Engineering Commons^™

Fusion Of Visual And Thermal Images Using Genetic Algorithms, Sertan Erkanli

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Demands for reliable person identification systems have increased significantly due to highly security risks in our daily life. Recently, person identification systems are built upon the biometrics techniques such as face recognition. Although face recognition systems have reached a certain level of maturity, their accomplishments in practical applications are restricted by some challenges, such as illumination variations. Current visual face recognition systems perform relatively well under controlled illumination conditions while thermal face recognition systems are more advantageous for detecting disguised faces or when there is no illumination control. A hybrid system utilizing both visual and thermal images for face recognition …

Data Aggregation And Dissemination In Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks, Khaled Ibrahim

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) are a fast growing technology that many governments and automobile manufacturers are investing in to provide not only safer and more secure roads, but also informational and entertainment-based applications for drivers. The applications developed for VANETs can be classified into multiple categories (safety, informational, entertainment). Most VANET applications, regardless of their category, depend on having certain vehicular data(vehicular speed, X position and Y position) available. Although these applications appear to use the same vehicular data, the characteristics of this data (i.e., amount, accuracy, and update rate) will vary based on the application category. For …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Collision Avoidance From Moving Obstacles, Atila Ozdemir

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The usage of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is becoming more diverse day by day in both military and civil applications. Specifically in military applications, they are becoming a "must-have" component in every arsenal. Low cost, and especially the importance of human life, makes these vehicles desired in any military situation. But in order to take advantage of the UAVs, these vehicles should be able to navigate safely and not collide with other air vehicles, especially ones that are manned and carry personnel. As a result, the importance of a collision avoidance system of the UA V arises and begins …

Performance Analysis For Wimax Wireless Systems With Multiple Receive Antennas, Selcuk Taskin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Broadband wireless access has become the best way to meet the growing demand for fast Internet connections. WiMAX is one of the most promising broadband access technologies that allows fast deployment as well as low maintenance costs. WiMAX allows efficient use available bandwidth by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) which is an efficient multi-carrier modulation technique. Diversity is a method for improving the reliability of a signal in fading environments by using two or more communication channels and is usually achieved by multiple antenna techniques.

In this thesis, receiver side diversity combining methods are studied and the performance of …

Video Stabilization Based On Speeded-Up Robust Features, Minqi Zhou

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

With the advancement of science and technology, portable devices using video cameras are becoming more popular. Videos captured by ordinary commercial cameras always suffer from undesired motion which results from human hand shaking and mobile platform vibration. The undesired motion would not only blur the image degrading the image quality leading to inaccurate results in automatic object recognition and tracking, but also make it difficult for people to focus on specific object regions. It is also a possibility that one may feel dizzy while watching shaky video for a long time. Many hardware and software methodologies have been developed by …

Long Term Surface Power Generator Design For Mars: Autonomously Deployable Photovoltaic Solar Arrays Along With Regenerative Fuel Cell Modules, Omer Demirok

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis studies the feasibility of incorporating a large autonomously deployed photovoltaic solar array power system as the primary power source for a large fixed Mars base. A mission duration of 10 Earth years has been assumed and the nominal power demands have been specified as a minimum of 40 kW, during daytime operation and a continuous 10 kW. demand for nighttime operation.

The overall system design developed in this thesis has an estimated total mass of 7,400 kg, when utilizing hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film solar arrays and an estimated total mass of 5,100 kg when utilizing polycrystalline copper-indium-diselenide …

Examination Timetabling With Mathematical Programming An Application In Turkish Air Force Academy, Emrah Koksalmis

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is the educational timetabling problem, which is a very challenging problem to solve especially with a high number of the departments, branches, classes, and students. Due to the large scale of educational timetabling problems and preferences of the stakeholders, it is almost impossible to form a general model that solves all of the timetabling problems in the literature. This resulted in the need to develop and employ specific models for specific institutions.

