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Articles 2701 - 2730 of 4850

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

High-Voltage Pulse Detection Using Optical Fiber Sensors, Leeland Woodard, Dr. Stephen Schultz Apr 2014

High-Voltage Pulse Detection Using Optical Fiber Sensors, Leeland Woodard, Dr. Stephen Schultz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are a leading cause of the deaths of soldiers in militarized areas. Technology is being developed to disarm IEDs by coupling electrical energy in the blasting caps of the IEDs, but in order to do so effectively, a sensor needs to be capable of measuring the voltage potential between the leads of the blasting caps without altering the electric field between them. Slab-coupled optical fiber sensors (SCOS) are electric field sensing devices that have been developed at BYU and are best suited to solving this problem, as they have the capability to measure extremely large electric …

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Influence Of Intermediate Lamina Propria Composition On Synthetic Vocal Fold Vibration: A Comparison Of The Epi And Stiff Ligament Models, Ryan Jenkins, Dr. Scott Thomson Apr 2014

Influence Of Intermediate Lamina Propria Composition On Synthetic Vocal Fold Vibration: A Comparison Of The Epi And Stiff Ligament Models, Ryan Jenkins, Dr. Scott Thomson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The vocal folds are two multi-layered regions of tissue located in the larynx that vibrate as air flows past from the lungs. This vibration is the basis of voiced speech, one of mankind’s primary means of expression. Due to a complex fluid-structure-acoustic interaction and the inaccessibility of in vivo tissue for observation, synthetic models have been developed and used to study different aspects of the mechanics of speech production. This project compared the performance of two self-oscillating synthetic vocal fold models that differed in their composition of an internal tissue layer called the intermediate layer of the lamina propria. Until …

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An Analytical Model For Heat Transfer Through A Thermoelectric Device Used In Waste Heat Recovery, Zachary Smith, Dr. Matthew Jones Apr 2014

An Analytical Model For Heat Transfer Through A Thermoelectric Device Used In Waste Heat Recovery, Zachary Smith, Dr. Matthew Jones

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A considerable amount of energy that is produced in a typical power generation process is rejected to the environment as low-grade waste heat. This heat is rejected at a temperature that is difficult to efficiently convert into electricity. One promising method of recovering this waste heat is through the use of thermoelectric generators (TEGs) that operate by means of the Seebeck effect. Effort has previously been placed in predicting the power output of TEGs. With knowledge of the temperature differential across a thermoelectric device and the properties of the electrical components the device is connected to, the electrical power output …

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Assessing Water Quality Through Remote Sensing, Carly Hyatt, Dr. Gustavious P. Williams Apr 2014

Assessing Water Quality Through Remote Sensing, Carly Hyatt, Dr. Gustavious P. Williams

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Over the past year, I have gathered 25 Landsat images for calibration and processing and in-field measurements over 25 years to develop seasonal chlorophyll detection models for the north-central Utah region. High chlorophyll levels indicate large algal blooms and large nutrient loading. Knowing these trends can help agencies and management to mitigate nutrient loading and make changes to monitoring.

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Model Predictive Control With A Rigorous Model Of A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, Lee T. Jacobsen, Dr. John D. Hedengren Apr 2014

Model Predictive Control With A Rigorous Model Of A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, Lee T. Jacobsen, Dr. John D. Hedengren

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Degradation of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) can be minimized by maintaining reliability parameters during load changes. These reliability parameters are critical to maintain power generation efficiency over an extended life of the SOFC. For SOFCs to be commercially viable, the life must exceed 20,000 hours for load following applications. This is not yet achieved because transient stresses damage the fuel cell and degrade the performance over time. This study relates the development of a dynamic model for SOFC systems in order to predict optimal manipulated variable moves along a prediction horizon. The model consists of hundreds of states and …

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Engineering Cell-Free Systems For Vaccine Development, Self-Assembling Nanoparticles And Codon Reassignment Applications, Mark T. Smith Apr 2014

Engineering Cell-Free Systems For Vaccine Development, Self-Assembling Nanoparticles And Codon Reassignment Applications, Mark T. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports on the technology of cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) including 1) stabilized lyophilized cell-free systems and 2) enhanced heterogeneous cell extracts. This work further considers applications of CFPS systems in 1) rapid vaccine development, 2) functional virus-based nanoparticles, 3) site-specific protein immobilization, and 4) expanding the language of biology using unnatural amino acids. CFPS technology is a versatile protein production platform that has many features unavailable in in vivo expression systems. The primary benefit cell-free systems provide is the direct access to the reaction environment, which is no longer hindered by the presence of a cell-wall. The “openness" …

