Digital Commons Network^™

Movement And Space Use Of Weaned Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga Angustirostris) Pups During Their First At-Sea Foraging Migration, Katie Saenger

Master's Theses

The northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) is a marine mammal known for engaging in long foraging migrations at sea. Adult male northern elephant seals follow pathways along the western coast of North America towards Alaska and adult female northern elephant seals follow pathways to open ocean in the North Pacific. However, there is little information on weaned northern elephant seal pup foraging behavior during their first foraging migration. This lack of knowledge is significant because northern elephant seals have a mortality rate of >50% in the first year. This project aimed to better understand the at-sea migratory movement …

Space Quacker Advanced Development (Squad): Lora Modulation On A Leo Cubesat Mission For Evaluation Of 916 Mhz Uplink, Samantha Brunton

Master's Theses

The LoRa Modulation format was developed by SEMTECH in 2018 and has revolutionized terrestrial Internet of Things (IoT) networks. LoRa (Long Range) has been successfully demonstrated as a long-range, low-data-rate communication modulation format and packet protocol for low-power terrestrial applications. LoRa offers low power consumption, low cost, robust signal sensitivity, and long communication range. Recently, interest has grown in using LoRa communication in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems, especially for global IoT connectivity. Previous studies have investigated the theoretical feasibility and simulated the performance of LoRa satellite communication. Companies such as Lacuna Space have demonstrated the practical potential of …

Design And Development Of A Resonance Ignition System Using Gaseous Propellants, Benjamin J. Hoefer

Master's Theses

This work presents the development and experimental evaluation of a resonance igniter (RI) operating with premixed gaseous propellants. Resonance ignition is a non-electrical ignition concept in which an underexpanded jet impinges on a closed-end Hartmann–Sprenger tube (HST), generating cyclic compression and expansion waves that rapidly heat gas near the tube endwall. A modular experimental system was designed and built to investigate resonance ignition using methane–air and methane–oxygen mixtures. The system includes a supplemental configuration that may probe for mixture conditions favorable to ignition, informing RI testing. Pressure and temperature measurements were used to characterize pressure control, mixture pressure ratio (MPR), …

Analysis And Design Of A 2-Bit Millimeter-Wave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface And Investigation Of Fss-Assisted Angular Stability, Max Spalek

Master's Theses

Millimeter-Wave (mm-wave) technology utilizes high frequency spectrum and can deliver multi-gigabit speeds, ultra-low latency, and massive bandwidth capacity. However, this technology is rather new and many technical challenges remain. On the other hand, Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) have emerged as promising structures for controllable electromagnetic wavefront manipulation in wireless communication systems. This thesis presents the design of a 2-bit RIS unit-cell element operating throughout the 30–34 GHz mm-wave band, where the structure was progressively refined from an initial resonating geometry toward a grounded reflective RIS configuration. The proposed structure utilizes PIN-diode switching states to produce four discrete reflected phase states …

Design And Analysis Of A Customizable 6-Dof Force/Torque Sensor, Pyeongkang Kim

Master's Theses

This thesis presents the design, development, calibration, and testing of a novel customizable six-degree-of-freedom force/torque sensor, called the Kustom Force/Torque Sensor (KFTS), for use in the Cal Poly Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT). The KFTS was developed as an alternative to commercial multi-axis force/torque sensors that feature fixed specifications. The swappable components and configurable structure of the KFTS enables changes to the sensor sensitivity, sensing range, and frequency response. Experimental testing verified that the sensor behaved as a linear time-invariant system, enabling calibration through the method of least squares and allowing the applied forces and moments to be reconstructed as …

Effects Of Irrigation And Nitrogen Management On Yield And Leaching Risk In Organic And Conventional Broccoli Fields, Shane Egerstrom

Master's Theses

Under regulatory pressures to reduce groundwater contamination by nitrate from fertilizer, such as those posed by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Agricultural Order 4.0, a need exists to better understand interactions between irrigation and nitrogen (N) management. To increase N use efficiency (NUE), growers are encouraged to account for additional sources of N in their management plans, such as irrigation water N and preplant soil N. The availability of these N sources for plant uptake and how it is affected by other management conditions is not yet well documented. We conducted 6 field trials, 3 organic and …

