Digital Commons Network^™

Solar Powered Electric Bicycle, Joseph Kent Debruynkops

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

A solar-powered electric bike that is useful for college students.

Barker Bird Animatronic Senior Project Report, Marcus Monroe, Nolan Clapp, Ishan Jandaur, Jonathan Ogden

Mechanical Engineering

This document describes how our F71 Senior Design Project team developed a 3D printed, electronic bird that mimics Disneyland’s first animatronic, the Barker Bird. An animatronic is a mechanical puppet that replicates real life movement with robotic parts. Disney’s Barker Bird is a well-known animatronic that replicates a talking macaw with multiple moving systems. The final prototype completed by our team serves as a teaching tool for CAPED (Cal Poly Amusement Park Engineers and Designers) club members that are interested in the field of animated robots.

Baker/Koob Final Report: Solar Solution For Mini Mars Rover, Jonathan Cederquist, Cole Korchek, Derick Louie, Michaella Ochotorena, Collin Petersen

Mechanical Engineering

This project focused on designing, building, and testing a functional prototype of a collapsible solar array on the mini Mars rover being developed by client and sponsor, Mr. Rich Murray. Although many previous collapsible solar arrays have been deployed for space missions, the previous solar-powered Mars rovers only deployed their arrays once upon landing. This solar array will be able to collapse and deploy multiple times to allow for greater rover mobility and stability when the rover is not charging. This system is critical to the success of the rover project because it provides power without which the rover cannot …

Smart Usb-C Wall Plug For The Dc House Project, Ridge Lahti, Dino Maslic

Electrical Engineering

DC operated devices and appliances powered by AC systems suffer inefficiencies resulting from the losses of converting AC energy into DC energy. At Cal Poly, the DC House Project aims to minimize the need for AC electricity in homes and encourage the use of renewable energy systems. The DC House uses a 48V DC bus that must be stepped down for use with increasing number of DC loads in a typical home. In this project, a Smart USB-C Wall Plug is designed to work with USB Power Delivery to provide a variable voltage output for use with these DC loads …

Current-Source Dc-Dc Converter, Rocio Sanchez-Mendoza, Carlos Aguilar, Adrian Aranjo

Electrical Engineering

In this project, a hardware implementation of a current-source DC-DC converter for powering sensors used in an underwater communications system is presented. The proposed converter is designed to step down an input current of 0.9 A to 0.625 A, while maintaining an output voltage of 24 V and output power of 15 W. An overview of the system design is explained as well as the component selection process. The design of the converter was simulated and evaluated using LTspice before being physically constructed on a printed circuit board. Performance evaluation of the proposed converter was carried out in multiple lab …

Standalone Wireless Humming Music Synthesizer, Elizaveta Viktorovna Koush, Conrad Kinsey, Alberto Munoz

Electrical Engineering

This project, called a standalone wireless humming music synthesizer, aimed to provide a tool for musicians to make creating music easier. It did this by removing learning barriers and adding an assistive functionality element that current synthesizers fail to address.

Existing methods for synthesizers typically include a keyboard or some collection of buttons to play melodies on. This requires the knowledge of music theory and a learning curve for the instrument, and this device aims to tackle this barrier. A device that can synthesize your voice into high-quality audio removes this musical knowledge barrier and allows anyone to easily convert …

Mars Prototype Rover Environmental Measurement System, James A. Renick

Computer Engineering

In my senior project, the problem I am trying to solve is how to efficiently design, create, and install an original library onto a Mars prototype rover operating system and to further use that library to integrate a new weather measurement sensor device into the rover system with the necessary software and hardware implementations. This is an important and highly valued problem as many aerospace and other engineering companies utilize rovers and other autonomous systems for important research, explorations, and reconnaissance missions and goals. In solving this problem, I utilized many resources that were available to me such as advisors, …

Developing A Miniature Smart Boat For Marine Research, Michael Isaac Eirinberg

Computer Engineering

This project examines the development of a smart boat which could serve as a possible marine research apparatus. The smart boat consists of a miniature vessel containing a low-cost microcontroller to live stream a camera feed, GPS telemetry, and compass data through its own WiFi access point. The smart boat also has the potential for autonomous navigation. My project captivated the interest of several members of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s (Cal Poly SLO) Marine Science Department faculty, who proposed a variety of fascinating and valuable smart boat applications.

