Engineering Commons^™

Vehicle Interior Access Deployable Worksurface Mechanism Concept Product Design, Premchand Gunachandran

Theses and Dissertations

by

Premchand Gunachandran

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2019

Under the Supervision of Professor Mohammad Habibur Rahman

Easy access and adjusting the vehicle interior configuration to a variety of situations and uses is the general desire for any vehicle user. To meet such desire an attempt has been made in this study to conceptualize a design to develop a new mechatronic product called re-configurable vehicle interior console mechanism to deploy a worksurface (DWS), which will provide flexible use of the vehicle’s interior of both partial and fully autonomous vehicles. This re-configurable vehicle interior console will deploy the DWS using a power …

Scatter Reduction By Exploiting Behaviour Of Convolutional Neural Networks In Frequency Domain, Carlos Ivan Jerez Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

In X-ray imaging, scattered radiation can produce a number of artifacts that greatly

undermine the image quality. There are hardware solutions, such as anti-scatter grids.

However, they are costly. A software-based solution is a better option because it is

cheaper and can achieve a higher scatter reduction. Most of the current software-based

approaches are model-based. The main issues with them are the lack of flexibility, expressivity, and the requirement of a model. In consideration of this, we decided to apply

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), since they do not have any of the previously

mentioned issues.

In our approach we split …

Cavity Environmental Control System Upgrade For Nasa’S Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy, Ashraf Al-Hajjeh

Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this project is to fulfill the need of a controller upgrade for the Cavity Environmental Control System (CECS) on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft. The preceding controller had multiple disadvantages including operating in an unpressurized region, incomplete functionality implementation, limited fault and status monitoring capability, and reduced maintainability and reliability. The new controller will go through the NASA design process to fulfill all the requirements of CECS operation including complete functionality of all devices currently installed on the aircraft, added devices to improve fault and health monitoring, and overall improvement in maintainability and …

A Data-Driven Predictive Model Of Reliability Estimation Using State-Space Stochastic Degradation Model, Farhad Balali

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) provides the foundation to apply data-driven methodologies. The data-driven predictive models of reliability estimation can become a major tool in increasing the life of assets, lowering capital cost, and reducing operating and maintenance costs. Classical models of reliability assessment mainly rely on lifetime data. Failure data may not be easily obtainable for highly reliable assets. Furthermore, the collected historical lifetime data may not be able to accurately describe the behavior of the asset in a unique application or environment. Therefore, it is not an optimal approach anymore to conduct a reliability …

Dynamic Vehicular Trajectory Optimization For Bottleneck Mitigation And Safety Improvement, Wenqing Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Traffic bottleneck is defined as a disruption of traffic flow through a freeway or an arterial, which can be divided as two categories: stationary bottleneck and moving bottleneck. The stationary bottleneck is mainly formed by the lane drops in the multi-lane roadways, while the moving bottleneck are due to the very slowing moving vehicles which disrupt the traffic flow. Traffic bottlenecks not only impact the mobility, but also potentially cause safety issues.

Traditional strategies for eliminating bottlenecks mainly focus on expanding supply including road widening, green interval lengthening and optimization of intersection channelization. In addition, a few macroscopic methods are …

Underwater Particle Image Velocimetry (Piv) Measurement Of Turbulence Over Mussel Bed In A Deepsite Of Lake Michigan, Tong Jin

Theses and Dissertations

The influence of the benthic filter feeders, such as bivalves, on ecosystem plankton, and nutrient dynamics is considered significant in shallow marine and freshwater systems. Recent indirect evidence showed that the profundal quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) have fundamentally altered energy flow and dynamics of nutrients and phytoplankton in Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes. To investigate the phytoplankton grazing rate of the quagga mussel and the mussel siphon currents induced bio-mixing, a self-contained in situ Underwater Particle Image Velocimetry was developed to measure the turbulence structure and the turbulent diffusion coefficient immediately above the profundal quagga mussel covered substrate …

