison Of A High Purity Germanium Gamma Ray Spectrometer And A Multidimensional Nai(T1) Scintillation Gamma Ray Spectrometer, Greg Stratton Jul 2011

Comparison Of A High Purity Germanium Gamma Ray Spectrometer And A Multidimensional Nai(T1) Scintillation Gamma Ray Spectrometer, Greg Stratton

Aerospace Engineering

This report compares two different gamma ray spectrometers in terms of performance, operation, and apparatus and also investigates the design and integration challenges of using gamma ray spectrometers in space. The first spectrometer is a one-dimensional high purity germanium (HPGe) spectrometer and the second is a multidimensional NaI(Tl) scintillation spectrometer (MGRS). The key results show that the HPGe exhibits 15 to 27 times better energy resolution than the MGRS, but the MGRS is 52 times more sensitive and removes 177 % more of the background radiation.


Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of An Electromagnetic Rail Gun For The Repeated Testing And Simulation Of Orbital Debris Impacts, Jeff Maniglia, Jordan Smiroldo, Alex Westfall, Guy Zohar Jun 2011

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of An Electromagnetic Rail Gun For The Repeated Testing And Simulation Of Orbital Debris Impacts, Jeff Maniglia, Jordan Smiroldo, Alex Westfall, Guy Zohar

Aerospace Engineering

An Electromagnetic Railgun (EMRG) was designed, built, and tested, capable of firing a projectile a 1 gram projectile at 650 m/s muzzle velocity. The EMRG utilizes an injector, a high voltage power supply, a capacitor bank, inductors and rails. The injector fires 2300 psig Nitrogen gas into the system to provide an initial velocity. The high voltage power supply charges the capacitor bank. The capacitor bank discharges the electric potential built up through the projectile while inside the rails in order to create the EMRG’s force. The inductors are used to pulse form the capacitor bank in order to get …


Subwoofer Frequency Response Optimization By Means Of Active Control, Luis Dominguez Dec 2010

Subwoofer Frequency Response Optimization By Means Of Active Control, Luis Dominguez

Aerospace Engineering

Most subwoofer systems have difficulties producing frequencies in the low end of the hearing spectrum due to the added power requirements and instabilities. Active controls can transform the audio signal without changing physical characteristics and ultimately generating a more impressive audio system. A Linkwitz transform crossover was implemented to extend the low end frequency response of a sealed enclosure. A graphical user interface in MATLAB was written to aid in selection of components, driver and enclosure volume. The circuit board was built and integrated with a home theater system inside of a couch and tested with a Real Time Analyzer. …