Engineering Commons^™

The Design And Fabrication Of Dielectric Waveguides For Use With High Power Carbon Dioxide Lasers At 10.6 Microns, Jong Min Kim

Theses

The feasibility of constructing a feasible transission system to propagate 10.6 microns energy from a CO₂ laser is explored. The system is to be used in a clinical surgical setting to deliver as much as 100 watts of CW power from a surgical CO₂. laser to a surgical target.

The optimal transmission system is a slender flexible cylindrical structure, 1 mm in diameter and 1.5 m long. The structure should be sufficiently flexible to be bent into a 5 to 10 cm radius without a significant increase in the attenuation constant. For clinical applications the system must …

Evaluation Of Numerical Inversion Of Laplace Transformed Solutions, Yu-Chwin Lin

Theses

Here, some linear physical systems are analyzed by using the standard Numerical Laplace Transformation and Inversion method, including undamped and damped systems:

1. Undamped system: A bar clamped at one end and at one end free.

2. Damped system: Viscously damped linear discrete system.

The advantage of the Numerical Laplace Transformation method is that it reduces the inversion of the Laplace transformed solution to numerical integration; it makes the problem much easier to solve. In the present work, we also studied a new Numerical Laplace Transformation Inversion method by Wilcox (App.0 and Ref.l). The merit of this new method is …

Digital Signal Processing Implementing The C Language With Graphics Spectrum Analysis Display, Anuraksa Mahanirananda

Theses

Digital Signal Processing discussed in this thesis is concerned with the transformation of signals or complex wave forms From time domain to frequency domain and vise-versa, implemented on microcomputer systems. The primary principles are: speed of transformation, ease of usage as an application program, capabilities of graphics displaying transformed data (such as power spectrum analysis), storing these data onto record files, and capability of using these data Files and programs with other application programs.

We begin by discussing briefly, the concepts of Fourier theory, Discrete and Fast Fourier Transform, algorithms of Fast Fourier Transform and bit-reversal. Then we implement these …

Automated Manufacturing Technology As A Factor In Production Planning And Control, Henry Steven Nicholas

Theses

The field of automated manufacturing technology is examined. The physical hardware is described, including transfer systems, feeder systems, placing devices, automated work stations, sensors, and actuators. The interrelation of the hardware elements is described and various applications are identified. The role of the control system and its interaction with the hardware is examined. The data communications network required for the control system is considered. Various types of computers, computer network structures, and process control strategies are examined.

The use of automated manufacturing technology requires a new approach to production planning and control. The traditional approach is described and several problem …

The Feasibility And Economics Of Resource Recovery Using Municipal Solid Waste, Joachim Aloysius Pinto

Theses

This thesis gives an overview of the feasibility and economics of a resource recovery project. The feasibility study of a resource recovery project is done by analyzing its markets, economics, and environmental aspects. The use of market development, accurate capital and operating cost estimation procedures and environmental impact analysis help in predicting fairly accurately the feasibility of a resource recovery facility and also gives a good estimate of the economics of the project.

The thesis also discusses the different system design that are or were used in waste-to-energy conservation. It is quite evident from the discussion that the only two …

Modeling And Simulation Studies On Nmos Vlsi, Chang-Joo Kim

Theses

This thesis has two parts. The first part deals with the theoretical analysis and experimental verification of the variation of channel resistance and threshold voltage as a function of drain and source voltages in NMOS transistor with the substrate taken as reference. And the second part deals with simulation and optimization of the NMOS sense amplifier circuits.

Firstly, the NMOS transistor with the substrate taken as reference node is analysed and a set of formulas is derived for the variation of channel resistance as a function of the terminal voltages. Experimental results (using SCL 4007AE from Signetics) show good agreement …

Performance Of Second Order Delta Modulation System, Reza Aghazadeh Alavi

Theses

The performance of an ordinary delta modulation (DM) system under three types of input signals was investigated. These signals were band limited Gaussian noise, 800 Hz sine wave, and speech signal. The affects of 2nd DM added to the ordinary DM in improving the performance of the system were researched. This is called a Second Order Delta Modulation System. The obtained data showed an increase of about 3dB in the overall Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of the system, in the worse case.