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Biomechanical Applications And Modeling Of Quantum Nano-Composite Strain Gauges, Taylor David Remington Apr 2014

Biomechanical Applications And Modeling Of Quantum Nano-Composite Strain Gauges, Taylor David Remington

Theses and Dissertations

Biological tissues routinely experience large strains and undergo large deformations during normal physiologic activity. Biological tissue deformation is well beyond the range of standard strain gauges, and hence must often be captured using expensive and non-portable options such as optical marker tracking methods that may rely upon significant post-processing. This study develops portable gauges that operate in real time and are compatible with the large strains seen by biological materials. The new gauges are based on a relatively new technique for quantifying large strain in real-time (up to 40 %) by use of a piezoresistive nano-composite strain gauge. The nano-composite …

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Relative Navigation Approach For Vision-Based Aerial Gps-Denied Navigation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Robert C. Leishman Apr 2014

Relative Navigation Approach For Vision-Based Aerial Gps-Denied Navigation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Robert C. Leishman

Faculty Publications

GPS-denied aerial flight is a challenging research problem and requires knowledge of complex elements from several distinct disciplines. Additionally, aerial vehicles can present challenging constraints such as stringent payload limits and fast vehicle dynamics. In this paper we propose a new architecture to simplify some of the challenges that constrain GPS-denied aerial flight. At the core, the approach combines visual graph-SLAM with a multiplicative extended Kalman filter. More importantly, for the front end we depart from the common practice of estimating global states and instead keep the position and yaw states of the MEKF relative to the current node in …

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Unattended Remotely Operated Deep-Water Sediment Oxygen Demand Chambers, Drake Theodore Mailes Apr 2014

Unattended Remotely Operated Deep-Water Sediment Oxygen Demand Chambers, Drake Theodore Mailes

Theses and Dissertations

Dissolved oxygen (DO) depletion in a water body is governed by two primary mechanisms: biological oxygen demand (BOD) from the water column, and sediment oxygen demand (SOD) from sediments. SOD is the dominant oxygen sink in many water bodies; measurements show as much as 95% of oxygen consumption as attributable to SOD (Truax, Shindala, & Sartain, 1996). Measuring SOD in surface water impoundments is an essential component in evaluating and an important input for modeling the health of a water body. Traditional SOD measurement methods are difficult in deeper waters, such as in reservoirs or lakes, because traditional SOD measurement …

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Viologen Oxidation Properties, Adam Read, Dr. William Pitt Mar 2014

Viologen Oxidation Properties, Adam Read, Dr. William Pitt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The world always stands in need of a more efficient and low cost energy sources. Fuel cells present an environmentally friendly source of energy that could potentially replace the current fossil fuels that are now used. In addition fuel cells are normally light weight and have the ability to work in isolated regions where power is not easily accessible. Fuel cells have shown great potential but as of yet are not an economically favorable energy source due to high cost. One of the main reasons for this is the high cost of platinum which is commonly used as a catalyst. …

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Encapsulating Liposomes For Stabilized Drug Delivery, Corbin Jacobs, Dr. William Pitt Mar 2014

Encapsulating Liposomes For Stabilized Drug Delivery, Corbin Jacobs, Dr. William Pitt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Liposomes are tiny vesicles composed of materials similar to a cell membrane’s bilayer and “are useful for delivering anticancer agents to tumors and reducing the severe side effects of the agents.”1 Following synthesis, liposomes containing drug are administered intravenously. Fortunately, tumors have hyperpermeable vasculature which facilitates liposomal accumulation by their leaking out of the capillaries surrounding the tumor.2 Once near the tumor, individual cells will endocytose or engulf the vesicles as long as they are between 10 nm and 1000 nm.3

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A2 Protein Incorporation Into The Qβ Virus-Like Particle, Derek Bush, Dr. Band Bundy Mar 2014

A2 Protein Incorporation Into The Qβ Virus-Like Particle, Derek Bush, Dr. Band Bundy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Virus-like Particles (VLPs) are noninfectious synthetic copies of the outer protein shell of viruses. They are highly symmetrical nanostructures that self-assemble from approximately 200 copies of a single “coat” protein. This symmetry makes attachment of singular foreign entities to the VLPs difficult, which limits their current uses in medical and engineering applications. In this research project we have worked to demonstrate the insertion of a single copy of the “A2” protein into the VLP from the Qβ bacteriophage to serve as a possible location for future site-specific VLP modification. Ultimately we believe that this work will lead to the development …

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Field Application Of Accelerated Mineral Carbonation, Brandon Reynolds, K. J. Reddy, Morris D. Argyle Mar 2014

