Engineering Commons^™

System Design Of Undersea Vehicles With Multiple Sources Of Uncertainty, Todd W. Benanzer

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The work performed investigates the system design and optimization of an undersea vehicle. The system design is driven by the available components, the missions the vehicle is required to perform, and the performance the system configuration yields. The system design consists of three design modules: path planning, component selection and sizing, and structural analysis. The path planning module uses a novel application of the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm named Path Planning by Additive Freedom. Additionally, the unknown aspects of the mission space through which the path propagates are dealt with using an uncertainty quantification method known as Evidence Theory. Component …

Algorithmic Techniques Employed In The Isolation Of Codon Usage Biases In Prokaryotic Genomes, Douglas W. Raiford Iii

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While genomic sequencing projects are an abundant source of information for biological studies ranging from the molecular to the ecological in scale, much of the information present may yet be hidden from casual analysis. One such information domain, trends in codon usage, can provide a wealth of information about an organism's genes and their expression. Degeneracy in the genetic code allows more than one triplet codon to code for the same amino acid, and usage of these codons is often biased such that one or more of these synonymous codons is preferred. Isolation of translational efficiency bias can have important …

Energy Efficient Image Video Sensor Networks, Paul Anthony Bender

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Image Video Sensor Networks are emerging applications for sensor network technologies. The relatively large size of the data collected by image video sensors presents new challenges for the sensor network in terms of energy consumption and channel capacity. We address each of these issues through the use of a high density network deployment utilizing some nodes as dedicated relay nodes.

A high density network allows network nodes to reduce their transmission power. This reduction in transmission power allows each node to conserve power and simultaneously increases the potential for spatially concurrent transmissions within the network, resulting in improved network throughputs. …

A Study Of Multi-Echelon Inventory Systems With Stochastic Capacity And Intermediate Product Demand, Suman Niranjan

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The research in this dissertation involves the study of several multi-echelon inventory systems with stochastic capacity and intermediate product demand. Specifically we analyze the behavior of the system which consists of several intermediate product demands. The analysis is primarily three fold i) developed update (relational) equations for all the multi-echelon inventory systems under several inventory allocation policies, ii) develop two simulation optimization approaches 1) OptQuest framework, and 2) IPA (Infinitesimal Perturbation Analysis) framework, used to minimize the total cost of the inventory systems that satisfy the desired customer service level, iii) obtain numerical results for all the multi-echelon inventory systems …

Evaluation Of Overlay/Underlay Waveform Via Sd-Smse Framework For Enhancing Spectrum Efficiency, Vasu D. Chakravarthy

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Recent studies have suggested that spectrum congestion is mainly due to the inefficient use of spectrum rather than its unavailability. Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) and Cognitive Radio (CR) are two terminologies which are used in the context of improved spectrum efficiency and usage. The DSA concept has been around for quite some time while the advent of CR has created a paradigm shift in wireless communications and instigated a change in FCC policy towards spectrum regulations. DSA can be broadly categorized as using a 1) Dynamic Exclusive Use Model, 2) Spectrum Commons or Open sharing model or 3) Hierarchical Access …

Transformation Of Object-Oriented Associations And Embedded References To Them, Sneha Swamy

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AFIT Wide Spectrum Object Modeling Environment (AWSOME) automatically generates executable code by applying transforms to the formal specifications developed from the domain knowledge. AWSOME uses the specification language called as AFIT Wide Spectrum Language (AWL). All the transforms developed for AWSOME depend on and manipulate Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) created by parsing the formal specifications of a model. The main idea is to speed the process of creating error free code, to aid reusability of code and also to make the maintenance changes to be consistent and correct. The AWSOME metamodel contains the structural (object) model, the functional (operations) model …

The Effect Of Dissolved Air On The Cooling Performance Of A Partially-Confined Fc-72 Spray, Rebekah Lee Puterbaugh

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The objective of this thesis is to investigate the heat transfer performance of a partially-confined FC-72 spray with varying dissolved air concentrations. An experimental test rig consisting of a spray chamber coupled to a fluid delivery loop system was used to obtain temperature, pressure, and critical heat flux (CHF) data. A downward facing nozzle within the spray chamber allowed the FC-72 fluid to be sprayed onto an upward facing, thick-film, resistor heater. The heater was mounted onto a glass post, with a sump system to allow removal of excess fluid. Type-E thermocouples were imbedded in the post to obtain temperature …

Design Of A Cmos Rf Front End Receiver In 0.18Μm Technology, Vishwas Kudur Sastry

