Engineering Commons^™

Classifying Brainwaves For Brain-Computer Interface Technology, Derrick Wang, Brendan Lawler

Bioengineering Senior Theses

The intention of this project is to develop a brainwave classification system that will help restore the independence of those with severe motor function impairments. While current brain computer interface (BCI) technology offers a means of control for those with limited mobility, severely motor disabled individuals represent a population in need of methods to restore independent motor control. Thus, the objective of our project is to utilize neural signals from electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings to develop a machine learning classifier. Since our specific goal is to help those with limited mobility, we are focusing on motion imagery tasks which elicit a …

Flow Visualization Of Bolus Microcapsule Delivery Through 3d Printed Microneedles, Sophie Quisling, Leana Vestal, Alexis Enstrom

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Microneedle arrays are an emerging technology that offers a novel drug delivery system to treat a variety of skin wounds and diseases. The needles deliver therapeutics to the epidermis layer of the skin and therefore establish advantageous qualities over the standard hypodermic needle as they are non-invasive, efficient in biologic absorption, and can be self-administered. This project investigates a custom 3D-printed hollow microneedle device created by a Santa Clara University Senior Design team in 2018 for microencapsulated cell extrusion to be applied for accelerated wound healing. The goal of our project is to operate in the therapeutic range for flowrate …

Optical Phonon Modes, Static And High-Frequency Dielectric Constants, And Effective Electron Mass Parameter In Cubic In2O3, Megan Stokey, Rafal Korlacki, Sean Knight, Alexander Ruder, Matthew J. Hilfiker, Zbigniew Galazka, Klaus Irmscher, Yuxuan Zhang, Hongping Zhao, Vanya Darakchieva, Mathias Schubert

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

A complete set of all optical phonon modes predicted by symmetry for bixbyite structure indium oxide is reported here from a combination of far-infrared and infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry, as well as first principles calculations. Dielectric function spectra measured on high quality, marginally electrically conductive melt grown single bulk crystals are obtained on a wavelength-by-wavelength (also known as point-by-point) basis and by numerical reduction of a subtle free charge carrier Drude model contribution. A four-parameter semi-quantum model is applied to determine all 16 pairs of infrared-active transverse and longitudinal optical phonon modes, including the high-frequency dielectric constant, ε_∞=4.05±0.05. The …

Computational Prediction Of Mutagenesis In Glycine Max Rubisco Activase Monomer For Increased Thermal Stability, Catherine B. Emanuel, Hamza Haq '21, Vasanth Ramesh '21, Jaden Wang '21, Angela Ahrendt, Sarah Stainbrook

Student Publications & Research

No abstract provided.

Viscoelastic Model To Capture Residual Stresses In Heat Cured Dissimilar Adhesive Bonded Joints, Akshat Agha, Fadi Abu-Farha

Publications

The thermal loading during the curing process of an adhesive-bonded joint induces residual stresses in the joint, thereby affecting its performance. The problem becomes worse in the case of a multi-material joint involving varying coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) for different parts. A novel approach was developed to model the properties of automotive grade structural adhesives during the heat curing process. The material model was divided into two components: curing kinetics model and viscoelastic mechanical model. The models were calibrated using experimental data from Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) tests performed on an epoxy-based single-component adhesive. …

Towards Adaptive, Self-Configuring Networked Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Nirupama Bulusu, Ehsan Aryafar, Feng Liu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Networked drones have the potential to transform various applications domains; yet their adoption particularly in indoor and forest environments has been stymied by the lack of accurate maps and autonomous navigation abilities in the absence of GPS, the lack of highly reliable, energy-efficient wireless communications, and the challenges of visually inferring and understanding an environment with resource-limited individual drones. We advocate a novel vision for the research community in the development of distributed, localized algorithms that enable the networked drones to dynamically coordinate to perform adaptive beam forming to achieve high capacity directional aerial communications, and collaborative machine learning to …

Numerical Analysis Of Radiation Effects On Fiber Optic Sensors, Sohel Rana, Harish Subbaraman, Austin Fleming, Nirmala Kandadai

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Optical fiber sensors (OFS) are a potential candidate for monitoring physical parameters in nuclear environments. However, under an irradiation field the optical response of the OFS is modified via three primary mechanisms: (i) radiation-induced attenuation (RIA), (ii) radiation-induced emission (RIE), and (iii) radiation-induced compaction (RIC). For resonance-based sensors, RIC plays a significant role in modifying their performance characteristics. In this paper, we numerically investigate independently the effects of RIC and RIA on three types of OFS widely considered for radiation environments: fiber Bragg grating (FBG), long-period grating (LPG), and Fabry-Perot (F-P) sensors. In our RIC modeling, experimentally calculated refractive index …

Pier Ocean Pier, Brandon J. Nowak

Computer Engineering

Pier Ocean Peer is a weatherproof box containing a Jetson Nano, connected to a cell modem and camera, and powered by a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery charged by a 50W solar panel. This system can currently provide photos to monitor the harbor seal population that likes to haul out at the base of the Cal Poly Pier, but more importantly it provides a platform for future expansion by other students either though adding new sensors directly to the Jetson Nano or by connecting to the jetson nano remotely through a wireless protocol of their choice.