Comparative Analysis And Optimization Of Control Strategies For Single Axis Tracking Solar Arrays On Skewed Topography, Emerson Nicholas

Master's Theses

Photovoltaic solar farms on uneven terrain present consistent challenges to performance optimization. Standard backtracking algorithms can generate potential losses due to interrow shading caused by sloped terrain as well as a lack of plane of array irradiance that can occur even on level ground. The purpose of this thesis is to use the Gold Tree site as a case study to develop and evaluate different solar tracking control strategies. Specifically, it compares the relative performance of fixed, direct tracking, closed-form backtracking, and global optimization strategies. It is done under a two-dimensional, idealized predictive power model of a representative portion of …

Political Inconsistency Detection Across Legislative Speech And Public Communications, Scott M. Pramuk

Master's Theses

Political actors communicate about legislation across multiple contexts, including committee hearings, recorded votes, and public-facing press releases. Differences between these forms of communication can provide useful signals for journalists and researchers seeking to understand how legislators present policy positions to different audiences.

This thesis extends the Digital Democracy Project, a legislative transparency initiative that provides access to California state legislative hearing transcripts, voting records, and related legislative data. Specifically, this work incorporates publicly accessible, legislator-authored news releases into the Digital Democracy Database and develops a pipeline for analyzing legislative communication across multiple sources. The system collects news releases from California …

Controllable Tile-Based Level Generation For Vertical Platformers, Aiden P. Smith

Master's Theses

Procedural Content Generation (PCG) has had much research poured into it in recent years, as it is a way to more easily create content and levels for player replayability. Historically, this type of level generation has been done by algorithms with strict rules and black-and-white decision making. However, in recent years Large Language Models (LLMs) have been fine-tuned for this task in research in games such as Super Mario Bros and other 2D platformers. In this thesis, we apply a similar approach to level generation for a vertical platformer called Kid Icarus. We create a tile-based level generation system that …

Characteristic Stress And Strain Optimization Of Cardiovascular Catheters With Laser-Cut Hypotubes Using Finite Element Analysis, Kyle E. Hirth

Master's Theses

Cardiovascular catheter systems rely on laser-cut hypotubes to balance flexibility and structural integrity required for minimally invasive surgical procedures.  Optimizing these mechanical characteristics remains a significant challenge.  This study aims to investigate the influence of key laser-cut geometric parameters on the mechanical performance of hypotubes through finite element analysis.

Commercially representative laser-cut hypotubes were modeled and a finite element model was developed.   Geometric design parameters were varied across a design space consisting of pitch values ranging from 0.006 in. to 0.018 in. and cuts per revolution (CPR) ranging from 2.5 – 4.5.  For each pitch and CPR combination, loading stiffness …

Analysis And Design Of Auger Cast Piles With Isolation Casing, Zachary Lindsay

Master's Theses

This research addresses the analysis and design of double cased piles. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) runs a large rail system both above and below ground that connects the entire Bay Area. BART requires that all new constructions avoid transmitting axial load to their tunnels from adjacent piles. If piles fall within the zone of influence, builders must install double cased piles. Double casing is where there is an extra casing around the pile, with an air gap between them. The air gap prevents load from transferring to the outer casing. The length of this casing is called the isolation …

Aerodynamic Design And Structural Evaluation Of A Global Minimum Torque Inspired Multirotor Propeller, Zeke Bukovansky

Master's Theses

This thesis develops a repeatable design, CAD, aerodynamic postprocessing, structural screening, and manufacturing feasibility workflow for a 22-inch global minimum torque inspired multirotor propeller. Matched MIL and GMT geometries were compared at a 35 N, 4000 rpm static-hover operating condition using BEMT/XFOIL aerodynamic postprocessing, with diameter, blade count, chord distribution, airfoil schedule, and target thrust held constant. The final modeled comparison predicted a modest 1.5% reduction in torque and shaft power for the GMT case while maintaining the same thrust target. CAD construction, MATLAB reduced-order beam model, Abaqus screening, and manufacturing planning were used to identify geometry level structural and …

