Engineering Commons^™

Analysis Of Flexible Pavement On The Basis Of Deflection Basins, Dinesh M. Kamath

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The pavement at research park called Research Parkway and Discovery Drive was found Deteriorated within two years of the construction. The need to evaluate the extent of the damage and the estimate of remaining life of pavement initiate the research study. The analysis presented in this report is based on the measurements of the surface deflections and the layered elastic theory. The life expectancy of the pavement can be estimated by the amount of pavement deflection developed within the pavement system. The parameters used in the analysis are the applied load, material of the pavement components and environmental effects. Trial …

Forced, Non-Linear Vibration Of Integral Shroud Turbine Blades, Michael K. Brown

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the forced, non-linear vibration of integral shroud turbine blades. The shroud of this type of blade is integral with the foil and root. During turbine operation small gaps are generally present between adjacent shrouds. If the amplitude of blade vibration is sufficient, adjacent shrouds will contact. This contact creates a dynamic non-linearity. A complete row of blades is considered in the analysis. The Ritz averaging method is used to develop an approximate displacement solution. Frequency response curves for a representative turbine blade are presented in the usual format.

Applications Of Artificial Intelligence In Military Training Simulation, Igor V. Golovcsenko

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This report is a survey of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology contributions to military training. It provides an overview of military training simulation and a review of instructional problems and challenges which can be addressed by AI. The survey includes current as well as potential applications of AI, with particular emphasis on design and system integration issues. Applications include knowledge and skills training in strategic planning and decision making, tactical warfare operations, electronics maintenance and repair, as well as computer-aided design of training systems. The report describes research contributions in the application of AI technology to the training world, and it …

Design Of A Lens System For A Structured Light Projector, Rick Joe Johnson

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Code V, an optical design program, was used to design a lens for a three-dimensional mapping application. The purpose of the lens system is to project an array of spots of light onto the object of interest. The size of the projected spots can be used to determine the distance from the lens to the object. The design criterion for this system was a 2% accuracy of position with a two lens system. The use of anamorphic and aspheric surfaces was also investigated as a means to improve the design performance.

Real Time Signal Processing Using Systolic Arrays, Jack Boulay

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses and presents the design of systolic arrays used in modern real time signal processing. A methodology to map a given algorithm into a systolized VLSI implementation is described. The architectural alternatives for a given signal processing algorithm are discussed and investigated at a function level using a simulation package that has been developed using the “C” programming language. The similarities and differences between wavefront array processors and systolic array processors are presented.

Versatile Gasdynamics Computer Program For One-Dimensional Isentropic Rayleigh And Fanno Flows, Robert Kenneth Smith

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research report is to discuss the development and results of a computer program (GASDYNAMICS) that solves a variety of compressible one-dimensional (1-D) steady gas dynamics problems utilizing the algebraic equations that result from the governing differential equations assuming perfect gas condition. This report shows how the governing differential equations that are derived from the ideal gas law, the definition of Mach number and the fundamental conservation laws of mass, energy, and momentum can be developed into their algebraic forms when additional simplifying assumptions are made.

GASDYNAMICS solves problems for either a converging or a converging –diverging …

Motion And Intrusion Detection Using A Pyroelectric Detector, Randy R. Fields

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to describe a device that passively detects the presence of a warm-bodied object in a specified area. The detecting device used is a pyroelectric detector with an integral optical filter. By focusing infrared radiation generated by the object onto the detector, the resulting temperature change is converted to a voltage and then amplified. Modulation of the incoming radiation is accomplished by a rotating disk whose speed of rotation is dynamically controlled by a microprocessor. The resulting detector response is filtered and converted to a DC level. The signal is then passed through an analog-to-digital …

Diffraction Modelling For Saw Devices On Anisotropic Substrates, Melanie A. Roberts

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents two approaches to solving the diffraction problem for SAW devices on anisotropic substrates. Diffraction is a nonlinear second-order effect which alters SAW performance, and some of the difficulty in predicting the actual effect is the anisotropy of acoustic materials, which makes the Fresnel Integral solution non-trivial. An accurate model for diffraction effects will allow compensation to be made without iterations in expensive and time consuming fabrication and testing processes, especially since it is difficult to isolate diffraction from other second-order effects. Of the two methods of modelling, one is a Fresnel Integral evaluation approach, and the other …