Optimizing Hydrogen Sulfide Removal And Biogas Production Using The Water Wash Method, Brian Leightner

Theses and Dissertations

Biogas forms from decomposing organic material in agricultural digesters, landfills, and wastewater treatment plant digesters. Biogas is mostly composed of methane, and can be used as a carbon-based fuel. Microorganisms that consume organics in these waste streams also produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as part of the biogas, in varying trace amounts. H2S is corrosive to engines and pipes for machinery, a human health hazard when inhaled, and an aquatic hazard when dissolved in water. Water washing is an absorption process that dissolves hydrogen sulfide and other water soluble compounds in this process and carries it away from the gas, thereby …

Application Of Survival Analysis Techniques To Probabilistic Assessment Of Fatigue In Steel Bridges, Azam Nabizadehdarabi

Theses and Dissertations

The fatigue of engineering materials under repetitive loading is a significant issue affecting the design and durability of components and systems in a variety of engineering-related applications including civil, mechanical, aerospace, automotive, and electronics. Many factors can affect the service life of a component or system under repetitive loading, such as the type of structure, loading, connection details, stress state, peak stress or stress range, surface condition, temperature, and environmental exposure. Currently, there is no comprehensive probabilistic approach that can systematically address all the factors that contribute to fatigue on a single mathematical platform. However, advanced analysis techniques developed for …

Earth – Mars Cycler Vehicle Conceptual Design, Bhumika Patel

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis summarizes a conceptual design for an Earth – Mars Cycler vehicle designed to transfer astronauts between Earth and Mars. The primary objective of the design study is to accommodate the crews’ needs and to estimate the overall mass and power required during Earth – Mars transfer. The study defines a concept of operations and system functional requirements and discusses the systems breakdown and subsystems design analysis. Systems developed for the cycler vehicle is designed primarily for the S1L1 cycler trajectory. The initial sizing of cycler subsystems is based on reference data from historical human spaceflight. The study performed …

Design Of A System For Inexpensive Underwater Fiber Optic In Vivo Imaging And Mass Balance Accounting Of Tissue Engineering Candidates, Nicole Melissa Bueno Guerrero

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project is to create a prototype bioreactor that mimics a cell’s microenvironment. The ultimate goal is to set up an array of 36 bioreactors in parallel and monitor them with an array of sensors that will enable full mass and energy balance accounting and in vivo imaging. This thesis will analyze the various options available for cell imaging, as well as describe the construction of a bioreactor design in which cell images can be obtained without removing the cells from the bioreactor. The hypothesis for this project is that imaging of unstained cells in an aquarium …

Development Of A Novel System For The Analysis Of The Cardiovascular And Autonomic Nervous Systems, Seyedmohsen Dehghanojamahalleh

Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1 - An introduction to autonomic nervous system (ANS) and cardiovascular system (CVS): The performance of the ANS can be evaluated by quantizing the changes made by the autonomic nervous system. The most common parameters that are being used in autonomic nervous system assessment tests are blood pressure, heart rate, pressure pulse wave velocity, heart rate variability, and pulse waveform. In this dissertation, we designed and developed a system that assesses the activity of these two systems. Therefore, we represented four methods to 1- evaluate the dependence of neuro- and cardiovascular systems on sex, 2- non-invasively estimate the blood …

Multi-Facet Retrofit Approach To Improve Energy Efficiency Of Existing Class Of Single-Family Residential Buildings In Florida, Kwame Baffour Ohene Amoah

Theses and Dissertations

There are many approaches to incorporate energy efficiency measures (EEMs) into building through retrofit projects. Single-family buildings are an essential target for energy improvements because of their energy-saving potential and considerable market share. This study evaluates energy savings and cost-effectiveness of individual retrofit options. It proposes energy efficiency measures for an existing class of single-family homes constructed between the years of 1950 and 1970. The study uses a baseline building located in Melbourne, FL, as a case study. A survey via clustering data mining was conducted on Florida Single-Family Residential (SFR) buildings (1950 – 1970) to establish patterns of construction, …