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An RF front end receiver system refers to the analog down conversion stages of the wireless communication system. The Digital base-band signals cannot be transmitted directly through wireless channels due to the properties of electromagnetic waves. The baseband signals need to be converted to analog through a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), up converted to higher frequency using an up conversion mixer and then transmitted through the channel. The received signals are down converted to base band frequency and then converted to digital again using the analog to digital converter (ADC). The processes which the analog signal undergoes at the RF front …

Fpga Design Of A Hardware Efficient Pipelined Fft Processor, Ryan T. Bone

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Digital receivers involve fast Fourier transform (FFT) computations that require a large amount of arithmetic operations. The implementation of a FFT processor is one of the most challenging parts in the realization of a wideband receiver and its hardware complexity is very high. Hence, kernel function FFT processors have been proposed to meet real-time processing requirements and to reduce hardware complexity by rounding the kernel function to predetermined kernel points so as to eliminate the multipliers and use only shifters and adders or subtractors. Because of the nonlinear nature of this approximation by the rounding errors, spurious responses are generated …

Histogram-Based Template Matching Object Detection In Images With Varying Brightness And Contrast, Christina Da-Wann Schrider

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Our challenge was to develop a semi-automatic target detection algorithm to aid human operators in locating potential targets within images. In contrast to currently available methods, our approach is relatively insensitive to image brightness, image contrast and object orientation. Working on overlapping image blocks, we used a sliding difference method of histogram matching. Incrementally sliding the histograms of the known object template and the image region of interest (ROI) together, the sum of absolute histogram differences was calculated. The minimum of the resultant array was stored in the corresponding spatial position of a response surface matrix. Local minima of the …

Model And Solution Approaches For The Equipment Scheduling Under Disruption Problems In Usps Mail Processing And Distribution Centers, Arvindkumar Ravi Chakravarthy

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This research addresses the equipment scheduling problem under disruptions in United States Postal Service mail processing and distribution centers. These facilities contain a large variety of equipment and employ a non-homogeneous workforce that work on shifts of various lengths and start times. The scheduling of equipment (the determination of the configuration and usage of equipment to match mail arrivals) and the scheduling of workforce (the determination of the optimal size and composition of the workforce, their days off / lunch assignments, and overtime usage) to meet processing service commitment with a constantly changing demand are some of the most challenging …

A Stochastic Production Planning Model Under Uncertain Demand, Meenakshi Prajapati

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Production planning plays a vital role in the management of manufacturingfacilities. The problem is to determine the production loading plan consisting of the quantity of production and the workforce level - to fulfill a future demand. Although the deterministic version of the problem has been widely studied in the literature, the stochastic production planning problem has not. The application of production planning models could be limited if the stochastic nature of the problem, for example, uncertainty in future demand, is not addressed. This study addresses such a stochastic production planning problem under uncertain demand and its application in an enclosure …

Biomechanical Evaluation Of Locked And Non-Locked Constructs Under Axial And Torsion Loading, Vinit A. Patel

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Locking compression plates are proven to be safe for use in open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF). The ORIF is a procedure performed to treat fractures. It has various combination of holes, the system provides more options for clinicians to use either locking screw or non-locking screws. This thesis investigates and determines the best construct with special locking and non-locking screws under both axial and torsion loading. Twenty femur constructs were assembled with 2 cm osteotomy gap between femur shaft and condyle, bridged with 4.5 mm - 10 holes condyle plates. Femurs were divided in to 4 groups according to …

Dynamic Characterization Of A Pneumatic Muscle Actuator And Its Application To A Resistive Training Device, Jennifer L. Serres

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Research described in this dissertation expands the use of a biomechanical phenomenological model to a commercially available pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA). Due to the nonlinearities of the device, achieving accurate control is challenging. Experiments have been conducted that define boundaries of operation where linear approximations can be used to describe the dynamics of the PMA. Empirical data presented in this dissertation show that nonlinearities exist more prevalently at higher loads (on average >70% contractile force value). When the PMA is under high loads, low displacement occurs. Therefore, these regions are of less interest to design engineers. Once conditions of nonlinearities …

A Novel Accurate Approximation Method Of Lognormal Sum Random Variables, Xue Li

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Sums of lognormal random variables occur in many problems in wireless communications due to large-scale signal shadowing from multiple transmitters. With the emerging of cognitive radio technology, accurate analysis of interferences from multiple primary users and multiple secondary users is required. Such interferences are well modeled by the lognormal sum distribution. The lognormal sum distribution is known to have no close-form and is difficult to compute numerically. Several approximations to the lognormal sum distribution have been proposed and employed in literature. However, these approximation methods are not without their drawbacks. Some widely used approximation methods are not accurate at the …