Numerical Flight Performance Of A Flapping Wing Model At Different Motion Amplitudes, Kamarul Arifin Ahmada

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

As a result of technological advancements in a variety of areas, the development of advanced ornithopters is becoming a reality and will be available in the distant future. Flapping wings are likely to be used by MAVs because there is strong evidence that, for very small craft, flapping wing performance outperforms other options due to dynamic effects. This paper summarizes the numerical work done to investigate the aerodynamic performance of a flapping wing model inspired by ornithopters. A model wing was built to focus on specific dimensions, motion characteristics, and performance parameters. To assist in understanding the physical phenomena, model …

Pilltank, Lucas Chang, Hayden Tam, Aaron Teh, Krista Round

Electrical Engineering

Imagine an elderly family member, going through their daily routine of taking their pills. They find their pill box; however, they are having trouble identifying all the pills in there. Is there a name on the tablet? Can they read what it says? Do they just trust that the medication in their box is correct? How can they properly take care of themselves if they can not even confirm that what they are taking is the right medication? To combat this issue that many face, we present PillTank.

To decrease the risk of consuming the wrong medication, PillTank identifies the …

Development Of A Low-Cost Hybrid Music Synthesizer, Spencer Rollins Drewry

Electrical Engineering

Until recently, affordable music equipment has always been seen as “budget”, providing a poor user experience. Inexpensive equipment was plagued with audible noise, signal integrity issues, and convoluted user interfaces. Companies like Teenage Engineering have proven that this does not have to be the case, in 2019 introducing their "Pocket Operator” series for $89. Due to the modern availability of low cost, high quality, consumer off the shelf [COTS] analog and digital components as well as creative engineering, the quality of inexpensive audio equipment has increased significantly. Despite these industry advances, the market is relatively small and shows a great …

Dc-Dc Buck Boost Converter Using The Lt8390 Controller And Gan High Electron Mobility Transistors, Juan Manuel Urbano Jr, Brian Thongchai Keokot

Electrical Engineering

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s ongoing Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) project creates a sustainable energy source by converting physical exercise from exercise machines into renewable electricity. Implementing energy harvesting technology into the Recreation Center’s exercise machines helps Cal Poly make progress on its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 [1]. An improvement to the system with new technology increases Cal Poly Recreation Center’s ability to save money and improve sustainability.

The focus of this project improves the design of Nicholas Serres, who used the LT8390 controller in his buck boost DC-DC converter [2]. This project improves …

Wildfire Early Detection System (Weds), Mason Mciver, Vincent Liang, Jeanreno Racines

Electrical Engineering

With climate change causing an increase in temperature over the past several decades, wildfires have been burning hotter and moving quicker leaving a trail of destruction in their path. Detecting a wildfire early allows firefighters to respond efficiently and effectively to ensure containment. With the rise of advanced computer vision and algorithms, autonomous systems can be used to monitor and report any fire activity. Having multiple devices spread out across a large area will allow first responders to map out the fire location and track the fire. By utilizing smart technologies, property damage can be minimized and residents living in …

Miniaturized Ultraviolet Imager High Voltage Power Supply, Nicholas Palmer, Jason Thomas Heil

Electrical Engineering

Sending satellites into orbit becomes exponentially more expensive with weight and size, so designing high-voltage DC-DC converters that can achieve kilovolt level outputs in a small form factor is crucial to reducing costs. The Miniaturized Ultraviolet Imager (MUVI) aims to monitor Earth’s ionosphere and report weather patterns to climate scientists within a 2U cube satellite footprint. The imaging equipment consists of a microchannel plate and phosphor screen that require 2.5kV and 5.5kV respectively at microamp level currents. This report explains the implementation of a high voltage boost cascaded flyback converter to meet all of the MUVI satellite output voltage requirements. …

Robot Path Planning System, Filippo Cheein, Tim Berry, Bruce Rogstad, Bob Entezar, Jamari Ducre

