Engineering | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Fun & Games With Space Projects, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Fun & Games with Space Projects" from February 27, 2009.

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Stochastic Spatio-Temporal Uncertainty In Gis-Based Water Quality Modeling Of The Land Water Interface, Ahmad Mohamad Salah

Theses and Dissertations

Integrated water resources management has been used for decades in various formats. The limited resources and the ever growing population keep imposing pressure on decision makers to better-, and reliably, manage the available waters. On the other hand, the continuous development in computing and modeling power has helped modelers and decision makers considerably. To use these models, assumptions have to be made to fill in the gaps of missing data and to approximate the current conditions. The type and amount of information available can also be used to help select the best model from the currently available models. Advances in …

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Energy Efficiency Cost-Effectiveness Tests For Residential Energy Code Update Processes, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The 2008 Florida Energy Act directed the Florida Building Commission (FBC) to develop an administrative rule for determining the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency updates to the Florida Building Code. This report addresses the economics of building energy efficiency, standard economic cost-effectiveness indicators that could be used for code update purposes and makes specific recommendations on economic assessment standards to be included in the cost-effectiveness test administrative rule.

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Power Generation By Harvesting Ambient Energy With A Micro-Electromagnetic Generator, James H. Shields

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigated the potential power output of a micro-electromagnetic generator fabricated using typical microfabrication materials and techniques. The design was based on a desire to free bio-implanted or remote electronic devices from batteries and their finite power supplies. A micro-electromagnetic generator could harvest energy from the ambient environment and power such devices indefinitely. Designs for the stator coil and rotor magnet components of the generator were optimized to produce maximum current density based upon electromagnetic theory. The relative orientation of the coil to the rotor and material selection for each component were considered. Coils were fabricated using low-resistance gold. …

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A Mems Multi-Cantilever Variable Capacitor On Metamaterial, Luke A. Rederus

Theses and Dissertations

Negative refractive index materials are an example of metamaterials that are becoming increasingly popular. Research into these metamaterials could possibly be the first steps toward bending electromagnetic radiation (i.e., microwaves, light, etc.) around an object or person. Split ring resonators (SRR) are classified as metamaterials that create an artificial magnetic response from materials with no inherent magnetic properties. Once fabricated, an SRR has a specific resonant frequency due to its permanent geometry. This research introduces a new concept of using a variable capacitive micro- electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device located at the gap of an SRR to mechanically alter the capacitance …

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Communication Free Robot Swarming, Zachary C. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

As the military use of unmanned aerial vehicles increases, a growing need for novel strategies to control these systems exists. One such method for controlling many unmanned aerial vehicles simultaneously is the through the use of swarm algorithms. This research explores a swarm robotic algorithm developed by Kadrovach implemented on Pioneer Robots in a real-world environment. An adaptation of his visual sensor is implemented using stereo vision as the primary method of sensing the environment. The swarm members are prohibited from explicitly communicating other than passively through the environment. The resulting implementation produces a communication free swarming algorithm. The algorithm …

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Chip To Chip Optical Interconnection Using Mems Mirrors, Tod V. Laurvick

Theses and Dissertations

This experiment explores the use of MEMS mirrors to direct subsurface optical signals to another device and reception of those signals for use in chip to chip communications. Devices were built in PolyMUMPs to control horizontal and vertical beam direction and tilting in the outgoing signal and MEMS beam splitters for the incoming signal. Several elements of the outgoing beam path were successful and those which needed improvement indicate a high probability of success with limited trials needed and currently successful design elements could still be improved within the scope of PolyMUMPs. The incoming beam path elements were not successful …

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Ceas E-News 02.24.2009, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News

Engineers' Week serves up a smorgasbord of events

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Extraction Of Alkaloids From Opium, Keith Tomazi

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A method for extracting at least one alkaloid from opium that includes dissolving opium in a solvent, heating the dissolved opium solution, cooling the dissolved opium solution, adjusting the pH of the dissolved opium solution with at least one first weak acid, filtering the dissolved opium solution to recover a filtrate; and then separating and purifying at least one alkaloid in the filtrate. Preferably, this includes an additional step of chilling the opium solution after adjusting the pH of the dissolved opium solution with at least one first acid. The preferred method for separating and purifying at least one alkaloid …

