Engineering Commons^™

Characterization Of Electrodeposited Polyaniline Biosensor Platform For Escherichia Coli O157:H7 Detection, Sterling Prince

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Amperometric electrodeposition has been used to obtain uniform, conductive, and repeatable polyaniline (PANi) thin films for use in nano scaled biochemical sensors. This report describes the characterization of these films. Techniques such as ellipsometry were used to test repeatability of the deposition and the uniformity of the deposited thin films. Raman spectroscopy was utilized to confirm the composition of the deposited PANi thin films. Fluorescence microscopy was used to determine the immobilization of antibodies to the PANi thin films using biotin-avidin interactions, as well as the density of active binding sites. Ellipsometry results demonstrated that biomolecules could be immobilized on …

State Of Charge Balancing Droop Control, Rui Hu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This thesis presents a load sharing method applied in a distributed micro grid system. The goal of this method is to balance the state-of-charge (SoC) of each parallel connected battery and make it possible to detect the average SoC of the system by measuring bus voltage for all connected modules. In this method the reference voltage for each battery converter is adjusted by adding a proportional SoC factor. Under such setting the battery with a higher SoC will output more power, whereas the one with lower SoC gives out less. Therefore the higher SoC battery will use its energy faster …

Extraction Of Pictorial Energy Information From Campus Unmetered Buildings Using Image Processing Techniques, Yachen Tang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In recent years, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) has been the main research focus due to the traditional power grid has been restricted to meet development requirements. There has been an ongoing effort to increase the number of AMI devices that provide real-time data readings to improve system observability. Deployed AMI across distribution secondary networks provides load and consumption information for individual households which can improve grid management. Significant upgrade costs associated with retrofitting existing meters with network-capable sensing can be made more economical by using image processing methods to extract usage information from images of the existing meters. This thesis …

An Energy Based Minimum-Time Optimal Control Of Dc-Dc Converters, Amir Zandnia

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Time-optimal response is an important and sometimes necessary characteristic of dynamic systems for specific applications. Power converters are widely used in different electrical systems and their dynamic response will affect the whole system. In many electrical systems like microgrids or voltage regulators which supplies sensitive loads fast dynamic response is a must. Minimum time is the fastest converter to compensate the step output reference or load change. Boost converters as one of the wildly used power converters in the electrical systems are aimed to be controlled in optimal time in this study. Linear controllers are not able to provide the …

Pose Estimation And 3d Reconstruction Using Sensor Fusion, Anuj S. Potnis

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

A camera maps 3-dimensional (3D) world space to a 2-dimensional (2D) image space. In the process it loses the depth information, i.e., the distance from the camera focal point to the imaged objects. It is impossible to recover this information from a single image. However, by using two or more images from different viewing angles this information can be recovered, which in turn can be used to obtain the pose (position and orientation) of the camera. Using this pose, a 3D reconstruction of imaged objects in the world can be computed. Numerous algorithms have been proposed and implemented to solve …

Electrochemical Processes In Microfluidics Systems Under Ac Electric Fields, Ran An

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Alternating current (AC) electric signal has been widely applied in microfluidic systems to induce AC electrokinetic behavior. AC electrokinetic phenomena including AC electrophoresis, AC dielectrophoresis, AC electroosmosis flow and AC electrothermal flow are widely applied in (bio)particle sorting, separation and concentration and micropumps. However, numbers of non-ideal AC electrokinetic behaviors have been reported: human erythrocyte deformation in AC dielectrophoresis system has been observed; flow reversal in AC electroosmosis flow pumps has also been reported. In this dissertation, a systematic study on human erythrocyte crenation in AC dielectrophoresis system was firstly conducted. Multiple possible physical mechanisms inducing cell crenation including temperature, …

Development Of A Cell Morphological Analysis Tool To Evaluate The Ultrasound Vibrational Effects On Cell Adhesion, Joseph M. Smith

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Fibroblast encapsulation is a stage of the wound healing process in which the implanted device is separated from the biological environment due to the formation of fibrotic tissue. Uncontrolled adhesion of fibroblasts, called fibrosis, has the ability to inhibit an implanted device’s functionality over its lifetime. Over time, fibroblasts have been shown to cause loosening and failure of bone-anchor implants which could include the possibility of harming the patient. The encapsulating process could also hinder the sensitivity of implanted biosensors operating in the body for continuous monitoring. Unfortunately, the antifouling surfaces which are commonly used on implanted devices to control …

Blood Typing Device Without Reagents: Sensing Electrodes To Replace Optics, Nupur Bihari