Improving Hydroshare And Web Application Interoperability Through Integrated Gis And His Data Services, Kenneth Jack Lippold

Theses and Dissertations

HydroShare is a collaborative online system being developed by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science Inc. (CUAHSI) with the goal of facilitating the dissemination, visualization, and publishing of hydrologic data and models. External web applications serve a key role in extending HydroShare's capabilities, so robust application programming interfaces (APIs) are a vital component of HydroShare's architecture. Hydrologic data stored on HydroShare are defined by a data type, and much of these data are either geospatial or time series data. Although HydroShare's API provides ways to upload and download files, as well as access certain metadata, it …

A New Qpcr Assay To Detect Geosmin-Producing Cyanobacteria, Shane Brian Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Taste-and-odor (T&O) compounds are frequently produced by cyanobacterial blooms in bodies of water. Geosmin, perhaps the most common T&O compound produced by these blooms, is not effectively removed by conventional water treatment processes and frequently causes the tap water to have an off flavor. Although geosmin is not harmful when ingested, it damages the consumers' confidence in the cleanliness of their water. There are treatment options for geosmin removal, but the most common methods are often not implemented until complaints are made by consumers.There has been an increasing amount of research on the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods …

Advanced Techniques For Carbon Nanotube Templated Microfabrication, Jason Matthew Lund

Theses and Dissertations

Carbon nanotube templated microfabrication (CNT-M) is a term describing a grouping of processes where carbon nanotubes (CNTs) serve a structural role in the fabrication of a material or device. In its basic form, CNT-M is comprised of two steps: produce a template made from carbon nanotubes and infiltrate the porous template with an additional material. Vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) templates can be grown to heights ranging from microns to millimeters and lithographically patterned to a desired form. Deposition of an existing thin film material onto a CNT template will coat all template surfaces and can produce a near solid …

Development Of A Gpu-Based Real-Time Interference Mitigating Beamformer For Radio Astronomy, Jeffrey M. Nybo

Theses and Dissertations

Radio frequency interference (RFI) mitigation enables radio astronomical observation in frequency bands that are shared with many modern satellite and ground based devices by filtering out the interference in corrupted bands. The present work documents the development of a beamformer (spatial filter) equipped with RFI mitigation capabilities. The beamformer is intended for systems with antenna arrays designed for large bandwidths. Because array data post processing on large bandwidths would require massive memory space beyond feasible limits, there is a need for a RFI mitigation system capable of doing processing on the data as it arrives in real-time; storing only a …

Characterization Of Local Void Content In Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Parts Utilizing Observation Of In Situ Fluorescent Dye Within Epoxy, Wyatt Young Warner

Theses and Dissertations

Experimentation exploring the movement of voids within carbon fiber reinforced plastics was performed using fluorescent dye infused into the laminates observed through a transparent mold under ultraviolet light. In situ photography was used as an inspection method for void content during Resin Transfer Molding for these laminates. This in situ inspection method for determining the void content of composite laminates was compared to more common ex-situ quality inspection methods i.e. ultrasonic inspection and cross-section microscopy. Results for localized and total void count in each of these methods were directly compared to test samples and linear correlations between the three test …

Single Photon Avalanche Diode (Spad) Array Quenching And A Novel Quantum Random Number Generator (Qrng), Mano Rahul Kumar Pakalapati

Theses and Dissertations

Single Photon Avalanche Diodes, SPADs is a single-photon sensitive light detector with capabilities of pico-second timing resolutions and offer potential for enhancing various fields of science to evolve into quantum-age. SPAD has applications ranging from quantum computing, cryptography (QKD) to applications in medicine such as neural imaging and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). SPAD arrays are gaining popularity as they enable for parallel photon detection and 3D imaging. To account for the process tolerances and aging, each SPAD-pixel needs a tunable quenching circuit in the frontend for post-fabrication fine-tuning, this research work presents a novel Dual Triggered Tunable Active …