A2s Uplink Latency Minimization For Wildfire Monitoring Systems Using Mbse And Stochastic Modeling, Luis Giovanni Wang

Master's Theses

Wildfire response depends on how quickly a detection reaches the people who act on it, and the slowest remaining step is often the link that carries an alert from a remote sensing platform to a satellite. This thesis models the latency of that link, the Air-to-Space uplink, for a wildfire-monitoring UAV that carries a Starlink terminal and sends an ALERT packet to a serving Low Earth Orbit satellite. The uplink is difficult to predict because both the UAV and the satellite move, and because the wildfire environment degrades the channel at the moment the data matters most.

The thesis uses …

Synthesis And Characterization Of A Graphene Oxide-Zif-8 Composite For Enhanced Post-Combustion Carbon Capture, Sydney Cooper

Master's Theses

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from fossil fuel combustion are a major contributor to climate change and its associated environmental impacts. The current standard technology for post-combustion carbon capture, aqueous amine scrubbing, is effective but requires significant regeneration energy and has high operational costs. As a result, solid sorbents have been investigated as lower-energy alternatives. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a promising class of porous nanomaterials due to their high surface area, tunable pore structures, and adjustable surface chemistry. Among them, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) has high thermal and chemical stability, hydrophobicity, and favorable adsorption properties. However, conventional synthesis methods often rely …

Evaluating The Cost-Benefit Tradeoffs Of Simt Control Mechanisms In Resource-Constrained Gpus, Nikolas Tambornini

Master's Theses

This thesis conducts a hardware-level analysis of the cost–benefit tradeoffs associated with increasingly complex SIMT control mechanisms in a resource-constrained GPU core. Four design implementations are evaluated: a Base Tiny GPU without warp scheduling capability; a Warp Scheduler using round-robin warp selection; a Branch Divergence implementation incorporating a dedicated divergence stack and post-dominator reconvergence mechanism; and a Dynamic Warp Allocation implementation that replaces the static warp structure with a runtime warp manager, regrouping threads by current program counter to recover SIMD lane utilization during active divergence. Each design is evaluated using two complementary measurements: functional simulation implemented using the CocoTB …

Multimodal Machine Learning For Soil Burn Severity Mapping Across California Wildfires, Sanjana Checker

Master's Theses

Accurate mapping of soil burn severity (SBS) is critical for post-fire watershed management, erosion risk assessment, and ecological recovery planning, yet traditional field-based approaches remain costly, time-intensive, and spatially limited. This thesis presents a machine learning pipeline for wall-to-wall SBS classification across California wildfires using multi-sensor satellite imagery, terrain derivatives, and bioclimatic covariates. Field-collected SBS observations (n = 2,180) from 52 wildfires occur- ring between 2013 and 2025, sourced from the U.S. Forest Service and CAL FIRE, were used to train and evaluate multiple classification architectures within a Google Earth Engine and Google Cloud-based prediction framework. After upsampling the unburned …

A Polygon Approach For Satellite Coverage Computation Problems, Caleb I. Arbreton

Master's Theses

During celestial body observation mission planning, predicted sensor coverage is a key analysis tool used by designers to inform concept of operations. It enables trade studies by applying a metric to assess how well different sensor, satellite, and constellation configurations can observe a mission's region of interest. The effectiveness of the studied components is then paramount in determining whether they are justified in the system architecture. Coverage computation becomes more difficult as sensor types and regions of interest (RoIs) deviate from simple shapes, and as problem formulations seek higher-fidelity results. These simplifications include: conical camera sensors, RoIs represented as simple, …

Development Of A Multi-Mode Switching-Inverter Laboratory Module For An Introductory Power Electronics Course, Darcy Eliasi

Master's Theses

DC–AC converters, or inverters, are essential power‑electronic interfaces widely used in photovoltaic systems, microgrids, energy‑storage installations, and numerous other modern electrical applications. This thesis presents the design, construction, and testing of an improved laboratory module developed as a student learning tool for demonstrating four fundamental inverter switching techniques: simple square wave (SSWI), modified square wave (MSWI), bipolar PWM, and unipolar PWM. Building upon the previous module, the improved design centers on three key enhancements. These include the selection of a more suitable wave‑generation solution, a multiplexer‑based mode‑selection architecture that reduces user complexity and eliminates conflicting signal configurations, and the integration …

