Digital Commons Network^™

Custom Data Acquisition System For The Cal Poly Racing Baja Team, Joe Keenan

Computer Engineering

The Cal Poly Racing Baja team relies on data to analyze and improve upon various vehicle systems in an off-road style vehicle. In order to accomplish this, some data logging or data acquisition (DAQ) is required to collect the data. This project explores the use of a controller area network with flexible data rate (CAN FD) bus along with a custom file format to store data on an SD card that can be made easily acceptable to engineers on the team.

Microstructural Evolution And Rheological Enhancement Of Asphalt–Rubber Binders: Unveiling The Role Of Morphology In Performance, Eslam Deef-Allah, Mohyeldin Ragab, Mohamed Attia, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Understanding the development of an asphalt binder's internal network structure is essential when interacting asphalt and crumb rubber. Thus, the focus of this study was to reveal the development of asphalt–rubber binders' (A-RBs) network structures at different interaction times and their correlation with performance. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was utilized to image the morphologies of the binders, and the binders' performances were explored rheologically with a dynamic shear rheometer. Extending the interaction time to 8 h and utilizing a soft binder altered the network structures from agglomerated dispersoids—minuscule distributed phase zones embedded in the continuous matrix of the asphalt binder—to …

Guidelines For Energy Technology Demonstrations, Ian M. Shapiro

SyracuseCoE

This document is intended to provide guidance to companies developing new products, researchers, organizations sponsoring product development, demonstration hosts, resident organizations, and policymakers. The guidelines were prepared to maximize the chances for success of energy technology field demonstrations. Guidance is provided for effective site recruitment, project scoping and design, installation, onsite research, and related work such as public communication and risk management, all in ways that fully engage demonstration hosts.

Development Of A Health And Wellness Assessment For Kytc Personnel, Gabriel Dadi, Farshid Taherpour, Caitlin Pope

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Highway construction workers operate in high-stress, hazardous settings where they have to perform physically taxing labor in environments where exposure to variable weather conditions, heavy equipment, high volumes of vehicle traffic, and other conditions that induce stress and anxiety are the norm. Up to 70% of workers in this industry have reported experiencing mental health issues, including secondary traumatic stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders. Few state departments of transportation, however, offer adequate resources staff can draw on to effectively manage their psychological well-being. To help Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) roadway maintenance and construction workers develop …

Prepare Lora Physical Layer For Testing In Low Earth Orbit On A Cubesat, Sammy Brunton

Electrical Engineering

This project is a collaboration with OWL Integrations, a company that specializes in adaptable, low-cost communication systems. OWL has developed a board specifically designed for space applications called the Space Quacker Advanced Development (SQuAD), which is an adaptation of their existing board called the Quaker Advanced Development (QUAD).

This project focuses on testing the existing SQuAD board design to make sure that it is flight-ready for deployment on Cal Poly CubeSat’s satellite, SAL-E. To achieve this, the project must ensure compatibility with Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions by testing the integrated high-power long-range (LoRa) receiver and enhanced hardware to meet …

2024 – 2025 Cal Poly Wind Power Ac-Dc Rectification Subsystem For Collegiate Wind Competition 2025, Ryan Rayos, Annabella Piercey, Alex Liu

Electrical Engineering

This project focuses on the design and development of a bidirectional AC-DC rectification subsystem for a wind energy conversion system (WECS), tailored for the 2025 Collegiate Wind Competition. The subsystem is defined by its core inputs and outputs where it receives AC power from the wind turbine generator and delivers stable DC power to auxiliary electronics and variable loads. Conversely, the system can also accept DC power, such as from wall power, and output AC power to drive the permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) as a motor, overcoming cogging torque and initiating turbine blade rotation. This bidirectional functionality is enabled …

Expeditionary Ocean Power Generator, Ethan Gossard, Julian Steele, Alex Gray, Hunter Herring-Alderete

Electrical Engineering

Point Absorber Wave Energy Converters are currently being explored as a new form of energy harvesting. The Naval Facilities' Expeditionary Ocean Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) has commissioned an interdisciplinary project for students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, to design a prototype Expeditionary Ocean Power Generator (ExOPG) for charging batteries in the ocean.

