Engineering Commons^™

Towards A Strawberry Harvest Prediction System Using Computer Vision And Pattern Recognition, Andreas M. Apitz

Master's Theses

Farmers require advance notice when a harvest is approaching, so they can allocate resources and hire workers as efficiently as possible. Existing methods are subjective and labor intensive, and require the expertise of a professional forecaster. Cal Poly’s EE department has been collaborating with the Cal Poly Strawberry Center to investigate the potential in using digital imaging processing to predict harvests more reliably. This paper shows the progress of that ongoing project, as well as what aspects could still be improved. Three main blocks comprise this system: data acquisition, which obtains and catalogues images of the strawberry plants; computer vision, …

Towards Autonomous Localization Of An Underwater Drone, Nathan Sfard

Master's Theses

Autonomous vehicle navigation is a complex and challenging task. Land and aerial vehicles often use highly accurate GPS sensors to localize themselves in their environments. These sensors are ineffective in underwater environments due to signal attenuation. Autonomous underwater vehicles utilize one or more of the following approaches for successful localization and navigation: inertial/dead-reckoning, acoustic signals, and geophysical data. This thesis examines autonomous localization in a simulated environment for an OpenROV Underwater Drone using a Kalman Filter. This filter performs state estimation for a dead reckoning system exhibiting an additive error in location measurements. We evaluate the accuracy of this Kalman …

Design, Simulation, And Hardware Construction Of A 600 W Solid State Dc Circuit Breaker For The Dc House Project, Calin Matthew Bukur

Master's Theses

DC circuit breakers must be able to arrest overcurrent conditions to prevent electrical equipment and wiring from causing building fires or other hazards from occurring. With more DC renewable sourced structures such as Cal Poly’s DC House, an inexpensive and reliable protection system is necessary to ensure safe energy transfer to the loads. One method of protecting a system is preventing excessive amounts of current to be drawn by the load when the surrounding components are rated at a lesser value. DC circuit breakers act as a monitoring system and barely presents an effect on the voltage or power. With …

Defect Detection In Selective Laser Melting, Moira Foster

Master's Theses

Additively manufactured parts produced using selective laser melting (SLM) are prone to defects created during the build process due to part shrinkage while cooling. Currently defects are found only after the part is removed from the printer. To determine whether cracks can be detected before a print is completed, this project developed print parameters to print a test coupon with inherent defects – warpage and cracking. Data recorded during the build was then characterized to determine when the defects occurred.

The test coupon was printed using two sets of print parameters developed to control the severity of warpage and cracking. …

Logging And Analysis Of Internet Of Things (Iot) Device Network Traffic And Power Consumption, Ryan Joseph Frawley

Master's Theses

An increasing number of devices, from coffee makers to electric kettles, are becoming connected to the Internet. These are all a part of the Internet of Things, or IoT. Each device generates unique network traffic and power consumption patterns. Until now, there has not been a comprehensive set of data that captures these traffic and power patterns. This thesis documents how we collected 10 to 15 weeks of network traffic and power consumption data from 15 different IoT devices and provides an analysis of a subset of 6 devices. Devices including an Amazon Echo Dot, Google Home Mini, and Google …

Investigating Forward Flight Multirotor Wind Tunnel Testing In A 3-By 4-Foot Wind Tunnel, Reed Danis

Master's Theses

Investigation of complex multirotor aerodynamic phenomena via wind tunnel experimentation is becoming extremely important with the rapid progress in advanced distributed propulsion VTOL concepts. Much of this experimentation is being performed in large, highly advanced tunnels. However, the proliferation of this class of vehicles extends to small aircraft used by small businesses, universities, and hobbyists without ready access to this level of test facility. Therefore, there is a need to investigate whether multirotor vehicles can be adequately tested in smaller wind tunnel facilities. A test rig for a 2.82-pound quadcopter was developed to perform powered testing in the Cal Poly …

Use Of Manifolds In The Insertion Of Ballistic Cycler Trajectories, Oliver K. Morrison

Master's Theses

Today, Mars is one of the most interesting and important destinations for humankind and copious methods have been proposed to accomplish these future missions. One of the more fascinating methods is the Earth-Mars cycler trajectory which is a trajectory that accomplishes repeat access to Earth and Mars with little to no fuel-burning maneuvers. This would allow fast travel to and from Mars, as well as grant the possibility of multiple missions using the same main vehicle.