Smart Bottle Ble Integration, Joshua M. Rizzolo

Electrical Engineering

In 1975, four percent of children aged five to nineteen were categorized as overweight or obese. As of 2016, this figure climbed above 18 percent [1]. Researchers at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) want to investigate the effect of overeating in early childhood on later childhood obesity. This research requires collecting feeding pattern data on infants, which proves challenging. Parents cannot be relied on to regularly collect clean data due to factors including work schedule, multitasking, and general exhaustion. Thus, we have developed a tool to automatically collect data on feeding frequency and duration, as well …

Signal Adc Converter Simulation On Cadence Virtuoso For Audio Applications, Maxwell Kazuki Fukada

Electrical Engineering

Audio signals are representations of sounds with a mixture of multiple analog signals between the frequency of 20Hz to 20,000Hz. To record snippets of audio data onto a mobile phone or computer, the signal needs to be converted to a digital format. For this purpose, many devices utilize a converter, specifically a sigma-delta modulator with a digital filter. By using a converter, electronics can receive binary data about the audio signal accurately and quickly without losing important signal information. This project aims to simulate a fully functional audio converter with a sigma-delta modulator and decimation filter. The system will receive …

Bicep Muscle Rep Counter With Semg, Matthew Max Garcia

Electrical Engineering

The Bicep Muscle Rep Counter with SEMG is a device that was made to develop three repetition thresholds or difficulty levels from a fully-flexed bicep brachii muscle and signal to the user when consequent bicep muscle contractions pass said thresholds or levels. This device can be used when performing a bicep-focused movement or when generally flexing the bicep muscle. Essentially, this device serves to make sure each repetition of a muscle contraction passes a percentage value calculated from the electrical activity outputted from a max contraction.

The device is not designed for and does not produce data for muscle growth, …

Hum Synthesizer, Daniel Keith Mcfall, Jason Chang

Electrical Engineering

Most modern music, especially the popular and rising genres such as pop music and rap music are more reliant on music synthesizers than ever before. While other instruments are readily used to sample background noises, the main form of sound generation is becoming more digital rather than using acoustic instruments. However, many people that want to make music aren’t familiarized with traditional music theory and would have difficulty using a traditional synthesizer. The Hum Synthesizer aims to allow a wider audience to access the functions of a traditional synthesizer by using voice controls rather than keyboard controls. If the user …

Multifamily Complex Smart Locks For Property Management And Tenant Security, April Mills, Allen Chen, Dana Kumamoto, Michael Cook

Mechanical Engineering

Maintaining and managing hundreds of locks and physical keys for an apartment complex can be time consuming and costly, especially when the apartments turn over to new tenants. Our goal was to develop a smart door lock that is compatible with Obodo’s management app for apartment complexes to make accessing apartments secure and simpler for tenants and easier to manage for owners.

We designed and manufactured one smart door lock that is powered with four AA batteries and utilizes a dynamic NFC device and Bluetooth technology. The board can enter a sleep mode which reduces power consumption. The dynamic NFC …

Neural Network Based Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer Using The Breakhis Dataset, Ross E. Dalke

Master's Theses

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the world, and it is the second deadliest cancer for females. In the fight against breast cancer, early detection plays a large role in saving people’s lives. In this work, an image classifier is designed to diagnose breast tumors as benign or malignant. The classifier is designed with a neural network and trained on the BreakHis dataset. After creating the initial design, a variety of methods are used to try to improve the performance of the classifier. These methods include preprocessing, increasing the number of training epochs, changing network architecture, …

Designing A Halbach Rotor Magnetic Gear For A Marine Hydrokinetic Generator, Hossein Baninajar, Sina Modaresahmadi, H. Y. Wong, Jonathan Bird, W. Williams, B. Dechant

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents the electromagnetic and mechanical design as well as experimental testing results for a 9.5:1 gear ratio, series connected, coaxial magnetic gear (MG) for use in a marine hydrokinetic generator. A 2-D and 3-D magnetostatic finite element analysis (FEA) sizing analysis was also conducted and a torque density comparison between using a nested or series MG typology is presented. To achieve a high torque density a four-segment per pole-pair Halbach rotor assembly with a unique slotted Halbach magnet arrangement was used that enables the Halbach rotor magnets to be more easily assembled, even with dimensional tolerance inaccuracies. A …

Reliability Study Of Electrical Distribution System With Local And Interregional Bidirectional Centralized Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, Janine Gian Christii C. Darato

Master's Theses

In this thesis, a method was developed to evaluate the impact of bidirectional electric vehicle (EV) charging on power system reliability using Synergi Electric software. Load profiles, EV availability, EV state-of-charge (SOC) were important factors considered in this study. The analysis in this study is based on local and interregional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) implementation at different load points in the system. In general, local V2G implementation is observed to be more effective in improving system reliability over interregional V2G power flow. System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) improvements were observed to increase with increasing …

Design Of An Automotive Iot Device To Improve Driver Fault Detection Through Road Class Estimation, Matt Murray