Dual-Task Multimodal Web Browsing In Semi-Autonomous Vehicles, Jarrett William Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Drivers should remain alert when operating semi-autonomous vehicles as human intervention is required when the automated systems fail, or an unusual situation is encountered. However, drivers do not always focus solely on the road and sometimes divert their attention to look at cell phones, laptops, tablet computers, or in-dash infotainment systems. In this research, software was created to enable operators of a simulated self-driving car to browse the Human-Centered Design Institute (HCDI) website using multimodal interaction. The software used synthesized speech to read the website aloud and visually highlighted the content on the screen as it was read. Web analytics …

Electronic Word-Of-Mouth (Ewom): Examining The Relationship Between Factors Influencing Ewom Activities And Passengers’ Purchasing Involvement In The Context Of Aviation, Ratchada Ruenruoy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was manifold: (a) to examine the relationship a set of targeted factors has on electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) activities in the context of aviation, (b) to examine the extent to which these factors affect airline passengers’ purchasing involvement, and (c) to determine the extent to which eWOM activities mediate the relationship between the targeted factors and purchasing involvement. Research factors included (a) purchasing perceptions, which consisted of satisfaction, loyalty, perceived value, and service quality; (b) social environment, which consisted of age, gender, and cultural differences relative to Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions; and (c) experiences, which consisted …

Remote Sensing, Modeling, And Spectroscopic Studies Of Gigantic Jets And Lightning Leaders, Levi Boggs

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on four interrelated investigations with the ultimate goal of better understanding electrical phenomena in the lower and upper atmosphere. The four investigations utilized observations and data analysis for electrical discharges occurring in the troposphere, such as cloud-to-ground and intracloud discharges, and discharges occurring in the stratosphere/lower ionosphere, known as gigantic jets. The observations are from ground-based high-speed cameras and lightning locating systems, space-borne lightning imagers, and remote and in-situ meteorological instrumentation. Numerical modeling was also performed to study the lightning associated with gigantic jets by using a stochastic lighting propagation model. Finally, this dissertation focuses on the …

Investigating The Effects Of Altitude And Flap Setting On The Specific Excess Power Of A Pa-28-161 Piper Warrior, Tjimon Meric Louisy

Theses and Dissertations

The high number of General Aviation (GA) accidents attributed to Loss of Control suggests that GA pilots are lacking low speed awareness and are unable to appropriately recognize when the aircraft is in a low energy state. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the development of an energy management system which is applicable to GA aircraft that can alert the pilot in situations of low energy conditions and recommends to the pilot the appropriate corrective action to restore conditions to a safe energy state. This will require the development of an algorithm that governs this energy management system that …

Home Automation System By Voice Commands, Noor Kamil Abdalhameed

Theses and Dissertations

The Home Automation System is one of the most important technologies that are used by humans for controlling electrical devices to reduce manual efforts in their daily tasks. The home automation system by voice has the ability to understand thousands of voice commands and perform the required action to control various electrical devices. The voice recognition is a bit complex and challenging task since each person has his accent. Therefore, Bitvoicer Server used in the home automation system in this thesis since it supports 17 languages from 26 countries and regions, and has the ability to recognize an unlimited number …

Mitigating Pilot Contamination Through Optimizing Pilot Allocation In Massive Mimo Systems, Rand Abdul Hussain

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation has proposed several algorithms to optimize the allocation of pilots to the users’ equipment (UEs) to mitigate the effect of the pilot contamination problem in the massive MIMO systems. Pilot contamination reduces the performance of massive MIMO systems due to the reduction in the quality of the estimated channel between a UE and the serving base station (BS). The limitation of the number of samples in a coherence block limits the number of unique mutually orthogonal pilots, and hence, reusing the set of pilots across the cells causes inter-cell interference during pilot transmission, which is called pilot contamination. …