The Mechanical Engineering team is responsible for assembling the prototype chassis, which converts the vertical bobbing motion of a buoy into kinetic rotational energy that can be used to rotate a generator shaft. They are additionally tasked with isolating the electrical components from the harsh …

Sla Evaluation And Composition In Reconfigurable Cloud-Based Services, Michael Iannelli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Given the business model of offering data and computing services in a cloud setting, a major question arises: How do the services of one cloud provider compare to those of others? With the ubiquitous use of smartphones and tablets, the ability of a cloud provider to support QoS and client mobility becomes paramount. This research proposes a methodology for evaluating service-level agreements (SLAs) between cloud providers and their consumers, with a particular focus on dynamic SLA composition to adapt to changes in the application requirements and the external environment—such as traffic surges, security threats, or evolving business models.

In one …

Key Determinants In Electric Vehicle Charging Station Locations, Sania Pirouzi

Theses (2016-Present)

The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) requires metropolitan areas to strategically plan the placement of charging infrastructure to support accessibility, efficiency, and sustainability. This study investigates key determinants for the optimal siting of EV charging stations, using Houston, Texas, as a case study. Through a comprehensive literature review and expert consultation, eight critical criteria were identified: land use type, population density, median income level of residents in the area, vehicle ownership rate in the area, young and middle-aged residents share in the area, flood risk, traffic density and proximity to major roads, and educational attainment of the residents in …

Assessment Of White Matter Changes Using Quantitative T1Ρ Mapping In An Open-Field Low-Intensity Blast Mouse Model Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (Mtbi), Dina Moazamian, Shengwen Xie, Jiyo S. Athertya, Qingbo Tang, Roland R. Lee, Eric Y. Chang, Jeffrey M. Tomlin, Catherine E. Johnson, Jiang Du, Yajun Ma

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) occurs when shock waves travel through blood vessels and cerebrospinal fluid, leading to cerebral demyelination, which results in cognitive impairments and neuropsychiatric issues that impact quality of life. This study aims to evaluate myelin changes in white matter in mice with mTBI induced by an open-field low-intensity blast (LIB) using a newly implemented 3D adiabatic T1ρ prepared fast spin echo (Adiab-T1ρ-FSE) sequence for quantitative T1ρ MRI mapping. Thirty male C57BL/6 mice, including 15 mTBI and 15 sham controls, were scanned on a 3T Bruker MRI scanner. Luxol fast blue (LFB) staining was performed to …

Drop Ceiling Inspection Robot, Kris Chon, Henry Fang, John Hoang, Kevin Zhang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Electricians face significant health and safety hazards when inspecting drop ceilings, including exposure to dust, asbestos, and the risk of falls. To address these challenges, this project proposes a lightweight, autonomous robot capable of inspecting drop ceilings and assisting with wire tracing tasks—thereby distancing electricians from hazardous environments. The robot employs tread-based mobility to navigate fragile ceiling panels, integrated ultrasonic sensors and bumpers for obstacle avoidance, and an antenna system to detect and follow energized wire signals. Visual feedback is provided to the operator through a real-time video feed over a secure NoMachine interface, with manual and semi-autonomous operation modes …

Electroporation Protocol Development For Cal Poly Cell Therapy Laboratory Courses, Gabrielle Melamed

Biomedical Engineering

Cancer is a heterogeneous disease caused by unchecked cell proliferation. The disease contributed to 9.7 million deaths worldwide in 2022, with hematological malignancies (leukemias, lymphomas, and myelomas) accounting for over 1.4 million deaths in the United States from 1999 to 2020. This thesis focuses on the treatment of these cancers, with an emphasis on non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs). R-CHOP (Rituximab-Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin hydrochloride, Oncovin/Vincristine, and Prednisone) is the standard of care first-line treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common subtype of NHL, and encompasses a mixture of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and corticosteroids. The R-CHOP regimen cures 50% to 70% patients, …