Remote Data Acquisition And Error Analysis Of The Scattering Parameters Of Quartz Crystal Devices, Sallie Layton Douglas

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A two-port device can be described by the incident and reflected voltages at each port. The parameters used in this description are known as scattering parameters. Accurate measurement of the values are thus important in device evaluation and network design. Limitations arise with the measurement capability of the equipment. In order to reduce these limitations, the data acquisition is controlled remotely by a computer program. The program also offers an error correction analysis of the measurement results. The measurement setup and basic approach are discussed as well as the techniques of normalization and calibration of each scattering parameter. The computer …

Design And Analysis Of A Voice Band Qpsk Modem, John F. Doud

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this paper is to design and construct a modem using the Quadrature Phase Shift Key digital modulation technique. The modem is designed to transmit information over a telephone line at the rate of 1200 bits per second subject to noise and imperfect channel response in the form of magnitude and delay distortion. The device is constructed using CMOS logic to minimize power consumption. To analyze the design with respect to the above constraints, it was necessary to build a pseudorandom bit sequence generator and correlator, a variable magnitude white noise generator and a digital error detector/indicator.

Two Point Resolution Of A Defocused Multi-Aperture System Eyelet, Steven A. Marlow

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Multi-aperture optical systems based on the insect eye offer an alternative to the common optical system based on the human eye. Some of the advantages of a multi - aperture system include the ability to perform parallel processing, have super resolution and have available large amounts of system redundancy.

An individual eyelet of a multi-aperture system consists of a gradient index lens coupled to optical fibers which transfer the incident light on the lens to individual detectors.

A mathematical model of an individual eyelet was developed. It is a flexible model allowing various system parameters to vary. Computer based algorithms …

The Design And Implementation Of An Interdigitated Directional Coupler For Use In Microwave Mixers, Golnaz Pourparviz

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to present a design for a balanced microwave mixer, operating in the X-band region(S-12 GHZ). The major emphasis of this work is on the coupling structure of the mixer. A 3-db interdigitated Lange coupler is designed, fabricated, and tested. The design obtained through numerical procedures is compared with that obtained with the TOUCHSTONE CAD package. A brief comparison between this coupler and other commonly used couplers is also presented. The diode circuitry of the mixer is discussed in detail, focusing mainly on the operation of the Schottky barrier diode, and finally a total layout …

Ada Tools For The Description And Simulation Of Digital Signal Processing Systems, Mark D. Happel

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

While specialized hardware description languages allow for maximum capability and efficiency in a design automation system, the use of a general purpose language in the same role can make the system more available or more available or more practical for a larger set of users. This project demonstrates the use of ADA* for the description and simulation of small digital signal processing systems. Building on conventions and primitives proposed by Denyer and Renshaw, a simple subsystem was described in ADA and then tested with a small simulator also written in ADA.

* ADA is a trademark of the United States …

The Implementation Of Quality Control Circle Concepts Into American Industry, John R. Hunt

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

In light of the growing worldwide competition among industrial manufacturers as developing nations become more technologically viable, it becomes imperative that we, as a nation, become more conscious than ever of quality and productivity.

Our most serious competitors, the Japanese, have developed a nationwide sense of quality consciousness and have evolved a management and manufacturing system to achieve their goals of superior quality that is currently unrivaled.

One important element of their productive system is the concept of Quality Control (QC) circles; generally described as a problem solving group of working people, who as members of a team, identify, solve, …

Computer Simulation Of Dynamic Systems, Charles G. Smith

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Computer simulation of a control system is a valuable tool in design or performance evaluation. This is especially true when non-linear elements cannot be ignored and must be included within the model. A general purpose block diagram oriented simulation program will be developed which can utilize continuous, discrete and non-linear building blocks. The software tool will be demonstrated by means of an example.

Influence Of Bromide Upon Trihalomethane Formation And Speciation, Thomas J. Christ

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the influence of bromide-ion concentrations upon trihalomethane (THM) formation and speciation. There is some speculation that bromide will increase the amount of THMs on a mass and/or molar basis. Previous research had indicated that bromide will affect the speciation to form the more brominated forms of THMs, but the extent of this speciation has not been clearly defined. Speciation is important when evaluating THM removal processes. The brominated species may require activated carbon for removal as opposed to air stripping for removal of the volatile species (chloroform).

To investigate the role of bromide ion, a half-fractional, factorial …

The Creation Of An Expert System For Teaching Piano Lessons, Carol Chew

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Combining the arts with science and technology has had many beneficial results. Computers and music have been connected for many years. Computers have been used in music composition, electronic keyboards, music publishing and digital sound processing. Artificial intelligence has been used in creating expert systems for training people in various fields. An attempt will be made to tie together expert systems for training with current computerized music technology.

This research report proposes that an expert system be developed to teach piano lessons. The fields of music and artificial intelligence will be drawn upon in developing this expert system structure. While …

Use Of A Liquid Crystal Television For Spatial Frequency Analysis Of Incoherent Scenes, Michael A. Deschenes

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM) was used as a programmable reticle in an optical system. The function of the SLM system was to perform a spatial frequency analysis on an incoherent input scene, by means of successive correlations over a set of spatial basis functions. Because of physical modulator characteristics, the basis function set available from the reticle was a set of DC-biased square waves, rather than the sinusoids used in a usual Fourier analysis. This led to the “even pulse train transform” being performed on the input images. Experimental examples of this frequency analysis are given for …

Edge Direction Confidence Estimation For Improvement Of Hough Accumulation, Eric J. Grajales

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The Hough transform silhouette identification method requires a consistency of edge direction in the identification of similar silhouettes. Many gradient operators used in Hough preprocessing require a thresholding and a non-maxima suppression routine to aid the localization process. These routines may delete edges or cause edge fragmentation. These anomalies degrade the Hough performance due to the lack of accurate silhouette extraction, and reduce the correct localization in the Hough accumulator. Noise or sampling errors can be removed by several enhancement routines presented. They are mean, median, symmetric nearest neighbor, hi pass, and low pass filters.

An edge detection process is …

Implementation Of Inversion Algorithms In Reconfigurable Systolic Arrays, Haritini E. Andre

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Reducing the computing time of the matrix inversion has been a concern of many authors. The use of Systolic architectures containing orthogonally connected processing elements capable of few instructions multiple data have allowed for new algorithms to be implemented. Two algorithms are examined that rely on the triangularization methods for matrix inversion. One can be applied to the general non-singular matrix and the other to the symmetric matrix. The throughput in both implementation is revolutionized. The speed improvement over Liu and Young’s implementation of the symmetric matrix inversion is by a factor of three.

The throughput in both implementation is …

Implementation Of A 35 Ghz Microstrip Antenna System, Rachel S. Albritton

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Millimeter waves, corresponding to the frequency range 30 to 300 GHz, have characteristics which make them ideal for many applications. Antennas at these frequencies have the advantage of reduced size and weight and can be fabricated as an integral part of the system they are used in. Millimeter wave microstrip antennas have been extensively researched over the past decade. The purposed of this report was to build and test 35 GHz microstrip antennas as well as put into operation a high voltage klystron power supply, Micro-Now Model 756. The antennas were fabricated and tested in the lab and the results …

Intelligent Robots, Abol H. Moulavi

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing need for integrating sensory feedback into the robot system. This will provide better flexibility and will improve the capacity of the robot to reason and make decisions in real time.

This report discusses the current issues related to the development and application of intelligent robots. The report surveys the essential features of an intelligent robot. These features are sensing, off-line programming, task level programming, adaptive control and knowledge representation.

Such a robot should be knowledge driven. It should "know" about objects and work plans, this knowledge should provide the capability for the robot to handle uncertainty …

A 24-Hour Rainfall Distribution And Peak Rate Factors For Use In Southwest Florida, Geoffrey S. Dendy

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to derive a design 24-hour duration rainfall distribution for use in southwest Florida, and peak rate factors for use in the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) unit hydrograph method for two watersheds, also in the southwest Florida area. The rainfall distribution is derived by applying a least squares polynomial curve fitting technique to National Weather Service hourly rainfall data collected in the study area. The screening criteria for data included in the curve fitting procedure are: storm duration of 18 to 26 hours, at least three inches of rainfall volume, and peak intensity period falling …

Frequency To Voltage Signal Conditioner Circuit Design, Pamela Ann Nelson

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The following report explains the design of a frequency to voltage converter circuit using a charge pump. In general, it may be considered a black box which accepts a 0 to 2 kHz frequency signal in, and outputs a 0 to 10 volt DC level.

An additional feature of this circuit is the detection of digital direction signal. A "logic high" direction signal will give 0 to 10 volts out; a "logic low" direction signal will give 0 to -10 volts.

A voltage regulator is also available to power an off-board frequency sensor.

Tessellation For Computer Image Generation, Michael J. Panzitta

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Of the vast number of algorithms used in modem computer image generation, most rely upon data bases comprised of polygons. This constraint on the image generation system becomes a severe impediment when curved objects must be modeled and displayed with an acceptable level of speed and accuracy. A technique is needed which provides a means of modeling curved surfaces, storing them in a data base, and displaying them using existing algorithms.

Tessellation is one method of achieving such goals. A curved object is represented by some characteristic geometry of the object's surface, such as points and tangent vectors. A set …

A New Relative Entropy Based Method For Probability Mass Function Estimation, William A. Marinelli

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Presented is a new algorithm for implementing the Relative Entropy method for estimating the probability density function of a process. The Relative Entropy principle can also be used to estimate the power spectrum of a random process as presented in Appendix A.

Chapter 2 presents the current method of pdf estimation using the Relative Entropy method. In this method a set of Lagrange multipliers are solved for simultaneously. The new algorithm, discussed in Chapter 3, presents a new, efficient method for solving for one Lagrange multiplier at a time, iteratively. The procedure presented allows one to estimate the probability density …

Investigation Of Electrical Properties Of Earth Materials By Ground Penetrating Radar, Bishar S. Tannous

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Research was conducted at the University of Central Florida between September 1983 and July 1985 utilizing Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to determine values of dielectric constants of common earth materials and to establish a correlation between the dielectric constant of a material and its moisture content. GPR was also used on a concrete pavement to determine the dielectric constant of a concrete mix and to explore the possibilities of evaluating a concrete pavement by detecting embedded anomalies.

The earth materials selected for the purpose of this research were sandy soils, clayey soils and limestone aggregates. A model PVC tank supported …

Speech Signal Representation Through Digital Signal Processing Techniques, Debbie A. Kravchuk

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This paper addresses several different signal processing methods for representing speech signals. Some of the techniques that are discussed include time domain coding which uses pulse-code, differential, or delta modulating methods. Also presented are frequency domain techniques such as sub-band coding and adaptive transform coding. In addition, this paper will discuss representing speech signals through source coding techniques via vocoders. A comparison of these different signal representation methods is included.

A Reconfigurable Orthogonal Systolic Array Implementation Of A Kalman Filter, Mark V. Bapst

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

An important part of optimal estimation technology, the Kalman filter is a computationally intensive application that has been limited either to non-real time realizations or to realizations that can afford vast amounts of mainframe hardware. The potential use of the Kalman filter theory could be greatly enhanced by a low cost, high performance machine capable of computing the recursive matrix equations in real time.

The use of pipelined parallel architectures allows the Kalman filter equations to be realized with much greater efficiency than previous implementations. A reconfigurable, few instruction, multiple data, orthogonal, pipelined, systolic array processor will be used to …

Electrical Testing Of Piezoelectric Transducers Applied To Accelerometer Design, Patrick L. Heron

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Piezoelectric transducers are, by nature, electromechanical devices. Methods historically used to characterize these transducers involve both electrical and mechanical measurements. The purpose of this paper is to propose a technique to characterize piezoids which will require electrical measurements only. Thus, characterization can be accomplished through the use of readily available calibrated electrical test equipment. This technique is based upon the assumption that some insight into the dynamic behavior of a piezoid can be implied by inspection of the transducer's static material properties. A necessary condition for the validity of the proposed technique is established. This test procedure is utilized in …