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Automated Virtual Machine Introspection For Host-Based Intrusion Detection, Brett A. Pagel

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines techniques to automate configuration of an intrusion detection system utilizing hardware-assisted virtualization. These techniques are used to detect the version of a running guest operating system, automatically configure version-specific operating system information needed by the introspection library, and to locate and monitor important operating system data structures. This research simplifies introspection library configuration and is a step toward operating system independent introspection. An operating system detection algorithm and Windows virtual machine system service dispatch table monitor are implemented using the Xen hypervisor and a modified version of the XenAccess library. All detection and monitoring is implemented from …

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Adaptive Control Of Woofer-Tweeter Adaptive Optics, Jimmie J. Perez

Theses and Dissertations

Adaptive optics applies advanced sensing and control to improve the ability of optical systems to collect images through a turbulent atmosphere. The results of this research effort demonstrate that the combination of two recent approaches improves the performance of adaptive optics in directed energy and laser communication scenarios. The first approach is adaptive control, which offers improved performance over fixed-gain controllers in the presence of rapidly changing turbulence. The second approach incorporated into the study is a dual-mirror system. The two mirrors are a high-bandwidth, low-actuator-stroke (tweeter) mirror and a low-bandwidth, large actuator-stroke (woofer) mirror. The woofer-tweeter combination allows for …

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A Ph-Tunable Hydrogel Microlens Array With Temperature-Actuated Light-Switching Capability, Zhenwen Deng, Babak Ziaie

Birck and NCN Publications

In this letter, we demonstrate a two step casting process to fabricate a bifunctional hydrogel-based microlens array, which responds to both temperature (becomes opaque above certain temperature) and pH (changes its focal length at different pH levels), and can be operated in air for an extended period of time. Each lens in the array is 1 mm in diameter and its focal length changes from 4.5 to 55 mm when the environmental pH is varied between 2.0 and 5.0. The light-switching capability is measured to be similar to 92% when temperature increases from 25 to 35 degrees C.

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Automated Knowledge Generation With Persistent Surveillance Video, Daniel T. Schmitt

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has increasingly invested in persistent surveillance platforms gathering a large amount of surveillance video. Ordinarily, intelligence analysts watch the video to determine if suspicious activities are occurring. This approach to video analysis can be a very time and manpower intensive process. Instead, this thesis proposes that by using tracks generated from persistent video, we can build a model to detect events for an intelligence analyst. The event that we chose to detect was a suspicious surveillance activity known as a casing event. To test our model we used Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks generated from vehicles driving …

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Real-Time Carrier Frequency Estimation Using Disjoint Pilot Symbol Blocks, Joseph M. Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

Three new and efficient carrier frequency offset estimators are created for the case of disjoint pilot symbol blocks. The estimators are efficient in both a statistical sense and a computational sense. They are formulated to reduce computational cost for use in real-time applications, such as FPGA (field programmable gate array) devices. A reduced cost maximum likelihood (ML) frequency estimator is described. It is a generalization of the approximate ML estimator for a single block of pilot symbols. A number of recent ML estimation techniques are integrated with the purpose of reducing the computational cost while preserving estimation performance. The estimator …

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Low Temperature, Organic-Free Synthesis Of Ba3B6O9(Oh)6 Nanorods And Ss-Bab2O4 Nanospindles, Rui Li, Xinyoung Tao, Xiaodong Li

Faculty Publications

Using a low temperature, organic-free hydrothermal technique, single-crystalline barium polyborate Ba₃B₆O₉(OH)₆ (BBOH) nanorods were synthesized. It was found that β-BaB₂O₄(BBO) nanospindles can be achieved by annealing the BBOH nanorods at a relatively low temperature of 810 °C. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques were used to characterize these nanomaterials. The formation mechanisms are discussed in conjunction with the crystallographic characteristics and surface energy of the BBOH nanorods and BBO nanospindles. UV-vis absorption spectra demonstrated that both BBOH nanorods and BBO nanospindles are …