Piezoelectric Actuator Driver System, Daniel Hoefer

Electrical Engineering

This work presents the design, fabrication, and testing of a high-voltage piezoelectric actuator driver system purposed for integration into defense and aerospace precision motion control applications, particularly those in laser optics. The core challenge addressed was the mismatch between the standardized 28V DC power bus used in military systems and the significantly higher voltage requirements of piezoelectric actuators. Existing commercial drivers were evaluated and found unsuitable for field deployment due to inadequate ruggedness, excessive complexity, or power limitations. Consequently, a modular system architecture was designed featuring four independent driver channels, each using a high-voltage, high-current linear amplifier topology to scale …

Direction Finding From Aerial Platforms With Amateur Radio Arrays, Ben Duval Iii, Esteban Perez

Electrical Engineering

This senior project presents the development of a communication network designed to remotely control and program a distributed digital antenna array for autonomous synchronization and calibration. The system facilitates command transmission using a custom BPSK communication protocol operating in the UHF band (430–450 MHz) and employs a two-tone waveform to extract frequency, phase, and timing offsets between array nodes. These offsets are critical for aligning received signals in preparation for digital beamforming. The array comprises four nodes: three aerial units and one ground-based control unit. Each node is built using a LimeSDR Mini 2.0, Raspberry Pi, portable battery pack, and …

Mesh-Networked Uav Swarm: Experimental Leader-Follower Formation Control, Toma Grundler, Jack Ryan

Electrical Engineering

In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have demonstrated significant potential for multi-agent coordination applications, yet reliable formation control algorithms remain challenging to implement in real-world environments. This report presents the design, simulation, and hardware implementation of four leader-follower formation control strategies for UAV swarms. The implemented algorithms include a semi-rigid PI controller based on forward and lateral distance error, a hybrid PID controller utilizing mixed error signals with velocity and position feedback, a simplified velocity-based PID controller operating on individual coordinate components, and a GPS offset controller with direct positional control. MATLAB simulation validated controller performance in four different …

Framework For Multi-Agent Coordination And Distributed Localization In Micro-Uavs, Minwoo Park, Nikolas Tambornini

Electrical Engineering

Micro-UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) due to their inexpensive nature and compact form factor have shown an increase in prevalence throughout a multitude of applications including, but not limited to: search and rescue, military reconnaissance, and agriculture monitoring. However, for a majority of these high impact applications, a swarm of micro-UAVs are required and furthermore mandate that they are able to cooperatively and autonomously coordinate with each other. For long, controlling and communicating between a user and a singular micro-UAV has been a well known and solved problem, however the same can't be said for swarms of micro-UAVs. This project seeks …

Synthetic Aperture Radar Processing For Increased Resolution Of Englacial Strata, Ava Stockman

Electrical Engineering

Glaciological research relies on a variety of remote-sensing methods to study the internal structure of glaciers and other bodies of ice. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) serves as one method for imaging large cross sections of englacial strata, reducing the need for labor-intensive, costly, and hazardous ice coring expeditions and operations. Characterizing englacial structures using SAR images allows scientists to learn about the ice dynamics of past and present which provides the basis for discoveries about climate history and glacial dynamics. This project explores the benefits of employing various SAR processing methods to raw phase history data acquired through the British …

Digital Drone Arrays: Two-Tone Communication, Armin Behbahani, Alejandro Martin Cosper, Landon Leroy John Foster, Mont Ziadoon Murad

Electrical Engineering

Over the last few years, there has been great interest in distributed antenna arrays. These arrays require each element to be precisely located and synchronized with each other in time, phase, and frequency. To this end, a drone-mounted, two-tone communication system was developed. It uses a transmit-retransmit-receive architecture, which obtains all of the necessary data required to compute and correct the phase, frequency, and time differences between each element while estimating distance. When integrated into a distributed array of drones, this two-tone communication system will be essential for reliable operation.