Insertion from Earth-orbit onto the cycler trajectory has not been thoroughly ex- plored and the only existing method so far is a Hohmann-esque transfer …

Electrode Geometry Effects In An Electrothermal Plasma Microthruster, Harrison Raymond King

Master's Theses

Nanosatellites, such as Cubesats, are a rapidly growing sector of the space industry. Their popularity stems from their low development cost, short development cycle, and the widespread availability of COTS subsystems. Budget-conscious spacecraft designers are working to expand the range of missions that can be accomplished with nanosatellites, and a key area of development fueling this expansion is the creation of micropropulsion systems. One such system, originally developed at the Australian National University (ANU), is an electrothermal plasma thruster known as Pocket Rocket (PR). This device heats neutral propellant gas by exposing it to a Capacitively Coupled Plasma (CCP), then …

Mechanism Of Virus Inactivation By Cold Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma And Plasma-Activated Water, Li Guo, Ruobing Xu, Lu Gou, Zhichao Liu, Yiming Zhao, Dingxin Liu, Lei Zhang, Hailan Chen, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

ABSTRACT Viruses cause serious pathogenic contamination that severely affects the environment and human health. Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma efficiently inactivates pathogenic bacteria; however, the mechanism of virus inactivation by plasma is not fully understood. In this study, surface plasma in argon mixed with 1% air and plasma-activated water was used to treat water containing bacteriophages. Both agents efficiently inactivated bacteriophages T4, ϕ174, and MS2 in a time-dependent manner. Prolonged storage had marginal effects on the antiviral activity of plasma-activated water. DNA and protein analysis revealed that the reactive species generated by plasma damaged both nucleic acids and proteins, consistent with the …

A Comparative Study Of Constant Power Operation Techniques For Low Inductance Machines, Damien Lawhorn, Narges Taran, Vandana Rallabandi, Dan M. Ionel

Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky Faculty Publications

In traditional electric machines, it is usually possible to achieve constant power high-speed operation by employing field weakening through the injection of a negative d-axis current component. However, in machines with low armature inductance, such as high power density permanent magnet synchronous machines, and more specifically, coreless machines, which are gaining increasing attention because of their high specific torque, the extended speed range obtained using this method is very narrow. This paper summarizes the performance characteristics of existing approaches for obtaining constant power operation and proposes two new techniques, specially applicable to coreless axial flux permanent magnet machine namely, current …

Occupant Comfort And Energy Efficient Design For Academic Buildings In Tropical Climate, T S Sudheer Kumar

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

The increased energy usage in buildings and infrastructure indicates that alternate means must be adopted to improve efficiency, conserve energy, and to operate the buildings with sustainable means. The energy demands must be reduced to develop energy efficient buildings for the future, without compromising the thermal and visual comfort level and performance of the building. For the buildings, energy efficiency can be achieved by using appliances of less wattage, improved architectural technique, and modified construction methodology. The energy analyzing software eQuest was used to simulate the building to meet the occupants’ thermal comfort and lighting software DialuxEvo was used to …

Root Cause Analysis Of Inlet Hole And Leak Off Hole Operation Missing Problem In Common Rail Injector Body Using Shainin Approach, Himanshu Sawant

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

The two major challenges that industries are facing today are continuous improvement in productivity and quality of the product. Bosch Production System (BPS) is one of the leading manufacturers in diesel system equipment. Fuel Injector is the main product of Bosch India Nashik. This plant produces around 10,000 injectors per day. They have a mass production and it may happen that in such a mass production there might be some part missing in the operation. Such missing operation parts contribute a lot in defect cost. There are two holes in an injector body- inlet hole and leak off hole with …

Prediction Of Drugs To Be Prescribed To A Diabetic, Ojasva Jain

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

The purpose of this research is to review the outcome measures used to evaluate a prevailing disease, in this case, diabetes and make recommendations for the incoming future patients.

Comparative Analysis Of Cooperative Sensing Techniques In Cognitive Radio, H Srikanth Kamath

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

Cognitive radio is an intelligent radio network that has the capability of recognizing when the spectrum is idle and unused by the licensed users to allot those frequencies to unlicensed users, thus increasing spectral efficiency. Spectrum sensing is a significant step in cognitive radio. Its senses the spectrum of interest to identify the presence or absence of a primary or a licensed user and detects spectrum holes. Cooperative spectrum sensing enhances spectrum sensing as it improves the spectrum efficiency by exploiting spatial diversity. In this paper, we have discussed the three most popular sensing techniques which are; energy detection, cyclo-stationary …

Optimizing Available Surveying Technology To Streamline Project Delivery, Christopher Van Dyke, Adam J. Kirk, Steven Waddle, Steven Douglas Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Project Managers bear responsibility for preparing all phases of highway projects, from initial concept to letting, while Section Engineers manage all phases of highway construction projects, from letting to completion. To perform the activities for which they are responsible, these stakeholders require knowledge of best practices for leveraging current surveying methodologies and equipment. With survey technologies having advanced significantly over the past 15-20 years, staff attrition at the Cabinet depleting its in-house surveying expertise, and contractors frequently undertaking their own surveying, acquiring this knowledge has become increasingly difficult. Drawing on a series of interviews with KYTC …