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

There is need to develop a fast and efficient procedure for detecting blood type that makes use of an electronic measurement to minimize human error and is portable so that it can be used in triage situations. A process to develop a crossover frequency based blood typing device is described. Alternating field drives red blood cells over the sensing electrodes and depending on the capacitance measured between pairs of sensing electrodes, the position of these RBCs can be determined. The convergence/divergence of these cells at a particular frequency determines blood type, since each type has a characteristic frequency. This project …

Comparison Of Computer-Based And Optical Face Recognition Paradigms, Abdulaziz A. Alorf

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The main objectives of this thesis are to validate an improved principal components analysis (IPCA) algorithm on images; designing and simulating a digital model for image compression, face recognition and image detection by using a principal components analysis (PCA) algorithm and the IPCA algorithm; designing and simulating an optical model for face recognition and object detection by using the joint transform correlator (JTC); establishing detection and recognition thresholds for each model; comparing between the performance of the PCA algorithm and the performance of the IPCA algorithm in compression, recognition and, detection; and comparing between the performance of the digital model …

Real Time Fuzzy Controller For Quadrotor Stability Control, Pranav S. Bhatkhande

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In this report, we develop an intelligent adaptive neuro-fuzzy controller by using adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) techniques. We begin by starting with a standard proportional-derivative (PD) controller and use the PD controller data to train the ANFIS system to develop a fuzzy controller. We then propose and validate a method to implement this control strategy on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware.

An analysis is made into the choice of filters for attitude estimation. These choices are limited by the complexity of the filter and the computing ability and memory constraints of the micro-controller. Simplified Kalman filters are found to …

Design And Implementation Of Home Use Portable Smart Electronics, Liqiang Du

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The widespread of low cost embedded electronics makes it easier to implement the smart devices that can understand either the environment or the user behaviors. The main object of this project is to design and implement home use portable smart electronics, including the portable monitoring device for home and office security and the portable 3D mouse for convenient use. Both devices in this project use the MPU6050 which contains a 3 axis accelerometer and a 3 axis gyroscope to sense the inertial motion of the door or the human hands movement.

For the portable monitoring device for home and office …

Integration Of Instrumentation And Processing Software Of A Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging System, Jacob James Carrick

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) has the potential to be a powerful tool in medicine, but more research in the field is required so it can be used properly. To help in the progression of Michigan Tech's research in the field, a graphical user interface (GUI) was designed in Matlab to control the instrumentation of the experiments as well as process the raw speckle images into contrast images while they are being acquired. The design of the system was successful and is currently being used by Michigan Tech's Biomedical Engineering department. This thesis describes the development of the LSCI GUI …

Impact Of Plug-In Electric Vehicles And Wind Generators On Harmonic Distortion Of Electric Distribution Systems, Ritam Misra

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Harmonic distortion on voltages and currents increases with the increased penetration of Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) loads in distribution systems. Wind Generators (WGs), which are source of harmonic currents, have some common harmonic profiles with PEVs. Thus, WGs can be utilized in careful ways to subside the effect of PEVs on harmonic distortion. This work studies the impact of PEVs on harmonic distortions and integration of WGs to reduce it. A decoupled harmonic three-phase unbalanced distribution system model is developed in OpenDSS, where PEVs and WGs are represented by harmonic current loads and sources respectively. The developed model is first …

Multidimensional Optimal Droop Control For Wind Resources In Dc Microgrids, Kaitlyn J. Bunker

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Two important and upcoming technologies, microgrids and electricity generation from wind resources, are increasingly being combined. Various control strategies can be implemented, and droop control provides a simple option without requiring communication between microgrid components. Eliminating the single source of potential failure around the communication system is especially important in remote, islanded microgrids, which are considered in this work. However, traditional droop control does not allow the microgrid to utilize much of the power available from the wind. This dissertation presents a novel droop control strategy, which implements a droop surface in higher dimension than the traditional strategy. The droop …

Svpwm Switching Pattern For Z-Source Inverter, Simulation And Application, Zhe Huang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The voltage source inverter (VSI) and current voltage source inverter (CSI) are widely used in industrial application. But the traditional VSIs and CSIs have one common problem: can’t boost or buck the voltage come from battery, which make them impossible to be used alone in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV/EV) motor drive application, other issue is the traditional inverter need to add the dead-band time into the control sequence, but it will cause the output waveform distortion.