Test Equipment Automation And Remote Operation Curriculum Senior Project, Raheel Rehmatullah

Electrical Engineering

The goal of this project is to create new lab procedures and lab bench permutations for Cal Poly EE students to implement automated Test and Measurement equipment into their electrical engineering education. Currently EE students at Cal Poly have no classroom based opportunities to learn about leveraging software skills and test equipment knowledge in order to automate measurements, which is a valuable skill for an electrical engineer in the workforce. The curriculum outlined in this project will include three experiments, each leveraging an instrument controller, and Python as the primary scripting language. Each procedure will require students to write Python …

Project Owl: Quad Rc2, Ethan Cy Zane

Electrical Engineering

Quad RC2 is a new radio designed to be compatible with the Cluster Duck Protocol (CDP). It must be able to act as all parts of the mesh network and be able to find its location with GPS. Much of the RC2 effort is already completed. This project ports the previously developed firmware to the new board and runs tests to assess its capabilities.

An Analysis Of The Power Consumption Of Various Computer Vision Machine Learning Techniques On A Microcontroller Utilizing The Clusterduck Protocol, Kaveh Shafiei

Electrical Engineering

Constant data processing is essential for effective data collection, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach areas. The need for efficient, autonomous data acquisition and transmission is increasingly addressed by integrating machine learning within larger communication networks. This paper explores the application of machine learning techniques with Internet of Things (IoT) mesh networks. Utilizing the LoRa communication protocol, data is captured and analyzed on an edge device and transmitted to a larger communication network. The ClusterDuck Protocol (CDP), developed by OWL Integrations, serves as an IoT mesh network designed to allow for communication in areas lacking traditional static infrastructure such as WiFi …

Leader-Follower Platooning With Turtlebot3: A Low-Cost Ros Test-Bed Using Vision-Lidar Fusion, Patrick Kelly Crandall, Kalon Ma Bienz

Electrical Engineering

This report presents the design, implementation, and indoor validation of a two-robot leader–follower platoon built on low-cost Turtlebot3 platforms. Each robot runs ROS Noetic on an on-board Raspberry Pi 4, fusing a fisheye camera for HSV-based lane detection with an LDS-02 LiDAR for clustering-based leader identification. A dual-loop architecture (PD steering for lateral control and PID for longitudinal gap regulation) maintains a 0.40m headway and keeps the follower centered within +/- 5 cm of the lane midline, without any inter-vehicle communication or external localization. Track experiments at speeds up to 0.18m/s achieved mean gap error of +/- 3 cm and …

Graduate School Blog - June 2025, Cynthia Haynes

UofM Grad School Blog

The June 2025 edition of the UofM Graduate School Blog helps prospective and current students make informed financial decisions with Part 1 of the Graduate School Cost Guide, breaking down tuition structures such as per-credit hour versus flat-rate models, highlighting UofM’s tuition cap for in-state students, and explaining key university fees and cost differences between online and on-campus formats. The blog also features Brianna Reilly, a Doctor of Musical Arts graduate from New York, who shares how a graduate assistantship and her passion for music education led her to continue at UofM through the pandemic. Additional resources include an …

Rotating Scatter Mask System Optimization Study For Determining Optimal Image Recreation, Seth L. Grover

Theses and Dissertations

The Rotating Scatter Mask (RSM) system is a radiation imaging technology currently limited by the mask design and governing identification algorithm parameters. To optimize the RSM design, Dakota—an optimization software—was integrated with a ray tracing code that simulates particle interactions with the RSM detector, and with the Locally Competitive Algorithm (LCA), which reconstructs the source image based on the ray tracing code’s Detector Response Matrix (DRM). Since the original ray tracing code was developed in MATLAB, it was translated into Python to improve compatibility with both Dakota and LCA. The Python version of the ray tracing code was then integrated …

