Engineering Commons^™

Gamecube To Nintendo 64 Controller Converter, Andrew Jia-Haur Lee

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Solar Powered Led Lantern For Developing Countries, Lacy Billingsly Iii

Electrical Engineering

In recent years, both LED and solar technology have become the focus of sustainable energy. LED lighting uses significantly less power than its fluorescent competitor. Solar cells enable clean, natural, and portable power. As these two entities become more efficient at exponential rates, the hope for the wide use of off-grid lighting in less developed countries seemingly increases at the same rate. Currently, there has been a development of industry for portable solar powered lighting systems. Before designing a product, a study was conducted of current products on the market that aim to light dark homes. This study and design …

Barrel Racer's Calculator, Hollie Kucera

Electrical Engineering

Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to complete a clover-leaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time. This sport combines the horsemanship skills of a rider and the horse’s athletic ability to safely and successfully maneuver around the three barrels (three fifty-five gallon metal drums) placed in an arena.

In barrel racing, the purpose is to make the run as fast as possible. An electric eye and timing system keep track of the time. The time starts when the horse and rider cross in between the electric eyes and ends when the …

Ignitron Trigger Circuit, John F. O'Hara Iii

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Hearst Hydroelectric Generation Facility, Anthony Schifano, Richard Wright, Nick Buchanan, Corey Nakai, Joshua Rutheiser

Electrical Engineering

This project proposes a power plant design that provides a supplemental source of electricity for appliances, machinery, and lighting at Hearst Castle and Ranch. The design concept includes a turbine-generator combination to convert kinetic and gravitational potential energy from the existing water distribution system to electrical energy: also known as a hydroelectric plant. The electrical distribution system from the plant to the local grid takes advantage of power flow techniques utilized in current research and industry.

Iphone Breathalyzer: Point Oh Wait!, Gurpal Bhoot

Electrical Engineering

This final year project combines hardware and software components to create an alcohol breathalyzer that is compatible with the iPhone. The final design of the circuit and the iPhone application is original and combines multiple components to create the final product. Most of those components are seen in a simplified version of a breathalyzer, while the added components take care of the interface to the iPhone.

Human Powered Generation - Seesaw: A Dc House Project, William Varsh, Jeffrey Healy

Electrical Engineering

This project is a proof of concept work, where playground equipment is implemented for power generation. In using a seesaw design, this project was able to show how a simple mechanical motion could be transformed in electrical power. A seesaw power generator was designed and constructed to demonstrate its feasibility. Results show that with some modification and improvement to the current design, the seesaw me indeed provide a viable method to produce electricity.

Multiple Input Single Output (Miso) Dc-Dc Converter For The Dc House Project, Owen Jong

Electrical Engineering

This senior project report explains the design of a Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) DC-DC converter for the DC House Project. MISO DC-DC converter interfaces multiple different power sources such as Wind and Solar Energy sources as the inputs to a DC house. The report demonstrates the functionality and the performance of the proposed converter using Flyback topology by showing the theoretical simulation and hardware testing results. Results show the ability of the proposed MISO converter to supply up to 150 Watts from three sources while maintaining maximum efficiency of 92% at full load.

Lyfi, Kianoosh Salami, Justin Cotton, Elush Shirazpour

Electrical Engineering

This paper will cover the steps necessary to design, build, and manage networkable smart light switches over WiFi via a mobile application. It contains a microcontroller running a real time operating system, a WiFi module, a Java server with SQLite databasing, and a mobile phone application.

LyFi is designed to turn on/off and dim household lights while only requiring the same installation procedure as a less capable dimmer switch. Once installed and connected to a network, LyFi will self-discover and configure. The server automatically propogates a database of nodes where any mobile device running an application can receive an updated …

Phase Splitter Guitar Effects Pedal, Jerry Gough

Electrical Engineering

The goal of this project was to create a unique type of guitar distortion effects pedal. The initial plan was to use a Hilbert Transformer, also called a Phase Splitter, to produce a vibrato type distortion. Later during the circuit design phase, it appeared that a tremolo effect could be easily implemented in addition to the vibrato. Both the tremolo and vibrato effects were implemented in the final design. Although there are many different types of vibrato and tremolo pedals already in existence, it does not appear that any current designs use a Hilbert Transformer or phase splitter. Hopefully, this …

Day/Night Band Imager For A Cubesat, Eric Stanton

Electrical Engineering

Day/Night Band (DNB) earth sensing and meteorological systems like the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) provide visible wavelength imagery 24 hours a day that is used primarily for cloud imaging in support of weather forecasting. This paper describes a compact push-broom imager that meets low light imaging requirements for DMSP OLS and the NOAA/NASA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) as documented in the Integrated Operational Requirements Document [1] (IORD) including the imager design, system level concepts of operation for data collection, radiometric and spatial calibration, and data transmission to Earth. This small, lightweight imager complies with …

Digital Guitar Effects Unit And Amplifier, Kevin Salvador

Electrical Engineering

This report outlines the design and implementation of a digital guitar effects unit and amplifier. The main portion of this project consisted of the digital equalizer and effects. Several commercial equalizers were researched in order to decide the typical frequency bands and average amount of bands total. Eventually 8 bands were selected. A range of approximately 20Hz-3kHz was chosen based on test data of guitar signals. Popular effects that were incorporated in this project include Distortion, Echo, Reverb, Chorus and Flanger. The digital processor chosen was a Texas Instruments c6713 floating point processor. Designs for the various filters were done …