This report presents an impedance source (Z-source network) topology to overcome these problems, it can use one stage instead of two stages (VSI or …

High Performance, Low Cost Subspace Decomposition And Polynomial Rooting For Real Time Direction Of Arrival Estimation: Analysis And Implementation, Mrudula V. Athi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This thesis develops high performance real-time signal processing modules for direction of arrival (DOA) estimation for localization systems. It proposes highly parallel algorithms for performing subspace decomposition and polynomial rooting, which are otherwise traditionally implemented using sequential algorithms. The proposed algorithms address the emerging need for real-time localization for a wide range of applications. As the antenna array size increases, the complexity of signal processing algorithms increases, making it increasingly difficult to satisfy the real-time constraints. This thesis addresses real-time implementation by proposing parallel algorithms, that maintain considerable improvement over traditional algorithms, especially for systems with larger number of antenna …

Household Solar Power System, He Jiang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Photovoltaic power has become one of the most popular research area in new energy field. In this report, the case of household solar power system is presented. Based on the Matlab environment, the simulation is built by using Simulink and SimPowerSystem. There are four parts in a household solar system, solar cell, MPPT system, battery and power consumer. Solar cell and MPPT system are been studied and analyzed individually. The system with MPPT generates 30% more energy than the system without MPPT. After simulating the household system, it is can be seen that the power which generated by the system …

Proof Of Concept Prototype For A Railroad Pedestrian Warning System Using Wireless Sensor Networks, Puneeth Ramesh

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Wireless sensor network is an emerging research topic due to its vast and ever-growing applications. Wireless sensor networks are made up of small nodes whose main goal is to monitor, compute and transmit data. The nodes are basically made up of low powered microcontrollers, wireless transceiver chips, sensors to monitor their environment and a power source. The applications of wireless sensor networks range from basic household applications, such as health monitoring, appliance control and security to military application, such as intruder detection.

The wide spread application of wireless sensor networks has brought to light many research issues such as battery …

The Effect Of Annealing On Amorphous Silicon Based Solar Photovoltaic Thermal System (Pv/T) And Appropriate Global Dispatch Strategies, Joseph Rozario

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Previous work has shown that high-temperature short-term spike thermal annealing of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems results in higher electrical energy output. The relationship between temperature and performance of a-Si:H PVT is not simple as high temperatures during thermal annealing improves the immediate electrical performance following an anneal, but during the anneal it creates a marked drop in electrical performance. In addition, the power generation of a-Si:H PVT depends on both the environmental conditions and the Staebler-Wronski Effect kinetics. In order to improve the performance of a-Si:H PVT systems further, this paper reports on the effect of …

State Of Charge Based Droop Surface For Optimal Control Of Dc Microgrids, Arthur John Jones

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

For a microgrid with a high penetration level of renewable energy, energy storage use becomes more integral to the system performance due to the stochastic nature of most renewable energy sources. This thesis examines the use of droop control of an energy storage source in dc microgrids in order to optimize a global cost function. The approach involves using a multidimensional surface to determine the optimal droop parameters based on load and state of charge. The optimal surface is determined using knowledge of the system architecture and can be implemented with fully decentralized source controllers. The optimal surface control of …

Development Of An Ionic Liquid Ferrofluid Electrospray Source And Mode Shape Studies Of A Ferrofluid In A Non-Uniform Magnetic Field, Edmond Joseph Meyer Iv

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

An electrospray source has been developed using a novel new fluid that is both magnetic and conductive. Unlike conventional electrospray sources that required microfabricated structures to support the fluid to be electrosprayed, this new electrospray fluid utilizes the Rosensweig instability to create the structures in the magnetic fluid when an external magnetic field was applied. Application of an external electric field caused these magnetic fluid structures to spray. These fluid based structures were found to spray at a lower onset voltage than was predicted for electrospray sources with solid structures of similar geometry. These fluid based structures were also found …

Characterization Of The Atmospheric Effects On The Transmission Of Thermal Radiation, Mohamed E. Hanafy

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Atmospheric scattering plays a crucial rule in degrading the performance of electro optical imaging systems operating in the visible and infra-red spectral bands, and hence limits the quality of the acquired images, either through reduction of contrast or increase of image blur. The exact nature of light scattering by atmospheric media is highly complex and depends on the types, orientations, sizes and distributions of particles constituting these media, as well as wavelengths, polarization states and directions of the propagating radiation. Here we follow the common approach for solving imaging and propagation problems by treating the propagating light through atmospheric media …

Multi-Wavelength Speckle Reduction For Laser Pico-Projectors Using Diffractive Optics, Weston H. Thomas