Optimization Of Repeat Ground Track Constellation Design For Complex Discontinuous Regional Coverage, Paige Jewell

Master's Theses

The continued growth of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations motivates efficient constellation design methods to reduce cost and complexity. Although brute-force methods are commonly employed in the preliminary design of satellite constellations, pairing analytic methods with optimization algorithms provides a more efficient means of searching the design space. Constellation design for continuous global and regional coverage is well-established; however, strategies for discontinuous regional coverage remain underdeveloped. This thesis focuses on an analytic geometry-based method for computing satellite coverage and revisit metrics, coupled with genetic algorithm optimization to efficiently explore the design space. The viability of this method is shown …

Integer Quantization And Embedded Deployment Of Cnn Star Trackers For Cubesats, Meora R. Giusiano

Master's Theses

A star tracker determines spacecraft orientation by photographing the star field, detecting stars in the image, matching them against a catalog, and computing the rotation between observed and cataloged directions. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been proposed as replacements for the detection and centroiding stage, offering improved sub-pixel accuracy and recovering faint stars that classical thresholds lose to stray light and sensor noise. The improvement comes at higher computational cost; the PolySat systemboard targeted in this work lacks the floating-point hardware these networks assume.

This thesis closes the gap between floating-point desktop evaluation and embedded integer deployment. Nine encoder-decoder CNN …

What Makes A Modern Attention Implementation?, Brian H. Slonim

Master's Theses

Since the seminal assertion by Vaswani et al. in 2017 that “Attention Is All You Need,” transformer models have risen to ubiquity due to their ability to learn extremely complex patterns from sequence data, culminating in the unprecedented generative capabilities of large language models. These models’ strength lies in their scale: hundreds of millions (e.g., BERT-LARGE) to billions or trillions of learned parameters. Running inference with these models, let alone training them, would be intractable without significant innovations in the hardware and software that support them. This need has driven an enormous demand for GPU compute and associated software ecosystems, …

Hot Hands Or Chance Happenings? A Simulation-Based Approach For Wnba Teams, Ruben Jimenez

Master's Theses

The hot hand is a polarizing topic in basketball analytics: fans, stakeholders, and even players themselves assert confidently their belief or disbelief in the idea that players who perform well will continue to do so over an extended period of time. Statistical research has been conducted since as early as 1985 to attempt to disprove or prove the existence of this phenomenon. More recent works have refuted the earliest objections to the hot hand’s existence, with conclusions aided by robust simulation techniques. In this work, we compare hypothesis tests using multiple simulation techniques to explore the hot hand at the …

Effects Of Hot Water Dipping And Sub-Zero Saline Chilling On The Microbial Safety Of Broiler Carcasses And Recycled Chilling Water, Elen Zhu

Master's Theses

Broiler meat became the most widely consumed meat within the United States and across the world in 2019. The trend of increasing broiler consumption is expected to continue due to affordability, health benefits, and production efficiency. To meet the growing demand of broilers, a substantial number of birds need to be produced and processed while minimizing bacteria contamination, water consumption and wastewater generation.

In this study, the microbial safety (mesophilic aerobic bacteria, coliforms, and Escherichia coli) of broiler carcasses and post-chill water (red water) was assessed, using innovative processing techniques and red water recycling. A total of 144 broilers …

Is The Hot Hand Real? Evidence From A Permutation And Hierarchical-Based Analysis, Cameron Z. An

Master's Theses

The hot-hand phenomenon, often described as the tendency for individuals to experience prolonged streaks of success that exceed what would be expected under random performance, has been widely studied across many disciplines, particularly basketball. Early studies attempted to evaluate this effect through various techniques, often concluding that the hot-hand phenomenon was largely a myth. However, recent studies have begun to revisit previous analyses using improved statistical techniques, with some claiming evidence of a discernible hot-hand effect. This study examines the presence of the hot-hand effect in the modern NBA by testing whether observed shooting patterns deviate from those simulated under …