The purpose of this study is to develop a mathematical programming model that solves the examination timetabling problem in Turkish Air Force Academy …

A Study Of The Correlation Of Sub-Aqueous Beach Profile Change And The Coastal Storm Impulse (Cosi) Parameter, Kevin Bryan Conner

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The Coastal Storm Impulse (COSI) parameter is a recently developed storm-strength parameter that was first introduced at the San Diego, California International Conference of Coastal Engineering in 2006 (ICCE) and further examined in 2008 at the ICCE in Hamburg, Germany. This new parameter used the principles of conservation of horizontal momentum to combine storm characteristics such as surge, wave dynamics, currents, and duration into a relative scale used to classify and measure storm response and impacts. The resultant classification system was intended to evaluate potential coastal erosion and the associated loss of coastal infrastructure, as well as provide a storm …

A Probabilistic Analysis Of Misparking In Reservation Based Parking Garages, Vikas G. Ashok

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Parking in major cities is an expensive and annoying affair, the reason ascribed to the limited availability of parking space. Modern parking garages provide parking reservation facility, thereby ensuring availability to prospective customers. Misparking in such reservation based parking garages creates confusion and aggravates driver frustration. The general conception about misparking is that it tends to completely cripple the normal functioning of the system leading to chaos and confusion. A single mispark tends to have a ripple effect and therefore spawns a chain of misparks. The chain terminates when the last mispark occurs at the parking slot reserved by the …

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Of Transonic Airfoil Sections Using Multiobjective Optimization And Computational Intelligence Tools, Amit A. Kulkarni

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The design of transonic airfoils for civil aviation applications has been a major engineering challenge in the last fifty years. This design problem arises due to the need to limit shock wave drag at a given transonic speed. In recent years, the requirement to reduce the levels of aircraft noise has started to affect the airfoil design process. The multidisciplinary aerodynamic shape optimization problem is treated in this thesis using a multi-objective approach. The objectives correspond to the design of transonic airfoil sections with low drag during cruise and low trailing edge noise levels during the approach condition. The optimization …

Section Abstracts: Astronomy, Mathematics And Physics With Materials Science

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts for the Astronomy, Mathematics, and Physics with Materials Science Section for the 89th Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 25-27, 2011, University of Richmond, Richmond VA.

A Pilot Model For Investigating Biodynamic Coupling Due To Aeroservoelastic Accelerations, Brandon Cowen

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Supersonic Transport Aircraft tend to have slender fuselages with respect to their subsonic counterparts. This design feature leads to increased aeroservoelastic bending at low resonant frequencies closer to the frequencies of pilot commands and the corresponding rigid body accelerations. Aeroelastic accelerations of certain frequencies and phase lags at the pilot station have been seen to involuntarily pass through the pilot's body to the control inceptor. When the pilot commands rigid body accelerations in phase with the structural response, the structural accelerations grow. Thus biodynamic coupling represents the coupling between the feedthrough of pilot station acceleration through the pilot's body, with …

A Structured Project-Risk Management And Life Cycle Framework For Complex Systems: Ship Repair And Maintenance (Sr&M) Projects, Michael Craig Plumb

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to insights regarding the implications of using Project Risk Management (PRM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in managing projects for a complex system. The PRM approach apprehends many forms of risk both internal and external within a given project and assists the manager in determining the level of importance of each individual project phase and component to optimize project success. The life cycle approach to project management is used with short-term limitations with respect to a product's life cycle over several years. The literature discusses many tools and techniques that assist project managers in implementing optimal solutions, …

Data Hiding In Digital Video, Abdullah Cay

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

With the rapid development of digital multimedia technologies, an old method which is called steganography has been sought to be a solution for data hiding applications such as digital watermarking and covert communication. Steganography is the art of secret communication using a cover signal, e.g., video, audio, image etc., whereas the counter-technique, detecting the existence of such as a channel through a statistically trained classifier, is called steganalysis.

The state-of-the art data hiding algorithms utilize features; such as Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficients, pixel values, motion vectors etc., of the cover signal to convey the message to the receiver side. …

Characterizations Of Atmospheric Pressure Low Temperature Plasma Jets And Their Applications, Erdinc Karakas

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma jets (APLTPJs) driven by short pulses have recently received great attention because of their potential in biomedical and environmental applications. This potential is due to their user-friendly features, such as low temperature, low risk of arcing, operation at atmospheric pressure, easy handheld operation, and low concentration of ozone generation. Recent experimental observations indicate that an ionization wave exists and propagates along the plasma jet. The plasma jet created by this ionization wave is not a continuous medium but rather consists of a bullet-like-structure known as "Plasma Bullet". More interestingly, these plasma bullets actually have a …

Ionic Current Rectification Phenomena In Asymmetrical Polymer Nanopores Under Salt Gradients, Murat Bakirci

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The magnitude of current through a conical nanopore filled with an electrolyte solution depends on the polarity of the applied bias, indicating an asymmetric diode-like current-voltage (I-V) curve. This kind of phenomenon refers to ionic current rectification (ICR), which is of interest because many ion-channel proteins in cellular membranes are rectifying. In addition, ICR in nanopores can be used to control ion concentrations in nano- and microfluidic systems. In this study, the ICR phenomenon through a conical nanopore simultaneously subjected to an electric field and salt concentration gradient is experimentally and numerically investigated.