Field Application Of Accelerated Mineral Carbonation, Brandon Reynolds, K. J. Reddy, Morris D. Argyle

Faculty Publications

Globally, coal-fired power plants are the largest industrial source of carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 emissions from flue gas have potential for direct mineralization with electrostatic precipitator fly ash particles in the field. Demonstration scale accelerated mineral carbonation (AMC) studies were conducted at the Jim Bridger Power Plant, a large coal fired power plant located in Wyoming, USA. AMC produces kinetically rapid conditions for increased rates of mineralization of CO2, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and mercury (Hg) on fly ash particles. Control and AMC reacted fly ash particles were investigated for: change in carbon (expressed …

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Cfd Black Liquor Bed Simulation, Benjamin Ohran, Dr. Larry Baxter Mar 2014

Cfd Black Liquor Bed Simulation, Benjamin Ohran, Dr. Larry Baxter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The objective of this project was to further the understanding of the bed region of a black liquor recovery boiler. The net output of carbon dioxide from burning black liquor (a paper pulping by-product) is zero, making it a desirable alternative fuel source; however, there are other problems associated with burning black liquor such as boiler fouling, and emissions of pollutants. With the understanding gained from this project it will be possible to further improve the efficiency and emissions of black liquor boilers, making it a more viable fuel alternative.

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Aerial Rendezvous Of Small Unmanned Aircraft Using A Passive Towed Cable System, Timothy Mclain, Randall W. Beard, Joseph W. Nichols, Liang Sun Mar 2014

Aerial Rendezvous Of Small Unmanned Aircraft Using A Passive Towed Cable System, Timothy Mclain, Randall W. Beard, Joseph W. Nichols, Liang Sun

Faculty Publications

A method for aerial rendezvous of small unmanned aircraft systems is proposed. The system includes placing a passively towed drogue into an orbit that is suitable for a small unmanned aircraft systems to follow, and a seeker guidance method for use with a monocular camera mounted on the centerline of the unmanned aircraft systems. The principle contributions of the work include a method for controlling the drogue path in moderate winds by manipulating the mothership orbit and airspeed, and a vision-based nonlinear pursuit tracking method that uses pitch rate and roll commands to guide the unmanned aircraft systems to an …

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Strength Of Masonry Grout Made With Expanded Shale, Allison Tanner Mar 2014

Strength Of Masonry Grout Made With Expanded Shale, Allison Tanner

Theses and Dissertations

Light-weight aggregate has been used successfully for structural and non-structural applications, and its most common use has been in light-weight concrete. Limited research has been done on light-weight grout though and there are no standards in place. The research performed in this study is intended to increase the knowledge of light-weight grout specifically made with expanded shale aggregate. The research presented herein is a pilot study and consists of preliminary aggregate and grout testing that resulted in the mix design of six grout types: three fine grout designs and three coarse grout designs. Conventional normal-weight aggregate was employed in the …

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Sensitivity Of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Measurements To Concrete Bridge Deck Properties, Hillary Mckenna Argyle Mar 2014

Sensitivity Of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Measurements To Concrete Bridge Deck Properties, Hillary Mckenna Argyle

Theses and Dissertations

Numerous methods have been developed to measure corrosion potential relating to chloride infiltration in concrete, including an emerging application of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). EIS involves measurements of electrical impedance to evaluate the corrosion potential of steel reinforcement in concrete. With EIS, current is injected vertically into the concrete bridge deck between the surface and the embedded reinforcing steel, usually the top mat, to evaluate the degree to which the reinforcing steel is protected from chloride infiltration by the entire bridge deck system. The objectives of this research were to 1) investigate the sensitivity of EIS measurements obtained at various …

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Public Safety At Low-Head Dams: Fatality Database And Physical Model Of Staggered Deflector Retrofit Alternative, Edward William Kern Mar 2014

Public Safety At Low-Head Dams: Fatality Database And Physical Model Of Staggered Deflector Retrofit Alternative, Edward William Kern

Theses and Dissertations

Low-head dams can cause dangerous currents near the downstream face of the structure. Fatalities at low-head dams are poorly documented. This thesis introduces a website with an interactive map and database of fatalities at low-head dams in the United States. The purpose of the web site is to generate interest among the general public to increase support to remediate dangerous structures and to serve as a tool for public education. The user interface allows the general public to browse fatal incidents by geographic location and to read incident circumstances. The site allows submission of public contributions including all metadata needed …

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Determining Dispersion Coefficients In Sewer Networks, Joshua G. Wagstaff Mar 2014