Electrical Engineering

The future is autonomous. It is estimated that by 2025 there will be 8 million autonomous cars in the market. Millions more will be autonomous devices employed in homes, malls, offices, and warehouses. There are many aspects of these future devices that are necessary for proper autonomous functionality, with none potentially more critical than the devices’ path planning ability. This project aims to create an effective, reliable, and safe path planning algorithm for the autonomous devices of the future. Indoor autonomous devices, such as warehouse or office robots, benefit from being able to always use the same floor plan rather …

Probability Based Logic Locking On Integrated Circuits, Michael Yue

Electrical and Computer Engineering Master's Theses

The demand of integrated circuits (IC)s are increasing and the industry has outsourced the fabrication process to untrusted environments. An adversary at these untrusted facilities can reverse engineer parts of the IC to reveal the original design. IC piracy and overproduction are serious issues that threaten the security and integrity of a system. These ICs can be copied illegally and altered to contain malicious hardware. The pirated ICs can be placed in consumer products which may harm the system or leak sensitive information. Hardware obfuscation is a technique used to protect the original design before it gets fabricated, tested, assembled, …

Void And Density Analysis Of Cyanate Ester Composites, Cameron B. Atwood

Materials Engineering

In large scale composite manufacturing, voids and their frequency within prepreg materials play an important role in predicting the mechanical properties of a final composite laminate. The industry standard process for determining voids in composite materials is through resin digestion and resin ignition via ASTM D3171. One limitation to this standard is its ability to frequently produce negative void volume values in quality control testing, due to the calculation sensitivity of input resin and fiber densities. For this reason, Toray Advanced Composites wanted to investigate the process steps of ASTM D3171 to determine if discrepancies in resin density data may …

Blacow Road Improvement Plan, Nishita Kandikuppa

City and Regional Planning

Providing safe and accessible entrances to schools, especially elementary, middle, and high schools where children are below the age of 18, should be of utmost priority to cities. Providing wide sidewalks, painted bicycle lanes and continental crosswalks (with the lateral lines) are just basic infrastructure improvements that can be made within the vicinity of a school. However, due to lack of funding or attention from the city departments, many school entryways are being neglected and the direct impact of this is increased collisions among students, drivers, and bicyclists. My senior project studied one such school in Fremont, California where the …

A Simulation-Assisted Teaching Practice: Teaching Ac Variable Speed Systems Using Simulation Models Library, Jinzhu Gao, Qian Yang

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

Different modulation modes of PWM technology and inverters can be selected for different types of the motors, a variety of AC variable frequency variable speed system structures can also be derived based on the same control principle. So it brings a great challenge to teaching AC variable speed systems. We have identified four factors that hinder students’ learning in this topic: 1) the abstraction of the mathematical logic behind the control theory; 2) the complexity of system structures; 3) the diversity of implementation methods; 4) lack of motivation to explore more engineering applications due to boring textbook contents. To facilitate …

A Case Study On The Ucsf Transplant Center Renovation: Mitigating Covid-19 Risks And Tracking Cost Impact, Alec Steven Woodyatt

Construction Management

At the beginning of 2020, the world was turned upside down at the hands of the global coronavirus pandemic. Today, economies and business are counting the costs and wondering what recovery will look like – how to navigate and adapt to a new style of life after returning from government-mandated lockdowns. The question on everyone’s minds is, “how do we continue to work while keeping people safe?” This question is extremely relevant in the construction industry where, for most people, working from home is not an option. This case study will delve into how Dome Construction, along with their client, …

Observation Of The Evolution Of Hide And Seek Ai, Anthony J. Catelani

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The purpose of this project is to observe the evolution of two artificial agents, a ‘Seeker’ and a ‘Hider’, as they play a simplified version of the game Hide and Seek. These agents will improve through machine learning, and will only be given an understanding of the rules of the game and the ability to navigate through the grid-like space where the game shall be played; they will not be taught or given any strategies, and will be made to learn from a clean slate. Of particular interest is observing the particular playstyle of hider and seeker intelligences as new …

Tensile Strength Evaluation Of Glulam Connection With Screw Fasteners, Bradley Sharpshair

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Multiple knife plate and external steel plate deep-beam glulam connections were investigated in a series of destructive tests within the Infrastructure Testing and Applied Research laboratory at Portland State University. The goal of these tests was to better understand the failure mode and ultimate load capacity of the large-scale glulam moment connections. Two different types of tests were performed on each connection; one with axial loading, and another loaded in flexure. The first, smaller, axial tests were conducted to inform the later, much larger, bending tests. The results of these tests helped to develop future designs as well as provide …

