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Motion Planning And Control Of Differential Drive Robot, Kaamesh Kothandaraman

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Motion planning and control of a differential drive robot in a supervised environment is presented in this thesis. Differential drive robot is a mobile robot with two driving wheels in which the overall velocity is split between left and right wheels. Kinematic equations are derived and implemented in Simulink to observe the theoretical working principle of the robot. A proportional controller is designed to control the motion of the robot, which is later implemented on a physical robot. Combination of linear velocity and orientation generates individual wheel velocities which are sent to the robot by wireless communication for its motion. …

Performance Prediction Of Constrained Waveform Design For Adaptive Radar, Aaron M. Jones

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Today's radars face an ever increasingly complex operational environment, intensified by the numerous types of mission/modes, number and type of targets, non-homogenous clutter and active interferers in the scene. Thus, the ability to adapt ones transmit waveform, to optimally suit the needs for a particular radar tasking and environment, becomes mandatory. This requirement brings with it a host of challenges to implement including the basic decision of what to transmit. In this dissertation, we discuss six original contributions, including the development of performance prediction models for constrained radar waveforms, that aid in the decision making process of an adaptive radar …

Modular Multi-Signal Tracking Pulse Descriptor Word (Pdw) Generator With Field Programmable Gate Array (Fpga) Implementation, Justin Darrell Pelan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

As signal spectra become dense, the task of tracking and identifying radars becomes increasingly cumbersome. The variety of radars in modern theaters of war compound the task due to simultaneous operation. Real-time processing of large data sets prove difficult for sequential systems, and the parallelism of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) becomes an attractive option. To mitigate the increasing complexity of this task, this design proposes an FPGA architecture to produce pulse descriptor words (PDW) for up to eight independent radio frequency signals that can be used in near-real-time processing. Focusing on digital hardware techniques and modular design allow for …

Electronic Warfare Receiver Resource Management And Optimization, William Metz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Optimization of electronic warfare (EW) receiver scan strategies is critical to improving the probability of surviving military missions in hostile environments. The problem is that the limited understanding of how dynamic variations in radar and EW receiver characteristics has influenced the response time to detect enemy threats. The dependent variable was the EW receiver response time and the 4 independent variables were EW receiver revisit interval, EW receiver dwell time, radar scan time, and radar illumination time. Previous researchers have not explained how dynamic variations of independent variables affected response time. The purpose of this experimental study was to develop …

Smart Fabrics For Colorimetric Detection, Breland Edwards

UROP Posters

Due to the prevalence of chemical warfare, soldiers often carry chemical sensing devices, to warn of oncoming nerve agents. However, these devices are cumbersome. A lightweight, wearable chemical sensing fabric that doubles as a protectant against toxins would be beneficial. This fabric can be created by incorporating (1) organophosphate hydrolase, an enzyme capable of degrading organophosphates and releasing an acidic by product, and (2) polyaniline, a color changing polymer that changes from purple to green in the presence of acid, into nylon or polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers. The first step is to produce fabrics containing polyaniline and demonstrate that the fabrics …

Modeling Of Selection Of Supply Sources For Hospitals, Siva Raghava Sai Rohith Valiveti

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Most of the hospitals in the USA carry out their purchasing of supplies, including pharmaceuticals, through Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO). GPO is an organization, which aggregates procuring volumes of their member hospitals and negotiates low prices from manufacturers or vendors. According to 2013 statistics, 98% of hospitals in U.S. are purchasing their bulk health care products through GPOs, and it saves U.S. health care industry approximately $36 billion annually. Through these hospitals enjoy advantages by purchasing through their GPOs, there are some disadvantages such as paying membership fees to their GPOs, restricting the purchasing power of the hospitals outside their …

A Meta-Architecture Analysis For A Coevolved System-Of-Systems, George Anthony Muller Iv

Masters Theses

"Modern engineered systems are becoming increasingly complex. This is driven in part by an increase in the use of systems-of-systems and network-centric concepts to improve system performance. The growth of systems-of-systems allows stakeholders to achieve improved performance, but also presents new challenges due to increased complexity. These challenges include managing the integration of asynchronously developed systems and assessing SoS performance in uncertain environments.