Master's Theses

Unsafe driver habits pose a serious threat to all vehicles on the road. This thesis outlines the development of an automotive IoT device capable of monitoring and reporting adverse driver habits to mitigate the occurrence of unsafe practices. The driver habits targeted are harsh braking, harsh acceleration, harsh cornering, speeding and over revving the vehicle. With the intention of evaluating and expanding upon the industry method of fault detection, a working prototype is designed to handle initialization, data collection, vehicle state tracking, fault detection and communication. A method of decoding the broadcasted messages on the vehicle bus is presented and …

Bearing Fault Detection And Classification Using Artificial Neural Networks, Harnak Singh

Master's Theses

Bearings are the essential components of modern rotating machines. Bearing faults can cause severe machine damages or even breakdowns.

In recent years, artificial intelligence and deep learning have been successfully applied to fault detection. In this thesis, convolutional neural networks (CNN) are employed for bearing fault detection and classification. Computer simulations results demonstrate that the CNN based approach is advantageous over the conventional regression model, with an overall accuracy of 99.5%.

Microgrid Laboratory Wind Energy Integration, Vincent Liang

Master's Theses

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Electrical Engineering Department and the Power Energy Institute have developed a microgrid laboratory with various generators, loads, and protection systems over the past several years. To improve and make the Cal Poly microgrid laboratory more realistic, this thesis outlines the process of improving the EE microgrid setup by adding a wind energy generation system via an induction generator, excitation capacitors, and a protection relay. By adding an induction generator, the microgrid system becomes more resilient to sudden power fluctuations by maintaining a stable voltage and frequency when the microgrid is islanded. To test this, a …

X-Band Rf Transmitter Design For Multi-Purpose Small Satellite Communication Operations, Omer F. Gumus

Master's Theses

This thesis provides a description of the analysis, design, and tests of an X-band RF Transmitter communication system for small satellites. X-band transmitter systems are becoming popular in the upcoming deep space missions. Most of the deep-space ground stations have been using X-band frequencies to receive or transmit signals. The X-band (<10 GHz) can offer lower atmospheric losses and up to a couple of Mbps data rates for multiple satellite operations. Nowadays, many small satellites have been using frequency bands such as VHF, UHF, L, and S-band frequencies for communication. From deep space to the ground station, the low-frequency ranges are inadequate in providing Mbps level data rates and enough bandwidth for deep space missions.

The main focus of this thesis was the development of the subsystems such as gain block amplifier, Mixer, Bandpass Filter, and RF power amplifier. The subsystems were designed separately, then they were connected together to perform an end-to-end system test. One of the thesis aims is to design …

Methods For Focal Plane Array Resolution Estimation Using Random Laser Speckle In Non-Paraxial Geometries, Phillip J. Plummer

Theses and Dissertations

The infrared (IR) imaging community has a need for direct IR detector evaluation due to the continued demand for small pixel pitch detectors, the emergence of strained-layer-super-lattice devices, and the associated lateral carrier diffusion issues. Conventional laser speckle-based modulation transfer function (MTF) estimation is dependent on Fresnel propagation and a wide-sense-stationary input random process, limiting the use of this approach for lambda (wavelength)-scale IR devices. This dissertation develops two alternative methodologies for speckle-based resolution evaluation of IR focal plane arrays (FPAs). Both techniques are formulated using Rayleigh-Sommerfield electric field propagation, making them valid in the non-paraxial geometries dictated for resolution …

Full Pattern Analysis And Comparison Of The Center Fed And Offset Fed Cassegrain Antennas With Large Focal Length To Diameter Ratios For High Power Microwave Transmission, Derek W. Mantzke

Theses and Dissertations

High power microwaves (HPM) have been a topic of research since the Cold War era. This paper will present a comparison between two Cassegrain-type antennas: the axially, or center fed, and the offset fed. Specifically, the 10 GHz operating frequency will be investigated with large focal length to diameter () ratios. Beam patterns which encompass the entire radiation pattern will be included for data validation and optimization. The simulations will follow a design of experiments factorial model to ensure all possible combinations of prescribed parameters are included, including an analysis of variance (ANOVA) study to find parameter influence on the …

Effects Of Motion Measurement Errors On Radar Target Detection, Darnell D. Parker

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the relationships present between signal-to-clutter ratios, motion measurement errors, image quality metrics, and the task of target detection, in order to discover what factor merit greater focus in order to attain the highest probability of target detection success. This investigation is accomplished by running a high number of Monte Carlo trials through a coherent target detector and analyzing the results. The aforementioned relationships are demonstrated via sample synthetic aperture radar imagery, histograms, receiver operating characteristics curves, and error bar plots.