Characterization Of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells With Lscf-Sdc Composite Cathodes, Gianfranco Digiuseppe, Venkatesh Boddapati

Mechanical Engineering Publications

This paper reports the study of an anode-supported SOFC cell containing an LSCF-SDC composite cathode. The SOFC cell was tested at different temperatures and reactant flow rates. After testing, the cell was sectioned and characterized using SEM/EDS. Such analysis indicated that no structural damage and no significant interdiffusion of elements among the layers occurred. The measured electrochemical performance data at different temperatures indicate an Arrhenius behavior or temperature activated processes. The low-porosity anode functional layer appears to be very sensitive to low hydrogen contents. The electrochemical performance is also affected by changing air flow rates.

Annuloplasty Mti: Improved Tooling For Annuloplasty Ring Manufacturing, Justin David Smith, Spencer Lee Combs, Luke Edward Maly

Mechanical Engineering

The complete senior project report was submitted to the project advisor and sponsor. The results of this project are of a confidential nature and will not be published at this time.

"Dual Peaks" Analog Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal, Dave Raul Breuer

Computer Engineering

The Dual Peaks distortion pedal is an analog effects pedal for electric guitar that distorts and boosts the guitar signal in order to achieve tonal characteristics often heard in music genres such as blues, rock, hard rock, and metal. Dual Peaks aims to remedy the current distortion pedal design, and provide a new spin not often provided in the majority of pedals. Dual Peaks contains two separate distortion channels which provide the player with a vast array of distortion and overdrive tones at the press of a switch. Also, Dual Peaks has a "noise gate" and 3-band equalizer circuits built …

Senior Project - Roborodentia Robot, Nicholas Alexander Ilog

Computer Engineering

This project includes an autonomous robot capable of dispensing balls from a dispenser mounted on a wall and shooting the balls through targets five to eight feet away. The robot can hold up to five balls at a time and shoots balls one by one at targets.

Multi-Physics Modeling For Electric And Hybrid Vehicles With In-Wheel Electric Motors, Vandana Rallabandi, Damien Lawhorn, Dan M. Ionel, Xiao Li

Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky Faculty Publications

This paper discusses multi-domain and multi-physics modeling of in-wheel electric vehicles using ANSYS Simplorer and ANSYS Maxwell. The study includes component level modeling of the vehicle, brakes, wheels, battery, traction motor, inverter, solar panels and boost converter. The traction motor used is an axial flux permanent magnet synchronous machine. In order to accommodate both the large time constants of the mechanical system and the high switching frequency power electronics, average models of the inverter and boost converter are considered. Simulation examples are provided for the University of Kentucky Gato Del Sol V car.

Tag Ownership Transfer In Radio Frequency Identification Systems: A Survey Of Existing Protocols And Open Challenges, Eyad Taqieddin, Hiba Al-Dahoud, Haifeng Niu, Jagannathan Sarangapani

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a modern approach to identify and track several assets at once in a supply chain environment. In many RFID applications, tagged items are frequently transferred from one owner to another. Thus, there is a need for secure ownership transfer (OT) protocols that can perform the transfer while, at the same time, protect the privacy of owners. Several protocols have been proposed in an attempt to fulfill this requirement. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the RFID OT protocols that appeared over the years of 2005-2018. In addition, we compare these …

Posterior Cervical Spine Crisscross Fixation: Biomechanical Evaluation, Joseph F. Cusick, Frank A. Pintar, Joseph S. Cheng, Jason I. Lifshutz, Narayan Yoganandan

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Biomechanical/anatomic limitations may limit the successful implantation, maintenance, and risk acceptance of posterior cervical plate/rod fixation for one stage decompression-fusion. A method of posterior fixation (crisscross) that resolves biomechanical deficiencies of previous facet wiring techniques and not reliant upon screw implantation has been devised. The biomechanical performance of the new method of facet fixation was compared to the traditional lateral mass plate/screw fixation method.

Methods

Thirteen human cadaver spine segments (C2-T1) were tested under flexion-compression loading and four were evaluated additionally under pure-moment load. Preparations were evaluated in a sequence of surgical alterations with intact, laminectomy, lateral mass plate/screw …

Diffusion Tensor Imaging In A Large Longitudinal Series Of Patients With Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Correlated With Long-Term Functional Outcome, Avinash Rao, Hesham Soliman, Mayank Kaushal, Olesya Motovylyak, Aditya Vedantam, Matthew D. Budde, Brian D. Schmit, Marjorie C. Wang, Shekar N. Kurpad

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

BACKGROUND

Fractional anisotropy (FA) of the high cervical cord correlates with upper limb function in acute cervical cord injury. We investigated the correlation between preoperative FA at the level of maximal compression and functional recovery in a group of patients after decompressive surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM).