Input to the 2nd DM is the band limited error of the first DM. A linear phase …

Reflections On Solid Modeling In Cad/Cam System, Yuh-Hwa Chyr

Theses

In this thesis, we will first study the mathematical fundamental for geometric modeling. It includes modeling space, representation scheme, and various characteristics for solid modeling. Then we discuss how a solid modeling system is integrated into an overall CAD/CAm system. What functions it performs, and what fuctions must be performed with other parts of the CAD/CAM systems. And how data can be transfered between solid modeling system and other CAD/CAM system.

Solid modeling has created a new era in CAD/CAM. A solid model is an unambiguous, three-dimensional, geometric representation of a design. The more design information a model can represent, …

Microcomputer-Based Automated Feeding And Monitoring System For Eating Behavior Studies On Rats, Tseng-Huang Shih

Theses

An instrumentation system has been designed to monitor feeding behavioral experiments on rats. This instrumentation system is capable of performing these experiments in an automated manner without any human intervention. It is capable of monitoring these experiments concurrently in six cages. It exhibits several features that make it more versatile than previous feeding & monitoring systems. It is also capable of storing the data generated on to a floppy disk and later printing out the data for analysis.

Another feature that makes it more versatile is the flexibility of the system. Construction of a parameter file before doing the experiment …

Electrochemical Technique For Corrosion Monitoring, Nadia Mohamed Khattab

Archived Theses and Dissertations

The present work is a study of the applicability of linear polarisation resistance technique as a means for corrosion monitoring. Parameters tested were alloy composition, surface finish of specimens before exposure, concentration of aqueous environment and the additional effect of soil to the aqueou􀀂 medium. A simple galvanostatic polarisation circuit was utilized. A polarisation resistance curve was then plotted from which the corrosion current densities and corrosion rates were calculated. The results of this work show that Corrosion reactions depend on both thermodynamic and kinetic parameters, also these reactions are under mixed control and the potential actually measured at the …

Effect Of Non-Ideal Sampling On The Discrete Fourier Transforms Of An Object Function, Karen Marie Macdougall

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Fourier Series and Fourier Transforms can be used to determine the frequency content of a continuous signal. This paper investigates the situation where a two dimensional object function is sampled by a detector array of a finite size. Continuous Fourier analysis is not applicable to sampled data, so the Discrete Fourier Transform is used. The similarities and differences between the discrete and continuous cases are discussed and consideration is made as to how the spectrum is altered when the normal assumptions of ideal sampling and recovery are not made.

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 …

Spectral Shaping For The Hearing Impaired, Brian D. Mclean

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Presented is a method for shaping the audio spectrum in order to improve speech intelligibility for the hearing impaired. Audiological data is used to design a finite impulse response (FIR) digital filter using the frequency sampling method. Cubic spline interpolation is used to generate any number of frequency samples from the limited number available from audiological data. The computer aided design procedure presented allows the filter designer to specify hearing threshold levels and threshold of discomfort levels at audiogram frequencies. The algorithm uses cubic spline interpolation to generate a smooth curve of gain versus frequency. Next, root-mean-square (RMS) error is …

Interactive Video Based Training Systems, Roy H. Hightower

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The training community has focused considerable attention on interactive video technology which in recent years has become a popular method of delivery for training applications utilizing microcomputers. This paper identifies the classifications of interactive video and addresses the hardware, software and processes required to utilize the technology for training applications. The capabilities and limitations of the technology are discussed with respect to the various video devices which are utilized. The major advantages of interactive video identified include the capability to combine computer graphics with video; the ability to deliver realistic video simulation; and the ability to store, sort, and retrieve …