The experiments were conducted in an Izon's …

Potential Environmental Benefits Of Extending Aircraft Pushback Operations, Dennis R. O'Connell

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This study considered extending the operational use of pushback tractors to perform taxi-out airport ground operations for commercial aircraft as an alternative to using aircraft power plants for this operation. Pushback tractors are designed to reverse aircraft from the terminal gate to a position where the aircraft can taxi independently to the departure runway. In this investigation the process of pushback would be extended to pulling the aircraft to the departure runway then returning the pushback tractor to the terminal of origin, a new procedure known as extended pushback.

Data from major aircraft operators and engine manufacturers were collected to …

Interface Thermal Resistance Between Liquid Argon And Various Solids, Ziyuan Shi

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Heat conduction between two parallel solid walls separated by liquid argon is investigated using three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Liquid argon molecules confined in silver and graphite nano-channels are examined separately. Heat flux and temperature distribution within the nano-channels are calculated by maintaining a fixed temperature difference between the two solid surfaces. Temperature profiles are linear sufficiently away from the walls, and heat transfer in liquid argon obeys the Fourier law. The temperature jump due to the interface thermal resistance (i.e., Kapitza length) is calculated by extrapolating the temperature profile in the bulk region on to the wall and is …

Growth Of Alkali Antimonide Photosensitive Thin Films, George Annobil

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The experiment performed in this research addresses the growth of an alkali antimonide photosensitive film. Research was conducted to understand and develop a growth technique for a unique vapor deposition system in a vacuum environment. Specifically, the grown film will be utilized as a photocathode, and hence quantum efficiency (QE) and photocathode lifetime measurements are conducted. The research presents the successful growth of the binary compound cesium antimonide with achieved quantum efficiency of ~0.07% at ~240V anode bias. This experimental result demonstrated that the deposition technique was reliable in producing a feasible cathode. It further allowed the verification of theoretical …

A Study Of Diversity Techniques For Lte Wireless Systems, Ferhat Kaplan

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The demand of attaining information and the wish to communicating anytime and anywhere has caused numerous innovations in the digital communication world. Today, approximately half of the people on earth somehow use wireless technology which is in every part of our lives. LTE (Long Term Evolution) and WIMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) standards are the two leading wireless technologies, which support high data rates, multimedia applications, and voice video communications at very high speeds, also called 4G cellular systems in the global market.

These high expectations from wireless technology have revealed multiple antenna techniques which improve the performance and …

Electronic Warfare By Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Aydin Meric

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Technology continues to evolve rapidly by the day. Developments in technology should be followed closely if a country wants to become more powerful. Nowadays nobody can afford to ignore the importance of Electronic Warfare and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in military applications. Both of them play a crucial role in military operations that they can change the course of a war.

There are different kinds of Electronic Warfare methods that can be applied according to the situations and any evolving circumstances. In the beginning Electronic Warfare was used mainly for defensive purposes, but these days Electronic Warfare is used for …

Evaluation Of A Novel Non-Penetrating Electrode For Use In Dna Vaccination, Amy Donate, Domenico Coppola, Yolmari Cruz, Richard Heller

Bioelectrics Publications

Current progress in the development of vaccines has decreased the incidence of fatal and non-fatal infections and increased longevity. However, new technologies need to be developed to combat an emerging generation of infectious diseases. DNA vaccination has been demonstrated to have great potential for use with a wide variety of diseases. Alone, this technology does not generate a significant immune response for vaccination, but combined with delivery by electroporation (EP), can enhance plasmid expression and immunity. Most EP systems, while effective, can be invasive and painful making them less desirable for use in vaccination. Our lab recently developed a non-invasive …

Manipulating Particles For Micro- And Nano-Fluidics Via Floating Electrodes And Diffusiophoresis, Sinan Eren Yalcin

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The ability to accurately control micro- and nano-particles in a liquid is fundamentally useful for many applications in biology, medicine, pharmacology, tissue engineering, and microelectronics. Therefore, first particle manipulations are experimentally studied using electrodes attached to the bottom of a straight microchannel under an imposed DC or AC electric field. In contrast to a dielectric microchannel possessing a nearly-uniform surface charge, a floating electrode is polarized under the imposed electric field.