War, Wounds, And Strategy: Patient Movement Lessons From The World Wars For Great Power Competition, Phillip R. Jenkins

Faculty Publications

This thesis examines the evolution of the U.S. military's patient movement system during World War I and World War II to evaluate how well it may perform under the conditions of future large-scale combat operations. It asks whether the United States can move, treat, and sustain wounded personnel at the scale and pace required to preserve combat power in a prolonged, high-intensity conflict. Using detailed case studies of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, the analysis focuses on how transportation platforms, organizational structure, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) shaped patient movement under conditions of attrition, disruption, and …

Foot Pedal Assistive Device, Julian Rubinstein, Connor Jessen, Isabelle Utsler, Sydney Alexander

Mechanical Engineering

Individuals with lower-limb mobility problems may have trouble accurately locating the pedals of a three-pedal manual transmission car, and some medical conditions cause individuals to fatigue more quickly when driving. This project aimed to create a device that assists in locating the user’s feet, indicates to the user which pedals are currently in use, and provides a visual and physical warning if they are not in the correct place. The project sponsor, Alan Keizer, is the primary stakeholder in this project. This device will be designed specifically for Alan’s Subaru BRZ and will address Alan’s specific lower-limb mobility issues that …

Van Accessibility, Ann Larson, Camelia Anne Noureddine, Stephanie Rose Ruzicka, Kayla Joanne Gowey

Mechanical Engineering

The SLO Achievement House provides resources and activities for their clients, including daily trips to different parts of the community, to keep their clients connected to society. These trips require the clients, many of whom struggle with general mobility and strength, to step up to the high entrance of a van or company car. This daily activity poses a challenge both physically and emotionally for the clients. The current solution utilizes commercially available step stools, which lack handrails, overall stability, and adequate step depth. The Achievement House needs a stool or ramp tailored to their client’s needs and their specific …

7lr-C Upper Limb Dancing Prosthetic, Victor Ochoa, Zoe Kelemen, Ged Mulingtapang, Marley Paltiel

Mechanical Engineering

Ella Wallis, a student at Cal Poly and performer in the Cal Poly Drag Club with a trans humeral upper limb difference, wants a prosthetic device that allows for a large range of motion and high degree of articulation to help them better dance in the style of voguing, allowing them to express themselves further while performing. The prosthetic arm is body-driven and relies on momentum to reposition. It attaches to the user through a harness, which is clipped to a socket with elastic straps to not impede the shoulder’s range of motion. The design contains urethane resin, aluminum, stainless …

Uv Vessel Hoist Scope Of Work, Quinn J. Horak, Harvey Perkins, Andrew A. Osborn, Mikayla H. Nieman

Mechanical Engineering

The San Luis Obispo Wastewater Treatment Plant uses ultraviolet (UV) tubes to purify water. These tubes are cleaned by an internal wiping mechanism that must be removed for servicing and replacing damaged tubes. Currently, this is accomplished by using an engine hoist, but this method requires a large amount of effort and is not safe. Technicians have requested a new method of lifting wiper mechanisms that is safer, faster, and easier to use than their current method.

To solve this problem, we have developed a design that consists of a custom gantry crane with a hoist on a trolley. The …

Trailer Transport System For Multi-Ton Bins, Joanna Lizbeth Bendy, Kevin Matthew Creel, Annelise Vaara Cuneo, Hugo Alonso Valdez

Mechanical Engineering

This project aimed to improve the process of transporting 10,000-pound industrial waste bins. The current method for relocating these bins poses safety risks and requires significant manual effort. This project presents a conceptual solution that enables a single operator to efficiently and safely move roll-off bins using a custom-designed trailer system. The design incorporates three main subsystems: a trailer frame, an integrated winch system, and an off-the-market puller device to guide and secure the bin during transport. Two scaled proof-of-concept prototypes were fabricated to evaluate key aspects of the system's functionality. Testing and analysis suggested that the system is viable …