Many modern systems-of-systems must adapt to operating environment changes to maintain or improve performance. Coevolution is the result of the system and the environment adapting to changes in each other to obtain a performance advantage. The complexity …

Optical Fiber Sensors In Physical Intrusion Detection Systems: A Review, Gary Andrew Allwood, Graham Wild, Steven Hinkley

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Fiber optic sensors have become a mainstream sensing technology within a large array of applications due to their inherent benefits. They are now used significantly in structural health monitoring, and are an essential solution for monitoring harsh environments. Since their first development over 30 years ago, they have also found promise in security applications. This paper reviews all of the optical fiber-based techniques used in physical intrusion detection systems. It details the different approaches used for sensing, interrogation, and networking, by research groups, attempting to secure both commercial and residential premises from physical security breaches. The advantages and the disadvantages …

A Wavelet-Based Feature Set For Recognizing Pulse Repetition Interval Modulation Patterns, Kenan Gençol, Nuray At, Ali̇ Kara

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

No abstract provided.

Application Of Executable Architectures In Early Concept Evaluation, Ryan M. Pospisal

Theses and Dissertations

This research explores use of executable architectures to guide design decisions in the early stages of system development. Decisions made early in the system development cycle determine a majority of the total lifecycle costs as well as establish a baseline for long term system performance and thus it is vital to program success to choose favorable design alternatives. The development of a representative architecture followed the Architecture Based Evaluation Process as it provides a logical and systematic order of events to produce an architecture sufficient to document and model operational performance. In order to demonstrate the value in the application …

Effects Of Automation On Aircrew Workload And Situation Awareness In Tactical Airlift Missions, David R. Meyer

Theses and Dissertations

In tactical aviation, decision superiority brought upon by high situation awareness remains the arbiter of combat effectiveness. The advancement of sophisticated avionics and highly automated cockpits has allowed for the reduction of aircrew size, and in certain platforms, removal of the crew from the aircraft entirely. However, these developments have not reduced the complex and dynamic interaction between situation awareness and crew workload. While many predictive and experimental methods of evaluating workload exist, situation awareness can only be measured by conducting trials with human operators in a functional prototype. This thesis proposes an innovative methodology to predicatively determine situation awareness …

Developing And Testing An Anguilliform Robot Swimming With Theoretically High Hydrodynamic Efficiency, John B. Potts Iii

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

An anguilliform swimming robot replicating an idealized motion is a complex marine vehicle necessitating both a theoretical and experimental analysis to completely understand its propulsion characteristics. The ideal anguilliform motion within is theorized to produce ``wakeless'' swimming (Vorus, 2011), a reactive swimming technique that produces thrust by accelerations of the added mass in the vicinity of the body. The net circulation for the unsteady motion is theorized to be eliminated.

The robot was designed to replicate the desired, theoretical motion by applying control theory methods. Independent joint control was used due to hardware limitations. The fluid velocity vectors in the …

Data To Decisions For Cyberspace Operations, Steve Stone

Military Cyber Affairs

In 2011, the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DOD) named cyberspace a new operational domain. The U.S. Cyber Command and the Military Services are working to make the cyberspace environment a suitable place for achieving national objectives and enabling military command and control (C2). To effectively conduct cyberspace operations, DOD requires data and analysis of the Mission, Network, and Adversary. However, the DOD’s current data processing and analysis capabilities do not meet mission needs within critical operational timelines. This paper presents a summary of the data processing and analytics necessary to effectively conduct cyberspace operations.