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Subjective Audio Quality Over A Secure Ieee 802.11n Draft 2.0 Wireless Local Area Network, Benjamin W. Ramsey

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the quality of audio generated by a G.711 codec and transmission over an IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0 wireless local area network (WLAN). Decline in audio quality due to additional calls or by securing the WLAN with transport mode Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is quantified. Audio quality over an IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0 WLAN is also compared to that of IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g WLANs under the same conditions. Audio quality is evaluated by following International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Recommendation P.800, where human subjects rate audio clips recorded during various WLAN configurations. The Mean …

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Interaction Between Supersonic Disintegrating Liquid Jets And Their Shock Waves, K.-S. Im, S.-K. Cheong, Xin Liu, J. Wang, M.-C. Lai, M. W. Tate, A. Ercan, M. J. Renzi, D. R. Schuette, S. M. Gruner

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The use of additional spectral filtration for dual-energy (DE) imaging using a dual-source CT (DSCT) system was investigated and its effect on the material-specific DEratio was evaluated for several clinically relevant materials. The x-ray spectra, data acquisition, and reconstruction processes for a DSCT system (Siemens Definition) were simulated using information provided by the system manufacturer, resulting in virtual DE images. The factory-installed filtration for the 80 kV spectrum was left unchanged to avoid any further reductions in tube output, and only the filtration for the high-energy spectrum was modified. Only practical single-element filter materials within the atomic number range of …

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Space In Education, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Space in Education" from February 20, 2009.

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Unveiling The Formation Mechanism Of Pseudo-Single-Crystal Aragonite Platelets In Nacre, Xiaodong Li, Zaiwang Huang

Faculty Publications

We demonstrate direct evidence that a single-crystal-like aragonite platelet is essentially assembled with aragonite nanoparticles. The aragonite nanoparticles are readily oriented and assembled into pseudo-single-crystal aragonite platelets via screw dislocation and amorphous aggregation, which are two dominant mediating mechanisms between nanoparticles during biomineralization. These findings will advance our understanding of nacre’s biomineralization process and provide additional design guidelines for developing biomimetic materials.

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Position Concordant - Haptic Mouse, Ravi Rastogi

Theses and Dissertations

Haptic mice, computer mice modified to have a tactile display, have been developed to enable access to computer graphics by individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Although these haptic mice are potentially very helpful and have been frequently used by the research community, there are some fundamental problems with the mouse, limiting its acceptance. In this paper we have identified the problems and have suggested solutions using one haptic mouse, the VT Player. We found that our modified VT Player showed significant improvement both in terms of the odds of obtaining a correct responses and the time to perform …

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Simulation Scoring Systems, Raynald Bedard

Publications

Simulation scoring systems including software, methods of use, and related methods that provide for simulating and scoring of aircraft flight and other missions, particularly where such simulating is purely electronic and particularly where such scoring is objective and particularly where such scoring has a plurality of gradations, as to distinguish a plurality of skill levels.

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Climate Model Based Consensus On The Hydrologic Impacts Of Climate Change To The Rio Lempa Basin Of Central America, Edwin P. Maurer

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Temperature and precipitation from 16 climate models each using two emissions scenarios (lower B1 and mid-high A2) were used to characterize the range of potential climate changes for the Rio Lempa basin of Central America during the middle (2040–2069) and end (2070–2099) of the 21st century. A land surface model was appliedTemperature and precipitation from 16 climate models each using two emissions scenarios (lower B1 and mid-high A2) were used to characterize the range of potential climate changes for the Rio Lempa basin of Central America during the middle (2040–2069) and end (2070–2099) of the 21st century. A land surface …

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Using Synoptic-Scale Land Surface Moisture Indices For Hydrologic Prediction, Andrew Wood, Edwin P. Maurer