Motion-Control System Of Bench-Top Ct Scanner, Tarpit Kaushikbhai Patel

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Computed Tomography (CT) imaging has found applications in many areas such as diagnostic visualization, quantitative estimation, and therapeutic verification. In this wide range of applications, a CT scanner that can provide the data collection schemes of both second- and third-generation data-collection geometries will be an asset for laboratory research. In this thesis project, we developed a mechanical design and constructed a dual-generation CT scanner that provides flexibility in accommodating a wide range of object sizes with minimum scan time. Using 3-D graphical design software, models of the current second-generation CT scanner and possible solutions for modification were simulated. Based on …

Finite Element Optimization Of Hip Implant Geometrical Parameters To Determine Safe Zones And Resist Dislocation, Himanshu K. Bhatt

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A computational study was performed using finite element analysis (FEA) of three dimensional solid hip implant models. Twelve different hip implant models were designed to investigate the performance of geometrical parameters affecting hip stability. The parameters examined were head diameter, neck diameter, head-to-neck ratio, neck angle and acetabular liner thickness. Component orientations included cup anatomical inclination and cup anteversion, which should be accounted for during total hip implant design as well as in the practice of arthroplasties. A static analysis was performed for all 12 hip designs using stainless steel 316L. von Mises stress, contact stress, contact penetration, and sliding …

Two Dimensional Localization Of Passive Uhf Rfid Tags, Bhavik Contractor

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The advent of GPS has redefined the need of a positioning system in today*#8217;s ubiquitous computing world. While GPS works satisfactorily and is quite a norm in an outdoor environment, it fails to work indoors due to the inherent complexity of an indoor environment. There is an ever increasing need to develop an indoor positioning system and a lot of research has been done to solve the problem of indoor localization. These solutions differ on the basis of cost, dependency on environment, line of sight requirements and so on.

Passive RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags pose an interesting solution to …

A Low-Cost Acoustic Array For Detecting And Tracking Multiple Acoustic Targets, Ellen E. Case

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A wide variety of real-world targets emit distinct acoustic signatures that not only distinguish them from one another but also provide spectral separation from background clutter. While acoustic signatures are distinct, they can also be highly variable, even for an individual target, making detection and tracking a challenging problem. This thesis presents a low-cost acoustic array using commercial off-the shelf (COTS) hardware to detect and track multiple small, moving, acoustic targets. It implements a cross-correlation method for calibration, delay-and-sum beamforming, CA-CFAR detection, a discrete Kalman filter for tracking, and nearest neighbor data association. In addition, the array is designed to …

An Algorithm For The Detection Of Handguns In Terahertz Images, Andrew J. Lingg

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This paper presents an algorithm for detecting handguns in terahertz images. Terahertz radiation is capable of penetrating certain materials which are opaque atoptical wavelengths, such as clothing, without the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. The approach taken is to segment objects of interest and classify them based on shape. We use a modified version of an active contour algorithm found in the open literature. Modifications include: a pre-processing step that includes clutter filtering and seeding of an initial contour; and a post-processing step that removes clutter pixels from the segmentation. The features used for classification are moment-based and Fourier shape …

Automated Analysis Of Metacarpal Cortical Thickness In Serial Hand Radiographs, Aarti Raheja

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To understand the roles of various genes that influence skeletal bone accumulation and loss, accurate measurement of bone mineralization is needed. However, it is a challenging task to accurately assess bone growth over a person's lifetime. Traditionally, manual analysis of hand radiographs has been used to quantify bone growth, but these measurements are tedious and may be impractical for a large-scale growth study. The aim of this project was to develop a tool to automate the measurement of metacarpal cortical bone thickness in standard hand-wrist radiographs of humans aged 3 months to 70+ years that would be more accurate, precise …

Implementation Of Null Conventional Logic In Cots Fpga's, Mohamad Rajgara

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The digital world has been dominated by the growth of synchronous digital design techniques for last few decades. Traditional Boolean logic is symbolically incomplete since it has a separate control logic, time in the form of clock signal which be carefully integrated with the logic design, but with digital clock signal already in the GHz range, this integration is further complicated. One approach to address post GHz digital logic design is to use clockless or asynchronous digital design techniques. In the mid '90s Theaseus Logic Inc. proposed a method to design Asynchronous circuits using Null Convention Logic (NCL).This thesis introduces …

Sorption-Induced Static Bending Of Microcantilevers Coated With Viscoelastic Material, Michael J. Wenzel, Fabien Josse, Stephen M. Heinrich, Edwin E. Yaz, P. G. Datskos

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Absorption of a chemical analyte into a polymercoating results in an expansion governed by the concentration and type of analyte that has diffused into the bulk of the coating. When the coating is attached to a microcantilever, this expansion results in bending of the device. Assuming that absorption (i.e., diffusion across the surface barrier into the bulk of the coating) is Fickian, with a rate of absorption that is proportional to the difference between the absorbed concentration and the equilibrium concentration, and the coating is elastic, the bending response of the coated device should exhibit a first-order behavior. However, for …