Influence Of Materials And Design Parameters On Zinc Oxide Surface Acoustic Devices, Samuel B. Dewhitt

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents research into Zinc Oxide (ZnO) based resonators to include Width Extensional Mode (WEM), Length Extensional Mode (LEM), and Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) devices. The design and operation of ZnO based SAW devices are investigated further to characterize design parameters and operating modes. Their design, fabrication, and results are discussed in detail. SAW device testing in conjunction with X-Ray Diffractometry (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) are utilized to characterize ZnO and its deposition parameters on a variety of different substrates and interlayers, with different deposition temperatures and annealing parameters. These substrates include silicon, silicon oxide-on-silicon, and sapphire …

Polarization-Based Image Segmentation And Height Estimation For Interferometric Sar, Augusta J. Vande Hey

Theses and Dissertations

To find scatterers in a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image, a modification is proposed to improve peak region segmentation (PRS) with region merging. The modification considers the polarization of each pixel before it is added to a segment to ensure the segment only contains pixels of the same polarization. Prior to region merging, the polarization of the segments is compared, so that only segments with the same polarization are merged into a single region. The segmented regions are used to find the height of each scatterer through interferometric SAR (IFSAR) processing. Multiple methods of IFSAR are examined to find the …

Skip The Grid: Giving Power To Navajo Nation, Ryan J. Schacherbauer

Construction Management

Skip the Grid is a project organized by Heart of America, a nonprofit, looking to improve the education and overall wellbeing of children and their families. Many residents within Navajo Nation do not have access to continuous power and rely on temporary generators or car battery to obtain any kind of electricity. Heart of America partnered with the Red Mesa School District to identify families that did not have power, which was impacting the children’s ability to complete their online schoolwork. This senior project was comprised of an interdisciplinary team responsible for installing a working solar system on twelve homes …

Parallel Higher Order Dgtd And Fetd For Transient Electromagnetic-Circuital-Thermal Co-Simulation, Huan Huan Zhang, Pan Pan Wang, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Wei E.I. Sha, Mei Song Tong, Ying Liu, Wei Jun Wu, Guang Ming Shi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A hybrid higher order discontinuous Galerkin time-domain (DGTD) method and finite-element time-domain (FETD) method with parallel technique is proposed for electromagnetic (EM)-circuital-thermal co-simulation in this article. For electromagnetic simulation, DGTD method with higher order hierarchical vector basis functions is used to solve Maxwell equation. Circuit simulation is carried out by modified nodal analysis method. For thermal simulation, FETD method with higher order interpolation scalar basis functions is adopted to solve heat conduction equation. To implement electromagnetic-circuital-thermal co-simulation, the electromagnetic and circuital equations are strongly coupled through voltages, currents, and electric fields at the lumped ports first. Then the electromagnetic and …

Robust Detection Of Coronary Heart Disease Using Machine Learning Algorithms, Anas Haitham Domyati

Theses

Predicting whether or not someone will get heart or cardiac disease is now one of the most difficult jobs in the area of medicine. Heart disease is responsible for the deaths of about one person per minute in the contemporary age. Processing the vast amounts of data that are generated in the field of healthcare is an important application for data science. Because predicting cardiac disease is a difficult undertaking, there is a pressing need to automate the prediction process to minimize the dangers that are connected with it and provide the patient with timely warning. The chapter one in …

Runtime Energy Savings Based On Machine Learning Models For Multicore Applications, Vaibhav Sundriyal, Masha Sosonkina

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

To improve the power consumption of parallel applications at the runtime, modern processors provide frequency scaling and power limiting capabilities. In this work, a runtime strategy is proposed to maximize energy savings under a given performance degradation. Machine learning techniques were utilized to develop performance models which would provide accurate performance prediction with change in operating core-uncore frequency. Experiments, performed on a node (28 cores) of a modern computing platform showed significant energy savings of as much as 26% with performance degradation of as low as 5% under the proposed strategy compared with the execution in the unlimited power case.

Improving The Performance And Evaluation Of Computer-Assisted Semen Analysis, Ji-Won Choi

Dissertations

Semen analysis is performed routinely in fertility clinics to analyze the quality of semen and sperm cells of male patients. The analysis is typically performed by trained technicians or by Computer-Assisted Semen Analysis (CASA) systems. Manual semen analysis performed by technicians is subjective, time-consuming, and laborious, and yet most fertility clinics perform semen analysis in this manner. CASA systems, which are designed to perform the same tasks automatically, have a considerable market share, yet many studies still express concerns about their accuracy and consistency. In this dissertation, the focus is on detection, tracking, and classification of sperm cells in semen …