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Forecasting seasonal runoff is an important challenge in the western U.S. because the timing and volume of summer (dry season) streamflow plays a critical role in managing water supply and delivery systems. Beginning in December of each year, observations of the snow pack begin to provide invaluable information on the amount of runoff expected in late spring and summer. The skill of such water supply forecasts also benefits, in some locations, from the consideration of synoptic climate indices -- e.g., using sea surface temperature anomalies to characterize ENSO or PDO state, which have been shown to have predictable teleconnections to …

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Shaft Capacity Of Continuous Flight Auger Piles In Sand, Kenneth Gavin, David Cadogan, Patrick Casey

Publications

This paper presents the results of a series of field experiments performed to study the development of shaft resistance on continuous flight auger piles installed in sand. The test piles were instrumented in order to separate the shaft and base resistance, and to allow the determination of the distribution of shaft resistance along the pile shaft. The tests highlighted the importance of accurate calculation of the shaft resistance for nondisplacement piles. At a typical maximum allowable pile head settlement of 25mm, more than 71% of the pile resistance was provided by shaft friction. Conventional methods of estimating shaft resistance were …

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Reconstruction Of A Large-Scale Reconnection Exhaust Structure In The Solar Wind, W.-L. Teh, B. U. Ö Sonnerup, Q. Hu, C. J. Farrugia

Dartmouth Scholarship

We recover two-dimensional (2-D) magnetic field and flow field configurations from three spacecraft encounters with a single large-scale reconnection exhaust structure in the solar wind, using a new reconstruction method (Sonnerup and Teh, 2008) based on the ideal single-fluid MHD equations in a steady-state, 2-D geometry. The reconstruction is performed in the rest frame of the X-line, where the flow into, and the plasma jetting within, the exhaust region are clearly visible. The event was first identified by Phan et al. (2006) in the ACE, Cluster, and Wind data sets; they argued that quasi-steady reconnection persisted for over 2 h …

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Ceas E-News 02.17.2009, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News

DENSO gift to students supports Sunseeker electronics

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Use Of Ultrasonic Sensors In The Development Of An Electronic Travel Aid, Chris Gearhart, Alex Herold, Brian Self, Charles Birdsong, Lynne Slivovsky

Mechanical Engineering

Ultrasonic sensors present one of the most cost-effective digital distance measurement systems available for mobile applications. Their effectiveness is limited, however, in applications involving complex environments and when information on sensor position is unavailable. This paper focuses on the implementation and limitations of ultrasonic sensors and system design considerations during development of an Electronic Travel Aid [ETA] for the visually impaired utilizing ultrasonic sensors and vibrotactile feedback. Our work with sensors included signal filtering and triangulation to improve performance characteristics of ultrasonic-based measurements. Additionally, we describe the use of computer modeling to aid in the design of ultrasonic sensor systems.

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Space Program For Kentucky, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Space Program for Kentucky" from February 15, 2009.

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Compositional Contrast Of Biological Materials In Liquids Using The Momentary Excitation Of Higher Eigenmodes In Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy, Xin Xu, John Melcher, Sudipta Basak, R. Reifenberger, Arvind Raman

Birck and NCN Publications

Atomic Force microscope (AFM) cantilevers commonly used for imaging soft biological samples in liquids experience a momentary excitation of the higher eigenmodes at each tap. This transient response is very sensitive to the local sample elasticity under gentle imaging conditions because the higher eigenmode time period is comparable to the tip-sample contact time. By mapping the momentary excitation response, we demonstrate a new scanning probe spectroscopy capable of resolving with high sensitivity the variations in the elasticity of soft biological materials in liquids.