A General-Purpose Multiphase/Multispecies Model To Predict The Spread, Percutaneous Hazard, And Contact Dynamics For Nonporous And Porous Substrates And Membranes, Homayun K. Navaz, Ali R. Zand, Amir Gat, Theresa S. Atkinson

Mechanical Engineering Publications

A computational model to solve the coupled transport equations with chemical reaction and phase change for a liquid sessile droplet or the contact and spread of a sessile droplet between two approaching porous or non-porous surfaces, is developed. The model is general therefore it can be applied to toxic chemicals (contact hazard), drug delivery through porous organs and membranes, combustion processes within porous material, and liquid movements in the ground. The equation of motion and the spread of the incompressible liquid available on the primary surface for transfer into the contacting surface while reacting with other chemicals (or water) and/or …

Ole Miss Engineer 2015-2016

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

Feasibility Of Using Raman-Based Techniques For Breast Cancer Detection, Sara Mollamohammada

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Breast cancer is one of the common types of cancer among women all over the world. Early diagnosis is an effective way that improve the treatment process and gives the patients a better chance of survival. Many of the patients infected by breast cancer choose breast conservation surgery (BCS). However, some of those will be subjected to mastectomy, and many will have tumor recurrence as there is no precise technique to show the tumor margins. Raman-based methods are powerful techniques with potential to rapidly differentiate normal from tumor tissues and provides a solution to detect tumor margin. This is because …

The Influence Of Iron On Arctic Thule Migration Patterns, Alina T. Aquino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Arctic scholars have yet to fully understand the reasons behind the migration of Thule culture from the western to the eastern Arctic. This rapid movement across such a vast area into environmentally diverse regions marks a critical period of cultural change that is usually summarized by two theoretical positions. Ecological theories postulated environmental changes placed selective pressures on traditional food sources that required Thule hunters to follow migrating prey. Theories that focused on material acquisition alternately proposed the Thule followed the trail of meteoric iron eastward into northwestern Greenland.

This research sought to examine the eastward Thule migration from another …

The Role Of Cryptography In Security For Electronic Commerce, Ann Murphy, David Murphy

The ITB Journal

Many businesses and consumers are wary of conducting business over the Internet due to a perceived lack of security. Electronic business is subject to a variety of threats such as unauthorised access, misappropriation, alteration and destruction of both data and systems. This paper explores the major security concerns of businesses and users and describes the cryptographic techniques used to reduce such risks.

Mems 411 Design Report - Modular "Do-It-All" Drone, Nicholas Okafor, Jordi Turner, David Brablec, Ike Witte

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

The main objective of this senior design project is to design and build a capability that allows different attachments (i.e. camera, flashlight, speakers, hook) to be attached and detached electromechanically from a drone. The main challenge in this project was our cost constraints. Weight is one of the most important constraints in aerial vehicles, and with a small budget, it was very challenging to find a powerful drone and manufacture light and durable parts. The modular system involved two general components: a drone retrofit and the attachments. The drone needed to be retrofitted to house additional electronics (i.e. Arduino, remote …

Examining Unmanned Aerial System Threats & Defenses: A Conceptual Analysis, Ryan J. Wallace, Jon M. Loffi

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the already complex global aviation system presents new and unique hazards. While many studies have addressed the potential safety concerns of UAS integration, little research has been dedicated to the potential security implications. This study sought to identify potential uses and adaptations of civil UAS systems as weapons of terrorism or crime and potential UAS defenses. Researchers examined 68 academic studies, unclassified government reports, and news articles using Conceptual Analysis to systematically capture and categorize various threats. Using the collected data, researchers developed a UAS threat model for categorically evaluating potential threats. …

Analysis Of Hypersonic Vehicle Wakes, Matthew A. Kania

Theses and Dissertations

As advancements are made with ballistic missiles, particularly in the area of hypersonic bodies, there is a growing need to advance the methods of detecting these new ballistic weapons. As a result, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center has asked the Air Force Institute of Technology to examine the wake region behind hypersonic bodies. A thorough understanding of the aerothermal phenomena and the chemical reactions occurring in the wake region will enable an advancement of tracking hypersonic bodies. This research examined the wake region behind a hypersonic body using computational fluid dynamics.
This study used Pointwise® to develop a …

Adaptive Automation Design And Implementation, Jason M. Bindewald

Theses and Dissertations

Automations allow us to reduce the need for humans in certain environments, such as auto-pilot features on unmanned aerial vehicles. However, some situations still require human intervention. Adaptive automation is a research field that enables computer systems to adjust the amount of automation by taking over tasks from or giving tasks back to the user. This research develops processes and insights for adaptive automation designers to take theoretical adaptive automation ideas and develop them into real-world adaptive automation system. These allow developers to design better automation systems that recognize the limits of computers systems, enabling better designs for systems in …