Determining Dispersion Coefficients In Sewer Networks, Joshua G. Wagstaff

Theses and Dissertations

This work determines a suitable value for a dispersion coefficient to be used in the One-Dimensional Advection-Dispersion equation to model dispersion within sewer collection systems. Dispersion coefficients for sewer systems have only recently begun to be studied, and there is not yet an established value that is commonly accepted. The work described in this paper aimed, through observational study, to find a suitable value to be used. Salt tracers were placed in two separate reaches of sewer line. The first line studied was a straight, linear reach of sewer that included three manholes. The tracer was placed in the first …

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Multi-Rotor--Aided Three-Dimensional 802.11 Wireless Heat Mapping, Scott James Pack Mar 2014

Multi-Rotor--Aided Three-Dimensional 802.11 Wireless Heat Mapping, Scott James Pack

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional wireless site surveys produce a heat-map of link strength or quality over a target area, usually on the ground plane. In recent years research has gone into using aerial drones in network attack and surveillance, making three dimensional awareness of wireless coverage areas of interest. A multi-rotor drone and data collection module were built and tested as part of this research. Site assessments were conducted both in open space and near structures. Collected data was interpolated across the target area, and visualized as points and contours. These visualizations were exported to a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) for visualization in …

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Development Of A Chloride Concentration Sampling Protocol For Concrete Bridge Decks, Sharlan Renae Montgomery Mar 2014

Development Of A Chloride Concentration Sampling Protocol For Concrete Bridge Decks, Sharlan Renae Montgomery

Theses and Dissertations

As the primary cause of concrete bridge deck deterioration in the United States is corrosion of the steel reinforcement as a result of the application of chloride-based deicing salts, chloride concentration testing is among the most common techniques for evaluating the condition of a concrete bridge deck. The objectives of this research were to 1) compare concrete drilling and powder collection techniques to develop a sampling protocol for accurately measuring chloride concentrations and 2) determine the number of chloride concentration test locations necessary for adequately characterizing the chloride concentration of a given bridge deck. Laboratory experiments on concrete drilling and …

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Passive And Electronically Steered Array Planar Feeds For Satellite Communications, Kyle C. Browning Mar 2014

Passive And Electronically Steered Array Planar Feeds For Satellite Communications, Kyle C. Browning

Theses and Dissertations

As the need for more bandwidth increases, satellite communication (SatCom) terminals are forced to climb higher in frequency. Higher frequency means greater propagation losses, and so antenna gain and sensitivity have to increase. The higher the gain, the more difficult it is to point the antenna. To make matters even more challenging, consumers are requesting satellite links in harsher environments and on moving vehicle and planes. In order to meet today's challenges and improve on dish feeds, research is ongoing to replace fixed-beam feedhorns with smaller, cheaper, and lighter PCB based antennas and to develop low-cost electronically steered array feeds …

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Application Improvements Of Slab-Coupled Optical Fiber Sensors, Spencer L. Chadderdon Mar 2014

Application Improvements Of Slab-Coupled Optical Fiber Sensors, Spencer L. Chadderdon

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores techniques for improving slab-coupled optical fiber sensor (SCOS) technology for use in specific applications and sensing configurations. SCOS are advantageous for their small size and all-dielectric composition which permit non-intrusive measurement of electric fields within compact environments; however, their small size also limits their sensitivity. This work performs a thorough analysis of the factors contributing to the performance of SCOS and demonstrates methods which improve SCOS, while maintaining its small dimensions and high level of directional sensitivity. These improvements include increasing the sensitivity by 9x, improving the frequency response to include sub 300 kHz frequencies, and developing …

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Modulation And Synchronization For Aeronautical Telemetry, Christopher G. Shaw Mar 2014

Modulation And Synchronization For Aeronautical Telemetry, Christopher G. Shaw

Theses and Dissertations

Aeronautical telemetry systems have historically been implemented with constant envelope modulations like CPM. Shifts in system constraints including reduced available bandwidth and increased throughput demands have caused many in the field to reevaluate traditional methods and design practices. This work examines the costs and benefits of using APSK for aeronautical telemetry instead of CPM. Variable rate turbo codes are used to improve the power efficiency of 16- and 32-APSK. Spectral regrowth in nonlinear power amplifiers when driven by non-constant envelope modulation is also considered. Simulation results show the improved spectral efficiency of this modulation scheme over those currently defined in …

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Environmentally Friendly And Sustainable Stream Stability In The Vicinity Of Bridges, Evan David Cope Mar 2014

Environmentally Friendly And Sustainable Stream Stability In The Vicinity Of Bridges, Evan David Cope