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A New Model For Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions Near The Critical Point Of Water Incorporating Aqueous Reaction Equilibria, Craig J. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

Aqueous electrolyte solutions at temperature and pressure conditions near the critical point of water are difficult to describe using traditional equations of state based upon the excess Gibbs energy. Models based upon the residual Helmholtz energy have proven more effective. Anderko and Pitzer1 developed a residual Helmholtz energy model (AP) for aqueous electrolyte solutions in which the electrolyte is assumed to be fully associated. The model has been effectively used in describing densities and vapor-liquid equilibria for simple electrolyte systems. The model is less effective for describing enthalpic properties such as heats of dilution. Oscarson and coworkers2, 3 modified the …

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Fun & Games With Space Projects, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

Stochastic Spatio-Temporal Uncertainty In Gis-Based Water Quality Modeling Of The Land Water Interface, Ahmad Mohamad Salah

Theses and Dissertations

Energy Efficiency Cost-Effectiveness Tests For Residential Energy Code Update Processes, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Power Generation By Harvesting Ambient Energy With A Micro-Electromagnetic Generator, James H. Shields

Theses and Dissertations

A Mems Multi-Cantilever Variable Capacitor On Metamaterial, Luke A. Rederus

Theses and Dissertations

Communication Free Robot Swarming, Zachary C. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

Chip To Chip Optical Interconnection Using Mems Mirrors, Tod V. Laurvick

Theses and Dissertations

Ceas E-News 02.24.2009, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News

Extraction Of Alkaloids From Opium, Keith Tomazi

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Automated Virtual Machine Introspection For Host-Based Intrusion Detection, Brett A. Pagel

Theses and Dissertations

Adaptive Control Of Woofer-Tweeter Adaptive Optics, Jimmie J. Perez

Theses and Dissertations

A Ph-Tunable Hydrogel Microlens Array With Temperature-Actuated Light-Switching Capability, Zhenwen Deng, Babak Ziaie

Birck and NCN Publications

Automated Knowledge Generation With Persistent Surveillance Video, Daniel T. Schmitt

Theses and Dissertations

Real-Time Carrier Frequency Estimation Using Disjoint Pilot Symbol Blocks, Joseph M. Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

Low Temperature, Organic-Free Synthesis Of Ba3B6O9(Oh)6 Nanorods And Ss-Bab2O4 Nanospindles, Rui Li, Xinyoung Tao, Xiaodong Li

Faculty Publications

Subjective Audio Quality Over A Secure Ieee 802.11n Draft 2.0 Wireless Local Area Network, Benjamin W. Ramsey

Theses and Dissertations

Interaction Between Supersonic Disintegrating Liquid Jets And Their Shock Waves, K.-S. Im, S.-K. Cheong, Xin Liu, J. Wang, M.-C. Lai, M. W. Tate, A. Ercan, M. J. Renzi, D. R. Schuette, S. M. Gruner

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Space In Education, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

Unveiling The Formation Mechanism Of Pseudo-Single-Crystal Aragonite Platelets In Nacre, Xiaodong Li, Zaiwang Huang

Faculty Publications

Position Concordant - Haptic Mouse, Ravi Rastogi

Theses and Dissertations

Simulation Scoring Systems, Raynald Bedard

Publications

Climate Model Based Consensus On The Hydrologic Impacts Of Climate Change To The Rio Lempa Basin Of Central America, Edwin P. Maurer

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Using Synoptic-Scale Land Surface Moisture Indices For Hydrologic Prediction, Andrew Wood, Edwin P. Maurer

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Shaft Capacity Of Continuous Flight Auger Piles In Sand, Kenneth Gavin, David Cadogan, Patrick Casey

Publications

Reconstruction Of A Large-Scale Reconnection Exhaust Structure In The Solar Wind, W.-L. Teh, B. U. Ö Sonnerup, Q. Hu, C. J. Farrugia

Dartmouth Scholarship

Ceas E-News 02.17.2009, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News

Use Of Ultrasonic Sensors In The Development Of An Electronic Travel Aid, Chris Gearhart, Alex Herold, Brian Self, Charles Birdsong, Lynne Slivovsky

Mechanical Engineering

Space Program For Kentucky, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

Compositional Contrast Of Biological Materials In Liquids Using The Momentary Excitation Of Higher Eigenmodes In Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy, Xin Xu, John Melcher, Sudipta Basak, R. Reifenberger, Arvind Raman

Birck and NCN Publications

A New Model For Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions Near The Critical Point Of Water Incorporating Aqueous Reaction Equilibria, Craig J. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations