Digital Commons Network^™

Analysis And Optimization Of Colorimetric Nanosensors For Rapid Detection Of Microbes In Water, Ruby A. Lang

Master's Theses

Access to safe water is a basic human right recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 (WHO, 2020). However, a least 2.2 billion people globally still are without safely managed water services meaning they use a drinking water source that can be contaminated with faeces (WHO, 2020). With such a pressing global health issue, it is clear that improvement to water systems is important and required in the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, to improve water systems and prove they are safe water sources, water quality testing must occur. A solution to this issue is the …

Pier Portal, Alec W. Hardy

Master's Theses

The Pier Portal marine monitoring system is an internet controlled underwater camera that will enable students, researchers, and the general public the ability to monitor underwater marine life and ocean conditions. Installed at Cal Poly’s Center for Coastal Marine Science pier at Avila Beach, California, the camera can be commanded in real-time to raise or lower to any position between the top of the pier and the bottom of the ocean floor, while providing a live-stream video to the operator and general public. This thesis effort focused on the integration of the various subsystem components through software, and the development …

Three Axis Attitude Control System Design And Analysis Tool Development For The Cal Poly Cubesat Laboratory, Liam T. Bruno

Master's Theses

The Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory (CPCL) is currently facing unprecedented engineering challenges—both technically and programmatically—due to the increasing cost and complexity of CubeSat flight missions. In responding to recent RFPs, the CPCL has been forced to find commercially available solutions to entire mission critical spacecraft subsystems such as propulsion and attitude determination & control, because currently no in-house options exist for consideration. The commercially available solutions for these subsystems are often extremely expensive and sometimes provide excessively good performance with respect to mission requirements. Furthermore, use of entire commercial subsystems detracts from the hands-on learning objectives of the CPCL by …

Wearable Heart Sound And Ekg Recorder, Grace R. Larson

Master's Theses

Acute congestive heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Patients often undergo repeated hospitalizations with an annual cost in excess of $32B dollars. Early detection of impending acute congestion allows for pharmaceutical interdiction that prevents hospitalization, improves outcomes, and reduces healthcare spending. A subcutaneous implantable monitoring device that detects impending acute congestive heart failure by using heart sounds may provide a valuable tool that can be used to titrate heart failure medications to prevent acute heart failure requiring hospitalization. The device may be used to measure changes in the intervals between the R-wave and S1 and S2 …

Design Of A Martian Communication Constellation Of Cubesats, Scott J. Pirkle

Master's Theses

Spacecraft operating on the Martian surface have used relay satellites as a means of improving communication capabilities, mainly in terms of bandwidth and availability. However, the spacecraft used to achieve this have been large spacecraft (1000s of kilograms) and were not designed with relay capability as the design priority. This thesis explores the possibility of using a CubeSat-based constellation as a communications network for spacecraft operating on the Martian surface. Brute-force techniques are employed to explore the design space of possible constellations. An analysis of constellation configurations that provide complete, continuous coverage of the Martian surface is presented. The stability …

Flexible Fault Tolerance For The Robot Operating System, Sukhman S. Marok

Master's Theses

The introduction of autonomous vehicles has the potential to reduce the number of accidents and save countless lives. These benefits can only be realized if autonomous vehicles can prove to be safer than human drivers. There is a large amount of active research around developing robust algorithms for all parts of the autonomous vehicle stack including sensing, localization, mapping, perception, prediction, planning, and control. Additionally, some of these research projects have involved the use of the Robot Operating System (ROS). However, another key aspect of realizing an autonomous vehicle is a fault-tolerant design that can ensure the safe operation of …

Development And Characterization Of An Iot Network For Agricultural Imaging Applications, Jacob D. Wahl

Master's Theses

Smart agriculture is an increasingly popular field in which the technology of wireless sensor networks (WSN) has played a large role. Significant research has been done at Cal Poly and elsewhere to develop a computer vision (CV) and machine learning (ML) pipeline to monitor crops and accurately predict crop yield numbers. By autonomously providing farmers with this data, both time and money are saved. During the past development of a prediction pipeline, the primary focuses were CV and ML processing while a lack of attention was given to the collection of quality image data. This lack of focus in previous …

Indoor Positioning Using Acoustic Pseudo-Noise Based Time Difference Of Arrival, Nicholas J. Luong

Master's Theses

The Global Positioning System (GPS) provides good precision on a global scale, but is not suitable for indoor applications. Indoor positioning systems (IPS) aim to provide high precision position information in an indoor environment. IPS has huge market opportunity with a growing number of commercial and consumer applications especially as Internet of Things (IoT) develops. This paper studies an IPS approach using audible sound and pseudo-noise (PN) based time difference of arrival (TDoA). The system’s infrastructure consists of synchronized speakers. The object to be located, or receiver, extracts TDoA information and uses multilateration to calculate its position. The proposed IPS …

Distance Estimation Using Ofdm Signals For Ultrasonic Positioning, Kyman Huang

Master's Theses

This paper describes a method of estimating distance via Time-of-Flight (TOF) measurement using ultrasonic Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signals. Using OFDM signals allows the signals and their sub-carriers to remain orthogonal to each other while continuously transmitting. This estimation method is based on the change of phase of a traveling wave as it propagates through a medium (air for ultrasonic signals). By using signals containing multiple tones, the phase change between each frequency component is slightly different. This phase difference is dependent on the distance traveled and can thus be used to estimate distance. This paper studies the impact …

The Influence Of The Sensory Environment On Avian Reproductive Success And Human Well-Being, Danielle Marie Ferraro

Master's Theses

Sensory pollutants such as anthropogenic noise and night lighting now expose much of the world to evolutionarily novel sound and night lighting conditions, which can have detrimental effects on humans and wildlife. In my first chapter, we exposed wild Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) nestlings to noise, light, and combination (i.e., noise and light) treatments. Nests exposed to noise and light together experienced less predation than control and light-exposed nests, and noise-exposed nests experienced less predation than control nests, yet overall nest success was only higher in noise-exposed nests compared to light-exposed nests. Although exposure to light decreased nestling body condition …

Conceptual Design Of A South Pole Carrier Pigeon Uav, Kendrick M. Dlima

Master's Theses

Currently, the South Pole has a large data problem. It is estimated that 1.2 TB of data is being produced every day, but less than 500 GB of that data is being uploaded via aging satellites to researchers in other parts of the world. This requires those at the South Pole to analyze the data and carefully select the parts to send, possibly missing out on vital scientific information. The South Pole Carrier Pigeon will look to bridge this data gap.

The Carrier Pigeon will be a small unmanned aerial vehicle that will carry a 30 TB solid-state hard drive …

Design, Validation, And Verification Of The Cal Poly Educational Cubesat Kit Structure, Nicholas B. Snyder

Master's Theses

In this thesis, the development of a structure for use in an educational CubeSat kit is explored. The potential uses of this kit include augmenting existing curricula with aspects of hands on learning, developing new ways of training students on proper space systems engineering practices, and overall contributing to academic capacity building at Cal Poly and its collaborators. The design improves on existing CubeSat kit structures by increasing accessibility to internal components by implementing a modular backplane system, as well as adding the ability to be environmentally tested. Manufacturing of the structure is completed with both additive (Fused Deposition Modeling …

Design Of A Printed Circuit Board For A Sensorless Three-Phase Brushless Dc Motor Control System, Joshua Castle

Master's Theses

The use of brushless motors has increased in recent years due to superior performance characteristics compared with alternatives. The operation of a brushless motor is dependent upon a separate controller which is often in the form of a printed circuit board. As such, the size and performance capability of the controller can restrict the performance of the overall motor control system so advancements of these controllers further the potential use of BLDC motors. This project outlines the design of a PCB based, sensorless motor controller for operation of a three-phase BLDC motor powered by a 24 V, high current external …

The Design, Testing, And Analysis Of A Constant Jammer For The Bluetooth Low Energy (Ble) Wireless Communication Protocol, Aiku Shintani

Master's Theses

The decreasing cost of web-enabled smart devices utilizing embedded processors, sensors, and wireless communication hardware have created an optimal ecosystem for the Internet of Things (IoT). IEEE802.15.4, IEEE802.11ah, WirelessHART, ZigBee Smart Energy, Bluetooth (BT), and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) are amongst the most commonly used wireless standards for IoT systems. Each of these standards has tradeoffs concerning power consumption, range of communication, network formation, security, reliability, and ease of implementation. The most widely used standards for IoT are Bluetooth, BLE, and Zigbee. This paper discusses the vulnerabilities in the implementation of the PHY and link layers of BLE. The link …

Bootstrapping Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, Mitchell Miller

Master's Theses

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) are a prominent genre in today's video game industry with the most popular MMORPGs generating billions of dollars in revenue and attracting millions of players. As they have grown, they have become a major target for both technological research and sociological research. In such research, it is nearly impossible to reach the same player scale from any self-made technology or sociological experiments. This greatly limits the amount of control and topics that can be explored. In an effort to make up a lacking or non-existent player-base for custom-made MMORPG research scenarios A.I. agents, …