Theses and Dissertations

This report was sponsored by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to determine if stream restoration structures could be used as scour countermeasures near state highways and bridges. Scour countermeasures that are effective in preventing erosion exist but that are not so friendly for aquatic organisms. UDOT is interested in finding a countermeasure that is both effective in preventing erosion while not harming aquatic organisms. Stream restoration structures are friendly for aquatic organisms but are prone to failure when flows exceed the design levels. David Rosgen has developed restoration structures that are friendly for aquatic organisms and that have provided …

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Automated Tracking And Estimation For Control Of Non-Rigid Cloth, Marc D. Killpack Mar 2014

Automated Tracking And Estimation For Control Of Non-Rigid Cloth, Marc D. Killpack

Faculty Publications

This report is a summary of research conducted on cloth tracking for automated textile manufacturing during a two semester long research course at Georgia Tech. This work was completed in 2009. Advances in current sensing technology such as the Microsoft Kinect would now allow me to relax certain assumptions and generally improve the tracking performance. This is because a major part of my approach described in this paper was to track features in a 2D image and use these to estimate the cloth deformation. Innovations such as the Kinect would improve estimation due to the automatic depth information obtained when …

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Theoretical Framework For Multiple-Polymorph Particle Precipitation In Highly Supersaturated Systems, B. B. Schroeder, D. D. Harris, S. T. Smith, D. O. Lignell Mar 2014

Theoretical Framework For Multiple-Polymorph Particle Precipitation In Highly Supersaturated Systems, B. B. Schroeder, D. D. Harris, S. T. Smith, D. O. Lignell

Faculty Publications

An overarching mathematical framework is proposed to describe entire mineral particle precipitation processes, including multiple polymorphic forms and ranges of temperatures. While existing models portray individual physical phenomena, the presented approach incorporates a diverse set of the physical phenomena simultaneously within a single mathematical description. The liquid and solid phase dynamics interact through coupling an aqueous ionic equilibrium-chemistry model with a set of population balance equations and a mixing model. Including the particle physical phenomena, nucleation, growth, dissolution, and aggregation together within a single framework allows for the exploration of nonintuitive and nontrivial coupling effects. To validate the proposed framework, …

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Development And Regional Application Of Sub-Seasonal Remote- Sensing Chlorophyll Detection Models, Carly Adeline Hyatt Mar 2014

Development And Regional Application Of Sub-Seasonal Remote- Sensing Chlorophyll Detection Models, Carly Adeline Hyatt

Theses and Dissertations

Remote sensing has been used as an effective chlorophyll-a detection method in inland lakes and reservoirs. Concentration estimates of chlorophyll-a approximate the amounts of algae and phytoplankton in a body of water, can indicate the existence of large blooms and high nutrient loading, and can be used as an indicator of water quality. These biomasses pose potential threats to the quality of the water and the local environment by depleting oxygen, influencing the taste of the drinking water and detrimentally affecting aesthetics and recreation. Deer Creek Reservoir exhibited eutrophic tendencies in the early 1990's, caused by phosphorus pollution. This was …

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U-Pu-Zr Alloy Design By Ternary Potts-Phase Field Modeling, Jordan Jeffrey Cox Mar 2014

U-Pu-Zr Alloy Design By Ternary Potts-Phase Field Modeling, Jordan Jeffrey Cox

Theses and Dissertations

U-Pu-Zr nuclear fuels experience a redistribution of constituents and a number of phase transformations when subjected to the thermal gradient present in nuclear reactors. This redistribution and phase separation leads to several undesirable fuel performance issues. In an effort to better understand how different alloys compositions are affected by this thermal gradient, we utilize the recently introduced Hybrid Potts-phase Field Method to study the U-Pu-Zr system. The recently introduced Hybrid method couples microstructural and compositional evolutions of a system so that the two phenomena can be studied together rather than separately, as is frequently done. However, simulation of the U-Pu-Zr …

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Compact Fmcw Radar For Gps-Denied Navigation And Sense And Avoid, James David Mackie Mar 2014

Compact Fmcw Radar For Gps-Denied Navigation And Sense And Avoid, James David Mackie

Theses and Dissertations

Location information is vital for any type of aircraft and even more crucial for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). GPS is a readily available solution but signals can easily be jammed or lost. In this thesis, radar is explored as a backup system for self-localization when GPS signals are not available. The method proposed requires that an area be pre mapped by collecting radar data with known latitude and longitude coordinates. New radar data is then collected and compared to previously stored values. Channel matrices are stored at each point and are used as the basis for location comparisons. Various methods …

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