Compulsator Design For Electromagnetic Railgun System, Bryan Bennett

Electrical Engineering

This project designed, fabricated, and partially tested a compensated pulsed alternator (compulsator) to power an electromagnetic rail gun (EMRG) in a multidisciplinary team. The EMRG team includes two master’s AERO students, two senior EE students, and three senior ME students. Design of the compulsator began with research through conference and research papers. This design was changed throughout the project as system analysis and component testing exposed unforeseen system limitations. While original specifications were not met, all fabricated components but one, the stator, were completed using Cal Poly’s facilities and the project’s limited available budget. Experimental verification of calculations and system …

Rfid Check-In System For Safe Routes To School At Hawthorne Elementary, Paul Banel

Electrical Engineering

The system uses a low frequency Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader and passive RFID tags to help the Safe Routes to School program at Hawthorne Elementary in San Luis Obispo track the number of children who participate in the program. Children will carry passive RFID tags and scan them at the reader each morning that they walk or bike to school. The system tracks the total number of students that walk and bike each day, as well as the number of times each individual child participates over the course of many days. The Safe Routes program hopes to use this …

12 Volt Wall Outlet For The Dc House Project, Dylan Van Lant, Chenxi Zhang

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to build a DC-DC converter for the wall outlet of the DC House. This report focuses on the development of the DC -DC converter, and explains the design process as well as summarize the final results. The proposed system using the Buck or Step Down topology takes input voltage of 48V and output 12V at 100W. Results show the ability of the converter to fulfill such tasks while maintaining efficiency about 90% at all load.

Retrofitting A Car Alternator For Low-Speed Power Generation, Yuri Carrillo

Electrical Engineering

This report presents the analysis and methods taken to appropriately modify a car alternator to operate as a low speed generator for wind or hydro power generation. A Toyota car alternator taken from a junkyard is characterized via an Open-Circuit test to evaluate its operating specifications. The car alternator is also measured to determine its physical dimensions. The acquired values are used with the generated voltage equation to determine the machine’s unknown rotor values— the product of the rotor winding factor and the number of rotor windings (kfNf). Using the generated voltage equation with the determined machine parameters, the number …

In-Class Lecture Recording: What Lecture Capture Has To Offer To The Instructor, Vladimir I. Prodanov

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of lecture recording upon the instructional faculty. The following aspects are explored: 1) impact on class enrollment; 2) impact on class attendance; 3) usefulness of obtained statistical results for course improvement. The study is based upon data collected in a junior-level Electrical Engineering class with enrollment of 76 students. The data was collected using anonymous surveys and Blackboard’s statistical tracking utility. The results from the survey show that providing lecture recordings does not have significant impact upon students’ decision to attend lectures, but it has pronounced impact upon their enrollment …

Student Perception Of Lecture Video Use As A Means To Increase Time For In Class Problem Solving Applications, Dale Dolan, Vladimir I. Prodanov, Taufik

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of this study is to examine student perceptions of lecture video use as a means to increase available time for in class problem solving in a teaching and learning context. A portion of face to face lectures was replaced with prerecorded lecture video whose viewing was assigned for homework. The freed lecture period was used for additional in class problem solving development, without sacrificing the theory and background that is fundamental. In order to assess the effectiveness of the change in format, student perception was assessed through an anonymous online survey. The survey was given at the completion …

Design And Assembly Of An Antenna Demonstration System, Alexander J. Hempy, Michael P. Civerolo, Dean Y. Arakaki

Electrical Engineering

This paper describes the design, assembly, and operation of a self-contained wireless demonstration system that required only dc power supplies. The system demonstrated polarization effects, radiation patterns, gain, directivity, and signal interference from environmental barriers from dipole, corner reflector (simulated antenna array), Quagi, and embedded patch antennas. The system included an RF oscillator, high-frequency amplifiers,RF bandpass filters, a signal-strength indicator, and multiple adjustable antenna-mounting platforms.

Rapid Battery Interchange System, Mason Borda

Electrical Engineering

As our nation strives towards a departure from widespread use of fossil fuels, we must focus on a plan for what is to be the substitute for Internal Combustion Engine vehicles as well as the infrastructure to support this. The most popular alternative to the internal combustion engine is the electrically propelled vehicle, one that can provide us with many benefits including simplified construction, lower operational costs, and for the driving enthusiasts more torque. The prevailing issue in the widespread acceptance and use of the electric vehicle thus far is “range anxiety”. Range anxiety is defined as “The fear of …

Car Alarm System, David Lane

Electrical Engineering

This project entails the design and implementation of a car alarm system for a 1977 Volkswagen Beetle.

Optical Mode Pattern Study Of Gan Based Leds With And Without Nanoscale Top Grating, Gregory Chavoor

Electrical Engineering

This study analyzes optical confinement factor and light emitting mode order for three different GaN LEDs: a conventional LED, thin Film LED, and thin Film LED with a photonic crystal (PhC) grating. For the first structure, we increase the thickness of Al_xGa_1-xN from 0 to 600nm, alter the x composition in Al_xGa_1-xN from 0.05 to 0.2 in steps of 0.05, and adjust the p-GaN and n-GaN thicknesses each from 0 to 200nm. For the second structure, we alter the n-GaN substrate thickness from 300-1000nm in steps of 100nm and 1000-4000nm in steps …

Equating A Car Alternator With The Generated Voltage Equation, Ervin Carrillo

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

White Light Led Load System, Ronald Lu, Benjamin Ng

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.