Exploitation Of Unintentional Ethernet Cable Emissions Using Constellation Based-Distinct Native Attribute (Cb-Dna) Fingerprints To Enhance Network Security, Timothy J. Carbino

Theses and Dissertations

This research contributed to the AFIT's Radio Frequency Intelligence (RFINT) program by developing a new device discrimination technique called Constellation-Based Distinct Native Attribute (CB-DNA) Fingerprinting. This is of great interest to the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Sensor Directorate, who supported the research and now have new method for improving network security. CB-DNA fingerprints are used to authenticate wired network device identities, thwart unauthorized access, and augment traditional bit-level security measures that area easily bypassed by skilled hackers. Similar to human fingerprint features that uniquely identify individuals, CB-DNA uniquely identifies communication devices and improves the rate at which unauthorized rogue …

Multidimensional Analysis Of Nuclear Detonations, Robert C. Slaughter

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research is to develop the methods for 3-dimensional reconstructions and temperature distributions of early time nuclear fireballs. Initial developments have resulted in the first 2-dimensional temperature distribution of a nuclear fireball using digitized film. This same process was then extended to perform the first limb darkening calculations of nuclear fireballs. Limb darkening coefficients were then used to derive a temperature profile of the nuclear fireball as a function of optical path length. A 3-dimensional reconstruction was performed using a variation of a structure from illuminance technique in combination with limb darkening coefficients to produce structure using …

Simultaneous Stress And Field Control Of Sustainable Switching Of Ferroelectric Phases, P. Finkel, M. Staruch, A. Amin, M. Ahart, Samuel E. Lofland

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

In ferroelectrics, manifestation of a strong electromechanical coupling is attributed to both engineered domain morphology and phase transformations. However, realization of large sustainable and reversible strains and polarization rotation has been limited by fatigue, nonlinearity and hysteresis losses. Here, we demonstrate that large strain and polarization rotation can be generated for over 40 × 106 cycles with little fatigue by realization of a reversible ferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition in [011] cut Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PIN-PMN-PT) relaxor ferroelectric single crystal. Direct tuning of this effect through combination of stress and applied electric field, confirmed both macroscopically and microscopically with x-ray and Raman scattering, reveals …

Interview With Martin Grasmeder, Joe Springer And Fred Barnum, Rca Heritage Program

RCA Oral History Transcripts

Interview with Martin Grasmeder, Joe Springer and Fred Barnum for the RCA Heritage Program Oral History grant.

Interview With Mike Kleidermacher, Rca Heritage Program

RCA Oral History Transcripts

Interview with Mike Kleidermacher for the RCA Heritage Program Oral History grant.

Interview With Bryan Hodgson, Rca Heritage Program

RCA Oral History Transcripts

Interview with Bryan Hodgson for the RCA Heritage Program Oral History grant.

Examining How Breakdowns In Pilot Monitoring Of The Aircraft Flight Path, Robert Sumwalt, David Cross, Dennis Lessard

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Aircraft accident and incident data reveal that serious safety consequences can arise when flight crewmembers fail to properly monitor the aircraft flight path. This research study reviewed human factors literature to better understand why pilots fail to properly monitor, and analyzed accident and incident data. Recommendations for improving monitoring performance were formulated, which may be useful to air carriers in implementing a new Federal Aviation Administration requirement that calls for specific training in monitoring.

Self-Adapting Parallel Framework For Long-Term Object Tracking, Salim Mohammed Ali

All Theses

Object tracking is a crucial field in computer vision that has many uses in human-computer interaction, security and surveillance, video communication and compression, augmented reality, traffic control, etc. Many implementations are introduced in practice, and yet recent methods emphasize on tracking objects adaptively by learning the object’s perspectives and rediscovering it when it becomes untraceable, so that object’s absence problem (in case of occlusion, cluttering or blurring) is resolved. Most of these algorithms have high computational burden on the computational units and need powerful CPUs to attain real-time tracking and high bitrate video processing. These computational units may handle no …