Socialization Of Veterans Using Virtual Reality, Joan M. Savage

Theses and Dissertations

Virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and video games are growing in popularity and fulfilling genuine human needs that the real world is currently unable to satisfy. Games are providing rewards that reality is not. They are teaching and inspiring and engaging us in ways that reality is not (McGonigal, 2011). The purpose of this study was to capture the essence of socialization in virtual reality as a Ph.D. dissertation topic at Florida Institute of Technology - Human-Centered Design. This study used a phenomenology methodology to capture the experiences of beneficial features of players who use virtual reality. The study …

Hydrodynamic Ram Analysis Of Bonded Composite Fuel Tanks, Teddy Sedalor

Theses and Dissertations

Military aircraft are tested against a variety of ballistics threats as part of their design to assess their vulnerability. One aspect of this approach/requirement is Hydrodynamic Ram testing which accounts for projectile impact into fuel tanks. Hydrodynamic Ram (HRAM), which occurs due to overpressure created in an enclosed fluid as a result of the transfer of energy and momentum from a penetrating projectile, can be quite destructive to the enclosing structure, which makes testing expensive. Therefore the need arises for numerical methods to supplement the testing and provide more test data than can be obtained directly from the article test. …

Numerical Simulations Of Comprehensive Hydrodynamic Performance Of Darpa Suboff Submarine, Kenshiro Takahashi

Theses and Dissertations

A numerical study of the DARPA SUBOFF model using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been presented for developing a CFD application procedure to compute the hydrodynamic performance of underwater vehicles, including submarines. Several configurations, such as bare hull, fairwater, sterns, and/or ringwing-appended hulls, were examined for the straight-ahead, steady translation and turning, and self-propelled conditions. A systematic study was conducted to ensure an adequate computational domain expansion and reasonable prism layer mesh properties for solutions independent of the parameters. The hydrodynamic forces exerted on the hull and the appendages were verified and validated in accordance with a published methodology under …

Integration Of Inboard Propulsion In Shock Mitigating Membrane Hull Technology, Korrey Rotkiske

Theses and Dissertations

Membrane Hull Technology is a strength based marine vessel design concept that seeks to utilize the in-plane properties of fiber reinforced composites to generate a lighter weight vessel with inherent shock mitigation benefits. MHT has been applied on several Naval crafts yet the design features of inboard propulsion systems have not been addressed. Inboard propulsion systems are a very common form of propulsion used in many types of marine vessels especially larger vessels. This thesis seeks to overcome the inboard engine mounting challenges of MHT which limits use of this technology in the marine industry. The fundamental design elements of …

Monitoring And Correlating Toxic Gases Emitted By Cars In Public Indoor Garage In Real-Time Using Internet Of Things (Iot), Khalid Altheiab

Theses and Dissertations

The study was developed to adequately depict the behavior of indoor pollutant matter in public garages, the underlying factors influencing this behavior and gauge the pollutant exhaust emission patterns. In depicting the behavior of indoor pollutant matter, the research aimed at studying the emission-pollutant relationship and any variations in concentrations found at different locations within the study site. In terms of measuring the factors influencing the pollutant behavior, the research quantified the concentrations of four gaseous contaminants. The pollutant behavior was studied to better understand the different variables influencing the indoor air-quality. Finally, based on these parameters overall patterns in …

Air Quality Monitoring Wireless Sensor Network With Electrochemical Sensing Elements, Saeed Faisal Malky

Theses and Dissertations

Harmful atmospheric pollutants have been attributed to causing adverse weather conditions and health problems, which are particularly prevalent in more populated global regions, such as megacities. Nongovernmental and international agencies throughout the world have likewise called for increased awareness and action to effectively counter the increased rates of air pollution, as the consequences seem ominous. Meanwhile, in several major urban landscapes such as Saudi Arabia, no modern apparatus or efficient systematic mechanisms exist for the qualitative detection of dangerous pollutants and gases. The current counterparts for hazardous gas measurements are expensive, bulky and cumbersome to set up. Thus, sensor devices …