The purpose is to create a non-uniform distribution of the induced surface charge, with a zero-net-surface charge along the floating electrode's surface. Such a field, in turn, generates an …

Direct Current Electrokinetic Particle Transport In Micro/Nano-Fluidics, Ye Ai

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Electrokinetics has been widely used to propel and manipulate particles in micro/nano-fluidics. The first part of this dissertation focuses on numerical and experimental studies of direct current (DC) electrokinetic particle transport in microfluidics, with emphasis on dielectrophoretic (DEP) effect. Especially, the electrokinetic transports of spherical particles in a converging-diverging microchannel and an L-shaped microchannel, and cylindrical algal cells in a straight microchannel have been numerically and experimentally studied. The numerical predictions are in quantitative agreement with our own and other researchers' experimental results. It has been demonstrated that the DC DEP effect, neglected in existing numerical models, plays an important …

Exploring The Effects Of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control In Mitigating Traffic Congestion, Georges M. Arnaout

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this research is to examine the impact of CACC (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control) equipped vehicles on traffic-flow characteristics of a multilane highway system. The research identifies how CACC vehicles affect the dynamics of traffic flow on a road network and demonstrates the potential benefits of reducing traffic congestion due to stop-and-go traffic conditions. An agent-based traffic simulation model is developed specifically to examine the effect of these intelligent vehicles on the traffic flow dynamics. Traffic performance metrics characterizing the evolution of traffic congestion throughout the road network, are analyzed. Different CACC penetration levels are studied.

The positive …

Evaluation System Design And Academic Performance Analysis Using Clustering And Simulation, Volkan Cakir

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The starting point of this study was to understand the possible causes of evaluation system change in a military academic environment. With that motivation the objectives of this study were defined as examining student profiles in a military academy, establishing the nature of academic performance, comparing student groups that were identified by course scores, analyzing student performance changes over time and developing a manageable evaluation system and curriculum by comparing different scenarios.

An analysis was performed on the literature on academic performance prediction, cluster analysis methodologies and their development, and specifically summarized cluster analytic academic performance studies where these two …

Random Keys Genetic Algorithms Scheduling And Rescheduling Systems For Common Production Systems, Elkin Rodriguez-Velasquez

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The majority of scheduling research deals with problems in specific production environments with specific objective functions. However, in many cases, more than one problem type and/or objective function exists, resulting in the need for a more generic and flexible system to generate schedules. Furthermore, most of the published scheduling research focuses on creating an optimal or near optimal initial schedule during the planning phase. However, after production processes start, circumstances like machine breakdowns, urgent jobs, and other unplanned events may render the schedule suboptimal, obsolete or even infeasible resulting in a "rescheduling" problem, which is typically also addressed for a …

A Method To Improve The Sustainment Of Systems Based On Probability And Consequences, Michael Ashton Gaintner

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The FROST Method is presented which improves the efficiency of long-term sustainment of hardware systems. The FROST Method makes sustainment and scheduling decisions based on the minimization of the expected value of current and future costs. This differs from current methods which tend to base decisions not on the expected value of costs, but on the expected inventory demand found through projections using data which is often inaccurate.

Distributions are used to account for randomness and inaccuracy in inputs such as failure rates and vendor-claimed dates for end of production. A Monte Carlo technique is then used to convert these …

Investigation And Comparison Of Proportional Navigation Guidance And Beam Rider Guidance, Ertac Olgun

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Air defense has an increasing importance in today's wars. To gain the advantage in air combat, pursuit interceptor aircraft, which use Air-to-Air Missiles (AAMs), have become more and more significant. However, these are not sufficient alone. The importance of Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) also can not be ignored in air defense.

SAMs can use different tactical navigation guidance methods. Of these, two of the more important guidance methods are Proportional Navigation Guidance and Beam Rider Guidance, which are investigated in this thesis. To understand the idea better, a brief description and discussion of missiles are provided. Parts of the guided missiles …

Modeling The Contagion Effect Of Foreclosures Within The Real Estate Market By Use Of Agent-Based Modeling And Simulation, Marshall William Gangel

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Over the last several years, the US financial and real estate markets have experienced a significant recession. During this downturn, the number of real estate foreclosures rose drastically. Recent studies have empirically demonstrated a reduction in real estate values due to foreclosures. The observed reduction in the average value of real estate properties has been labeled the foreclosure contagion effect. The foreclosure contagion effect impacts healthy neighboring properties that surround the foreclosed property as a function of time and distance.

This study uses an agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS} approach to explore the contagion effect of foreclosures. For this research, …