Lamin A/C Is Dispensable To Mechanical Repression Of Adipogenesis, Matthew Goelzer, Gunes Uzer

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) maintain the musculoskeletal system by differentiating into multiple lineages, including osteoblasts and adipocytes. Mechanical signals, including strain and low-intensity vibration (LIV), are important regulators of MSC differentiation via control exerted through the cell structure. Lamin A/C is a protein vital to the nuclear architecture that supports chromatin organization and differentiation and contributes to the mechanical integrity of the nucleus. We investigated whether lamin A/C and mechanoresponsiveness are functionally coupled during adipogenesis in MSCs. siRNA depletion of lamin A/C increased the nuclear area, height, and volume and decreased the circularity and stiffness. Lamin A/C depletion significantly decreased …

Engineering Students' Perceptions Of Their Development Of Professional Skills, Caitriona Depaor, Una Beagon, Aimee Byrne, Darren Carthy, Patrick Crean, Louise Lynch, Dervilla Niall

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Laminar Flow Face Shield, Julia Carlson, Peter Hunt, Jomil Aquipel, Becky Lu

Mechanical Engineering

The scope of this project was to design a personal protective equipment (PPE) that protects the wearer from SARS-CoV-2 without inhibiting communication and was comfortable to wear for long periods of time. SARS-CoV-2, commonly known as COVID-19, is a contagious respiratory virus that spreads through droplets produced when someone who is infected by the virus coughs, sneezes, or talks. These droplets may land on the mouths or noses of nearby people or may be inhaled in the lungs, infecting those who come in contact with the virus. The current guidelines to help slow the spread of COVID-19 are to wear …

Cnc Feed Drive Control, Ryan J. Funchess, Caleb P. O'Gorman, Nick J. Desimone, Juan M. Majano, Samuel K. Wong

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves as the Final Design Report (FDR) for a senior project developed by our team: four senior Mechanical Engineering students and one computer engineering student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). While the project was completed for, and sponsored by, Professor Simon Xing of Cal Poly, the remainder of the university’s controls professors will be indirectly benefited from this project. Our goal was to design and implement a functional CNC Feed Drive to be used for educational demonstrations and data collection. This document discusses our early product research and benchmark goals, which established constraints …

Sustainable Tiny Home, Abigail Jessica Jones, Vince John Bugni, Sean Robert Paddy, Cameron Michael Gross

Mechanical Engineering

As housing prices and environmental concerns continue to increase, many people are looking for cheaper and more sustainable ways to live. A solution to both problems is building homes with smaller footprints which incorporate renewable energy and water-reclamation systems. In addition, adding a roof pond system to the dwelling also reduces the need for heating and cooling. The roof pond system uses a water bladder on the roof which acts as a heat-sink and moveable insulation panels. This document contains the process for our final design along with results from testing the verification prototype.

Nasa Micro-G Next Challenge: Sample Container Dispensing Device, Kristin G. Kraybill-Voth, Kelsey L. Mickelson, Oscar D. Popravka

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) report outlines a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo senior design project developing a sample container dispensing device for NASA Johnson Space Center’s Micro-g NExT design challenge, a competition for university students. NASA aims to bring the first woman and next man to the moon through the Artemis missions beginning in 2024. The Micro-g NExT 2021 challenges focus on developing equipment which will support the Artemis mission, where Astronauts will conduct extensive geological sampling to further the scientific understanding of the moon. Our team designed, built, and tested a device that holds sample bags as they …

Bull Outdoor Products - Electric Grill, Sofie M. Groberman, Makai J. Baker, James T. Andrews

Mechanical Engineering

Our senior design project team designed, assembled, and tested an outdoor electric grill. The sponsor for our project is Bull Outdoor Products, a high-end outdoor kitchen set, pizza oven, and grill company. We met with our sponsor to discuss project expectations and important product characteristics. We also researched the barbecue market and its customers to determine what grill characteristics are the most important. We learned which engineering specifications needed to be tested and outlined what our goals and overall objectives for this project are. With our background research and overall objectives in mind, we came up with different solutions through …

Adapted Tricycle 2021, Carolyn Graven, Daniel Coleman, Sebin Cho, Farhan Khan

Mechanical Engineering

This document describes and outlines the details of the senior project completed by a team of four mechanical engineering students in their final year at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The team worked with Linda Wolff at California Children’s Services to reach their main goal: to create an exercise tricycle that can be used by Savannah. Savannah is a young adult, and she needs to be able to steer, brake, and power the tricycle using almost entirely her core muscles. Over the course of the project, the team worked to design and build a safe and functional tricycle …