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Personal electronic devices, such as cell phones and tablets, continue to decrease in size while the number of features and add-ons keep increasing. One particular feature of great interest is an integrated projector system. Laser pico-projectors have been considered, but the technology has not been developed enough to warrant integration. With new advancements in diode technology and MEMS devices, laser-based projection is currently being advanced for pico-projectors. A primary problem encountered when using a pico-projector is coherent interference known as speckle. Laser speckle can lead to eye irritation and headaches after prolonged viewing. Diffractive optical elements known as diffusers have …

Dc Microgrid Stabilization Through Fuzzy Control Of Interleaved, Heterogeneous Storage Elements, Robert David Smith

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

As microgrid power systems gain prevalence and renewable energy comprises greater and greater portions of distributed generation, energy storage becomes important to offset the higher variance of renewable energy sources and maximize their usefulness. One of the emerging techniques is to utilize a combination of lead-acid batteries and ultracapacitors to provide both short and long-term stabilization to microgrid systems.

The different energy and power characteristics of batteries and ultracapacitors imply that they ought to be utilized in different ways. Traditional linear controls can use these energy storage systems to stabilize a power grid, but cannot effect more complex interactions. This …

Out-Of-Step Detection Based On Zubov’S Approximation Boundary Method, Yawei Wei

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Disturbances in power systems may lead to electromagnetic transient oscillations due to mismatch of mechanical input power and electrical output power. Out-of-step conditions in power system are common after the disturbances where the continuous oscillations do not damp out and the system becomes unstable. Existing out-of-step detection methods are system specific as extensive off-line studies are required for setting of relays. Most of the existing algorithms also require network reduction techniques to apply in multi-machine power systems. To overcome these issues, this research applies Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) data and Zubov’s approximation stability boundary method, which is a modification of …

Strategic Optimization Techniques For Frtu Deployment And Chip Physical Design, Chen Liao

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Combinatorial optimization is a complex engineering subject. Although formulation often depends on the nature of problems that differs from their setup, design, constraints, and implications, establishing a unifying framework is essential. This dissertation investigates the unique features of three important optimization problems that can span from small-scale design automation to large-scale power system planning: (1) Feeder remote terminal unit (FRTU) planning strategy by considering the cybersecurity of secondary distribution network in electrical distribution grid, (2) physical-level synthesis for microfluidic lab-on-a-chip, and (3) discrete gate sizing in very-large-scale integration (VLSI) circuit.

First, an optimization technique by cross entropy is proposed to …

Design And Implement Dynamic Programming Based Discrete Power Level Smart Home Scheduling Using Fpga, Xin Yang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

With the development and capabilities of the Smart Home system, people today are entering an era in which household appliances are no longer just controlled by people, but also operated by a Smart System. This results in a more efficient, convenient, comfortable, and environmentally friendly living environment. A critical part of the Smart Home system is Home Automation, which means that there is a Micro-Controller Unit (MCU) to control all the household appliances and schedule their operating times. This reduces electricity bills by shifting amounts of power consumption from the on-peak hour consumption to the off-peak hour consumption, in terms …

Optical Waveguides And Structures For Short Haul Optical Communication Channels Within Printed Circuit Boards, Nicholas J. Riegel

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Optical waveguides have shown promising results for use within printed circuit boards. These optical waveguides have higher bandwidth than traditional copper transmission systems and are immune to electromagnetic interference. Design parameters for these optical waveguides are needed to ensure an optimal link budget. Modeling and simulation methods are used to determine the optimal design parameters needed in designing the waveguides. As a result, optical structures necessary for incorporating optical waveguides into printed circuit boards are designed and optimized.

Embedded siloxane polymer waveguides are investigated for their use in optical printed circuit boards. This material was chosen because it has low …

Security Evaluation Of Substation Network Architectures, Pingal Raj Sapkota

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In recent years, security of industrial control systems has been the main research focus due to the potential cyber-attacks that can impact the physical operations. As a result of these risks, there has been an urgent need to establish a stronger security protection against these threats. Conventional firewalls with stateful rules can be implemented in the critical cyberinfrastructure environment which might require constant updates. Despite the ongoing effort to maintain the rules, the protection mechanism does not restrict malicious data flows and it poses the greater risk of potential intrusion occurrence.

The contributions of this thesis are motivated by the …

Nanoscale Electrochemistry By In-Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy, Qi Gao

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Nanoscale research in energy storage has recently focused on investigating the properties of nanostructures in order to increase energy density, power rate, and capacity. To better understand the intrinsic properties of nanomaterials, a new and advanced in situ system was designed that allows atomic scale observation of materials under external fields. A special holder equipped with a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) probe inside a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) system was used to perform the in situ studies on mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical properties of nanomaterials. The nanostructures of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes are characterized by electron imaging, diffraction, and chemical …