Synergistic Surfactant Interactions And The Consequences On Phase Behavior, Interfacial Tension Reduction And Hydrophobic Surface Wetting, Makonnen Mateós Payne

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The ability for some of the nonionic trisiloxane surfactants to completely and rapidly wet a hydrophobic surface has been well documented for several years. However, to date, the behavior of the trisiloxane surfactants at the solid-liquid interface is not yet completely understood, leading to an incomplete understanding of the mechanism for complete wetting. In this work we report our findings with regard to the synergistic interactions between polyethylene oxide surfactants of the general structure CiE j and compare the behavior to a known super wetting surfactant. Pendant drop tensiometry experiments and sessile drop contact angle measurements on hydrophobic surfaces were …

A Novel Expanded 16-Dimensional Constant Envelope Q2psk Constellation, Milton I. Quinteros, Kenneth V. Cartwright, Edit J. Kaminsky, Ricardo U. Gallegos

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

We introduce a 16-dimensional constant-amplitude constellation that is generated by concatenating either four constant envelope quadrature-quadrature phase shift keying (CEQ2PSK) symbols from Saha and Birdsall or four CEQ2PSK symbols recently discovered by Cartwright and also introduced here. Our new constellation doubles the number of points available for data transmission without decreasing the distance between points or increasing energy, and may therefore be used in a trellis coded modulation (TCM) system without constellation expansion penalty. Because the new constellation has constant envelope, the modulation scheme becomes very attractive for nonlinear channels such as the magnetic recording channel or the satellite channel …

Classification Of Cylindrical Targets Buried In Seafloor Sediments, Edit J. Kaminsky, Madalina Barbu

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents the development and evaluation of a time-frequency processing technique for detection and classification of buried cylindrical targets from chirpbased parametric sonar data. The software is designed to discriminate between cylindrical targets —such as cables— of different diameters, which need to be identified as different from other strong reflectors or point targets. The method is evaluated on synthetic data generated with an acoustic scattering model for elastic cylinders for seven different diameters. The model generates characteristic responses of targets acquired by a parametric sonar system. The signal at the sonar receiver hydrophones is first windowed to reduce the …

Modeling And Analysis Of Split And Merge Production Systems, Yang Liu

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Many production systems have split and merge operations to increase production capac- ity and variety, improve product quality, and implement product control and scheduling policies. This thesis presents analytical methods to model and analyze split and merge production systems with Bernoulli and exponential reliability machines under circulate, priority and percentage policies. The recursive procedures for performance analysis are de- rived, and the convergence of the procedures and uniqueness of the solutions, along with the structural properties, are proved analytically, and the accuracy of the estimation is justi¯ed numerically with high precision. In addition, comparisons among the e®ects of di®erent policies …

Stranded Core Transformer Loss Analysis, Xingxing Zhang

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

We will present the approaches used to investigating the power loss for the stranded core transformers. One advantage of using stranded core is to reduce power loss or enhance transformer efficiency. One difficulty in the modeling of this type of transformer is that the core is not solid (there are small gaps between core wires due to circular cross section). A two dimensional finite element method with nodal basis function for magnetostatic field was developed to study the effects of the small gaps between core wires. The magnetic flux densities are compared for the uniform (solid) cores and the stranded …

Hdl Implementation And Analysis Of A Residual Register For A Floating-Point Arithmetic Unit, Akil Kaveti

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Processors used in lower-end scientific applications like graphic cards and video game consoles have IEEE single precision floating-point hardware [23]. Double precision offers higher precision at higher implementation cost and lower performance. The need for high precision computations in these applications is not enough to justify the use double precision hardware and the extra hardware complexity needed [23]. Native-pair arithmetic offers an interesting and feasible solution to this problem. This technique invented by T. J. Dekker uses single-length floating-point numbers to represent higher precision floating-point numbers [3]. Native-pair arithmetic has been proposed by Dr. William R. Dieter and Dr. Henry …

Super Resolution 3d Scanning Using Spatial Light Modulator And Band Correction, Akshay Pethe

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Multi Frequency Phase Measuring Profilometry is the most popular lateral contact 3-D Scanning technique. The Phase Measuring Profilometry is limited in resolution by the projector and cameras used. Conventional signal projectors have a maximum of 2000 to 4000 scan lines limiting the projector resolution. To obtain greater detail with higher resolution the PMP technique is applied to a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) having 12000 lines, very large as compared to conventional projectors. This technology can achieve super resolution scans having varied applications. Scans achieved from PMP suffer from a certain type of artifact called “banding” which are periodic bands across …