Review Of Mentoring Manuals In Stem To Improve The Mentorship Experience For Underrepresented Minority Students Through The Lens Of Social Capital And Combating Social Reproduction, Leno Kurimoto

Master's Theses

There is a lack of diversity and inclusion in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Students who pursue a degree in STEM, only less than half of them complete them. However, this phenomenon occurs at a greater percentage for underrepresented minority students (UMS). To combat the lack of representation in STEM, mentoring has been suggested to promote retention and minimize attrition. Mentoring provide plenty of benefits for students, as they can gain academic and professional experience. Unfortunately, mentorship of UMS is not the same compared to Asian and white students, thus different approaches and recommendations must be implemented to …

Student Government Leaders And Their Roles In Cooperative Transformative Change On Campus: An Examination Of Undergraduate Changemakers At A California University, Robert Jittrikawiphol

Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine attitudes, beliefs, and feelings of student government leaders at a large West Coast research University where they enjoy a high level of autonomy in decision making and how the ability to be a partner in institutional transformation translates to personal and professional leadership development. Interviews were conducted with a number of individuals who served as campus-wide elected officials who represented the undergraduate student body. The interview participants talked about their experiences with faculty, staff, and administrators while involved in student government.

Results showed that when given access to information and considered on …

Supporting Our Troops In Higher Education: Veteran Admissions Training Program, Steven Delgado

Master's Theses

An overview of a Veteran Admissions Training Manual for a California State University campus.

Assessing The Relationship Between Narcissism, Neuroticism, And Leadership Skills, Krista Marie Brooker

Master's Theses

Understanding personality traits that are related to leadership skills is important in order to hire effective leaders. Research has seldom examined the relationship between narcissism, neuroticism, and leadership skills. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the relationship between narcissism, neuroticism, and leadership skills (human skills and conceptual skills). It was hypothesized that narcissism would be positively related to human skills and conceptual skills. It was also hypothesized that neuroticism would be negatively related to human skills and conceptual skills. A total of 145 employees participated in the self-report survey. Results showed that there was no relationship between narcissism …

A Code Reputation System Using Ai And Blockchain Technology, Jeremy Chau

Master's Theses

Open source development is a method of development in which source code is developed using the combined skills of the public. A few examples of this sort of development would be the Chromium and Linux kernel projects hosted on GitHub. Open source development offers a wide variety of benefits and disadvantages. A main concern is when many people blindly trust developers without second thought. There is a lack of a rating system that judges those who develop code through open source means. This can call into question the quality of the code being written by the individual as well as …

Using Stable Isotopes To Determine Foraging Areas Of Leatherback Sea Turtles: Limitations Of The Isotope Tracking Technique In The Western Atlantic Ocean, Sharon Hsu

Master's Theses

Reproductive output has long been linked to habitat quality and resource availability. Individuals foraging in high-quality habitats with high resource availability will have better body conditions and higher survival rates, as well as greater reproductive output. Post-nesting, Western Caribbean leatherback turtles are known to migrate to at least two foraging regions: the western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. This study had three objectives: [1] measure δ13C and δ15N values in bulk skin tissue of females nesting in Parismina, Costa Rica to reveal prior foraging region; [2] assess influence of foraging region on female body size and reproductive output; and …

The Moderating Role Of Emotional Intelligence On The Relationship Between Job Resources And Employee Engagement, Amanda Lipson

Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine the moderating role of emotional intelligence on the relationship between job resources (i.e., perceived supervisor support and autonomy) and employee engagement. Previous research has shown that these job resources are related to employee engagement. However, little attention has been paid to the possible moderators of this relationship. Therefore, this study aimed to bridge the gap in current literature by investigating how the relationship between job resources and engagement might change as a function of a personal resource (emotional intelligence). It was hypothesized that the positive relationship between job resources (perceived supervisor …

The Relationship Between Perceived Overqualification And Job Attitudes And Behaviors: The Moderating Role Of Psychological Empowerment, Emily Colleen Meyer

Master's Theses

It has been shown that employees who perceive to be overqualified in their roles are more likely to display negative attitudes and behaviors; however, little attention has been paid to the possible moderators of this relationship. Therefore, the present study proposed that psychological empowerment would moderate the relationship between perceived overqualification and job attitudes (affective commitment and careerist attitudes) and behaviors (counterproductive work behaviors). It was hypothesized that the relationship between perceived overqualification and these job attitudes and behaviors would be weaker for employees with higher levels of psychological empowerment than for employees with lower levels of psychological empowerment. Results …

What Remains: The Practice And Presence Of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jessica Olivia Yee

Master's Theses

Contradiction has been widely used to describe the work of the artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996); however, it does not fully encapsulate the complexity of the artist’s oeuvre. This thesis turns to the German director Bertolt Brecht’s notion of dialectical theater, which highlights the tensions, struggles, and interplay between contrary tendencies as a way to understand Gonzalez-Torres’s work. When the contradiction that marks the artist’s work is thought of in terms of dialectical theater, it can be better understood as layered and intentional. This thesis examines the necessary dialectical relationship presented in his work through the artist’s employment of theatrical devices …

Lithology, Structure, Geochronology, And Tectonic Implications Of The Spider Glacier Unit And Holden Assemblage, North Cascades, Washington, Colin Phillips

Master's Theses

To better understand the effects of deeply emplaced sediments on continental magmatic arcs, researchers study crustal cross sections where meta-sediments are exposed at the surface, such as the crystalline core of the North Cascades of Washington. The 8–12 kbar Swakane Biotite Gneiss has been considered the deepest meta-sedimentary unit in the section, but my mapping shows that the adjacent Spider Glacier unit is probably structurally lower. The Spider Glacier unit consists of biotite and hornblende gneisses, quartzites and rare meta-peridotites, all deformed by highly variably oriented folds with a mean moderate west plunge. My U-Pb dating of detrital zircon indicates …

Coast Redwood Stand Composition, Structure, And Fuel Load Following Prescribed Fire In Big Basin Redwoods State Park, David Cowman

Master's Theses

With the prevalence of catastrophic wildfires increasing as a response to a century of widespread fire suppression, shifts in weather patterns, and other external factors, land managers throughout the United States have sought methods to increase the resiliency of landscapes to fire. With a host of adaptations to periodic disturbance, S. sempervirens has a competitive advantage over other species when fire is present. Utilizing sixty 10-meter diameter plots from sites previously burned in 1999, 2007, and 2011, and 60 unburned control sites, data was collected on forest stand composition and structure as well as understory species composition and dominance. Line …

An Examination Of Garden-Based Education Impacts On Title 1 Elementary School Students’ Environmental Literacy In San José, California, Alexandra Dahl

Master's Theses

The objective of this research was to assess garden-based pedagogy as an effective strategy to increase environmental literacy in elementary-aged students. With severe environmental issues facing children today and into the future, environmental literacy is a desired outcome of environmental education programs. Such interventions create environmentally responsible citizens who understand how humans impact the natural environment and thereby act sustainably. Currently, little research exists on garden education’s influence on students’ environmental literacy, especially in underrepresented communities. Using a nonequivalent control group study design, this project investigated the impact of a garden education program in Central San José, CA in an …

Auto-Landing System For Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Dan Dermer

Master's Theses

Unmanned aerial vehicle systems, or any kind or autonomous system, are relevant to many applications today. However, they are complex and sophisticated systems that require a deep understanding of multiple technologies. In addition, the mathematical rigor, computer modelling, and programming applications involved make t¬his a challenging field of study. This thesis explores the possibility of achieving the automated landing of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. Auto-landing systems can resolve the challenges for the novice user and make aerial vehicle platforms accessible and dependable. A wide spectrum of applications such as agriculture, aerial photography, and security, to name a few, can …

The Influence Of Message And Audio Modalities In Augmented Reality Mobile Advertisements On Consumers' Purchase Intention, Jingyue Tao

Master's Theses

Evidence shows that augmented reality (AR) technology is an effective advertising approach to raise a brand’s awareness, so many big brands implement AR into their marketing strategy. However, the effectiveness of AR mobile advertisements on consumers’ purchase intentions remains unclear. To fill this dearth in the literature, this study examined how message and audio modalities of AR mobile advertisements influenced consumers’ purchase intentions by surveying 120 participants in an online experiment. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective, this experiment manipulated the message type (emotional/factual) and audio-verbal appeal (present/absent) of AR advertisements to investigate their impact on consumers’ attitudes towards …

The Mediating Role Of Work Engagement On The Relationship Between Perceived Supervisor Support And Turnover Intention, Addison Yeosock

Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine the mediating role of work engagement on the relationship between perceived supervisor support and turnover intention using the Jobs Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and the motivational processes of engagement as the theoretical framework. A total of 954 employees of a healthcare organization participated in an online survey. Results showed that work engagement partially mediated the relationship between perceived supervisor support and turnover intention. Perceived supervisor support was negatively related to turnover intention directly and indirectly through work engagement. Based on these findings, organizations should focus on strategies of increasing the job resource …