Development Of A Computer Vision Based Rendezvous And Docking Test Platform, David T. Forbes

Master's Theses

This thesis presents the work completed in the development and testing of a low-cost modular sensor package capable of rendezvous and docking by providing a vehicle with relative navigational commands. These navigational commands are created using relative localization data gathered and processed onboard the sensor package, with validation, in post-processing, against global localization data. This research aims to reduce the cost of smaller autonomous vehicles by removing the need for custom control units, as its modular nature will allow it to be adapted to many different systems and vehicles. Discussed within this thesis is the rapid prototyping, development, and testing …

Computer Vision Methods For Detecting Counterfeit Usd Bills, Tyler W. Jones

Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the global challenge of counterfeit paper currency by proposing a classical computer vision framework for distinguishing genuine United States Dollar (USD) bills from counterfeit ones using image data. In contrast to existing approaches that rely on a large number of easily reproducible visual features, this work prioritizes the detection of a single, robust security feature: the ultraviolet (UV) reactive security strip embedded in genuine USD bills of denominations $5 and above. By focusing on a feature that is inherently difficult to replicate, the proposed method reduces the likelihood of counterfeit bills being misclassified as genuine.

The system …

Spaceotter: A Floating Spacecraft Simulator Air Bearing Vehicle For Hardware-In-The-Loop Experiments And Research, Alexander Debartolo

Master's Theses

Growing interest in nanosatellites has increased demand for accessible ground-testing methods, which have historically been expensive and restricted. Floating Spacecraft Simulators (FSS), built around Air Bearing Vehicles (ABVs), address this gap by approximating a zero-gravity, friction-minimized environment suitable for testing spacecraft control systems, robotics, and propulsion on the ground.

This thesis presents the design, realization, and initial performance characterization of the Space Optically Tracked Testbed for Experiments and Research (SpaceOTTER) ABV, developed for the Cal Poly Space Robotics Lab. SpaceOTTER is the first step toward emulating the 3 degree of freedom (3-DOF) planar dynamics of a simulated spacecraft and is …

Design And Evaluation Of An Assistive Powered Hand Orthosis For Grasp Activities For People Post-Stroke, Sydney Alexander

Master's Theses

After suffering a stroke, many survivors experience physical disability that affects their ability to complete daily tasks using their hands. Physical therapy is often pre scribed to people post-stroke, but is not fully effective at restoring hand function. The goal of this project was to design and fabricate an assistive device for people post-stroke to help with grasp and release. The device was designed to address com mon shortcomings of existing similar devices. State of the art devices in this domain were investigated to determine a set of design improvements. A novel motor-actuated hand orthosis was designed to decrease weight, …

Investigating The Structural Barriers And Opportunities For End-Of-Life Management Of Agricultural Plastic Waste Within California's Strawberry Industry, Rory M. O'Toole

Master's Theses

Agricultural plastic waste (APW) accounts for a significant and growing share of global plastic pollution, yet no study has documented how APW management functions across a specific crop system from production through end-of-life (EOL). This thesis addresses that gap by examining the structures and valuations that shape current EOL management of plastic mulch (PM) and drip tape (DT) in California's strawberry industry, one of the nation's most plastic-dependent crop systems. Drawing on an ethnographic approach that included 27 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, as well as site visits, this study traces how APW is produced, valued, and discarded within a structurally …

Development And Verification Of An Updated Thermal Model For Cal Poly's Small Thermal Vacuum Chamber, Bryce G. Leonard

Master's Theses

This thesis discusses modifications made to the Small Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) Chamber in the Space Environments Laboratory at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and the development and verification of an updated thermal model reflecting these changes. The chamber was redesigned to improve thermal performance, featuring a homogeneous aluminum platen coated with Aeroglaze Z306 to enhance radiative heat transfer, along with expanded data acquisition capabilities for temperature and pressure measurements.

A new thermal model of the chamber was developed in SolidWorks using a finite element approach. The model incorporates conductive and radiative heat transfer mechanisms and is configured to …