OBJECTIVE

To determine the usefulness of FA as a biomarker for severity of CSM and as a prognostic biomarker for improvement after surgery.

METHODS

Patients received diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans preoperatively. FA values of the whole cord cross-section at the level of maximal compression and upper cervical cord (C1-2) were calculated. …

Increased Energy Yield Through Fast Pyrolysis: Empowering Malawian Villages, Diehl Mutamba

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Biomass contributes to several renewable energy technologies. This project will explore the use of fast pyrolysis to produce fuels by designing an apparatus for fast pyrolysis. Malawian people harvest firewood from the forests, which is a major contributor to deforestation. Furthermore, they convert some of it to charcoal with about 10-15% efficiency to sell to city dwellers. The project will enable herbaceous fuels to replace wood, increase charcoal yields and create new products. Firewood and charcoal produce smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) that compromises the villagers’ health.

This project will address deforestation problems, improve sustainability, decrease health hazards and improve …

Collision Avoidance Smartphone, Matt Columbres, Aaron Parisi, Joey Schnecker, Luis Wong

Electrical Engineering

There are many instances in day-to-day life where people cannot or would rather not pay full attention to their surroundings. Walking while preoccupied with a smartphone or walking while blind are excellent examples where technology could be used to make the task of avoiding 2collisions reactive, instead of proactive. A device which monitors a user’s surroundings and notifies the user when a potential collision is detected (and, additionally, notifying them as to where the obstacle is with respect to them) could be used to make walking distracted less of a hazard for the user and those around the user and …

Dc House Solar Panel Cleaner, Sarahanne Heredia, Sophia Deguia

Electrical Engineering

Solar panels lose 0.05% of their power conversion efficiency per day due to soil accumulation, according to an experiment conducted by the University of California, San Diego in 2013 [18]. The project is an electro-mechanical cleaning system that effectively and efficiently cleans solar panels at set intervals. A drip irrigation system with spray jets was attached to a water pump and Arduino, both powered by the DC House Project solar panel battery. The DC House solar panel was the targeted panel set up for the project. Several components of the design could have been chosen more optimally for the system; …

Circuit Breaker Module, Garvin Yee, Yei Trinh

Electrical Engineering

The circuit breaker module for this design project is a proof of concept that demonstrates the functionality, feasibility, and attainability of a consumer grade power systems analysis device suitable for college laboratory use. The goal of this project was to create the final iteration of a module that has been developed and refined over the course of previous years. The Cal Poly Electrical Engineering Department intends to use this design to produce circuit breaker modules intended for fault analysis. With the current changes made to the previous modules, the current circuit breaker is lighter, safer, and more universally reproducible. The …

Elucidating The Mechanisms Of Two Unique Phenomena Governed By Particle-Particle Interaction Under Dep: Tumbling Motion Of Pearl Chains And Alignment Of Ellipsoidal Particles, Yu Zhao, Jozef Brcka, Jacques Faguet, Guigen Zhang

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Particle-particle interaction plays a crucial role in determining the movement and alignment of particles under dielectrophoresis (DEP). Previous research efforts focus on studying the mechanism governing the alignment of spherical particles with similar sizes in a static condition. Different approaches have been developed to simulate the alignment process of a given number of particles from several up to thousands depending on the applicability of the approaches. However, restricted by the simplification of electric field distribution and use of identical spherical particles, not much new understanding has been gained apart from the most common phenomenon of pearl chain formation. To enhance …

Beam Scanning Realized By Coupled Modes In A Single-Patch Antenna, Haozhan Tian, Kirti Dhwaj, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Tatsuo Itoh

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this letter, we introduce a novel beam scanning in a single-rectangular-patch antenna realized by coupled modes. The design exhibits radiated beams that scan as a function of frequency but is different in its operation mechanism compared to a traditional leaky-wave antenna. The idea is to manipulate the phase difference between the fields at two radiating slots of the antenna to reform the beam. Metal vias are introduced to create two coupled half-mode cavities in the patch antenna. The mutual coupling between the two cavities makes the phase difference as a function of the operating frequency. The simulated beam scans …

Creating The Fleet Maker - Lessons Learned From The First Series Of Workshops On Maker Concepts For Active Duty Personnel, Karina Arcaute, Michel Albert Audette, Vukica Jovanovic, Anthony Dean, Dipankar Ghosh

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The US Navy has supported research related to the 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing area for more than 20 years. More recently, efforts like the Print the Fleet initiative and Marine Makers are exploring ways to design and create solutions to future problems with the possibility of reducing maintenance costs, increasing equipment readiness, and improving combat effectiveness. The Creating the Fleet Maker project is an effort supported by the Navy and Marine Corps Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education, Outreach and Workforce Program of the Office of Naval Research. It examines the concept of making in order to develop skills …