A Systematic Review Of Urban Navigation Systems For Visually Impaired People, Fatmaelzahraa Eltaher Ph.D, Ayman Taha, Jane Courtney, Susan Mckeever

Articles

Blind and Visually impaired people (BVIP) face a range of practical difficulties when undertaking outdoor journeys as pedestrians. Over the past decade, a variety of assistive devices have been researched and developed to help BVIP navigate more safely and independently. In~addition, research in overlapping domains are addressing the problem of automatic environment interpretation using computer vision and machine learning, particularly deep learning, approaches. Our aim in this article is to present a comprehensive review of research directly in, or relevant to, assistive outdoor navigation for BVIP. We breakdown the navigation area into a series of navigation phases and tasks. We …

A Flexible Piezoelectric Energy Harvester-Based Single-Layer Ws2 Nanometer 2d Material For Self-Powered Sensors, Quan Wang, Kyung-Bum Kim, Sang Bum Woo, Yooseob Song, Tae Hyun Sung

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

A piezoelectric sensor is a typical self-powered sensor. With the advantages of a high sensitivity, high frequency band, high signal-to-noise ratio, simple structure, light weight, and reliable operation, it has gradually been applied to the field of smart wearable devices. Here, we first report a flexible piezoelectric sensor (FPS) based on tungsten disulfide (WS₂) monolayers that generate electricity when subjected to human movement. The generator maximum voltage was 2.26 V, and the produced energy was 55.45 μJ of the electrical charge on the capacitor (capacity: 220 μF) when applying periodic pressing by 13 kg. The generator demonstrated here …

Fundamental Dislocation Solutions For Infinite And Semi-Infinite Media, Luo Li Mr

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Much research has gone into determining stress fields of dislocation, as the understanding of dislocations is fundamental to understanding metal or crystal plasticity. In this thesis, the stress field of a rectangular dislocation loop in an infinite isotropic solid is developed for a Volterra-type dislocation with three non-zero Burgers vector components. Also, the stress and strain fields of a rectangular dislocation loop in an isotropic solid, which is a semi-infinite medium, are obtained here for a Volterra-type dislocation. Moreover, analytical and numerical verifications of the developed stress/strain fields are performed. This is done by ensuring the satisfaction of the equilibrium …

Solid–Liquid Interface Temperature Measurement Of Evaporating Droplet Using Thermoresponsive Polymer Aqueous Solution, Hyung Ju Lee, Chan Ho Jeong, Dae Yun Kim, Chang Kyoung Choi, Seong Hyuk Lee

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The present study aims to measure the solid–liquid interface temperature of an evaporating droplet on a heated surface using a thermoresponsive polymer. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) was used owing to its sensitive optical and mechanical properties to the temperature. We also measured the refractive index variation of the pNIPAM solution by using the surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi). In particular, the present study proposed a new method to measure the solid–liquid interface temperature using the correlation among reflectance, refractive index, and temperature. It was found that the reflectance of a pNIPAM solution decreased after the droplet deposition. The solid–liquid interface temperature, estimated …

Autonomous Shock Sensing Using Bi-Stable Triboelectric Generators And Mems Electrostatic Levitation Actuators, Mohammad Mousavi, Mohammad Alzgool, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

This work presents an automatic threshold shock-sensing trigger system that consists of a bi-stable triboelectric transducer and a levitation-based electrostatic mechanism. The bi-stable mechanism is sensitive to mechanical shocks and releases impact energy when the shock is strong enough. A triboelectric generator produces voltage when it receives a mechanical shock. The voltage is proportional to the mechanical shock. When the voltage exceed a certain level, the initially pulled-in Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch is opened and can disconnect the current in a safety electronic system. The MEMS switch combines two mechanisms of gap-closing (parallel-plate electrodes) with electrostatic levitation (side electrodes) to …

Evaluation Of Permanent Concrete Barriers To Mash 2016, Samuel Elias Hovde

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective of this research project was to develop evaluation criteria for permanent concrete barriers to MASH 2016 TL-3 and TL-4 without crash testing and then to evaluate permanent concrete barrier standards provided by the sponsoring agencies of the Midwest Pooled Fund Program. A literature review was conducted to determine evaluation criteria for stability, shape, strength, and anchorage, and a database of permanent concrete barrier crash tests was compiled. A survey was conducted to collect barrier standards from the members of the Midwest Pooled Fund Program, and barriers were selected and evaluated according to the determined methodology. A total of …

Lecture 08: Partial Eigen Decomposition Of Large Symmetric Matrices Via Thick-Restart Lanczos With Explicit External Deflation And Its Communication-Avoiding Variant, Zhaojun Bai

Mathematical Sciences Spring Lecture Series

There are continual and compelling needs for computing many eigenpairs of very large Hermitian matrix in physical simulations and data analysis. Though the Lanczos method is effective for computing a few eigenvalues, it can be expensive for computing a large number of eigenvalues. To improve the performance of the Lanczos method, in this talk, we will present a combination of explicit external deflation (EED) with an s-step variant of thick-restart Lanczos (s-step TRLan). The s-step Lanczos method can achieve an order of s reduction in data movement while the EED enables to compute eigenpairs in batches along with a number …

Building Our Future: Positive Steps Forward For Apprenticeship Education And Training In Ireland, Roisin Murphy Dr

Level 3

The construction labour market has undergone a period of considerable turbulence resulting from economic cyclicality over the last decade. While some facets of the labour market have recovered in line with economic growth, there remain challenges in attracting new apprentices. The issue is particularly pronounced for certain “wet trades”; namely bricklaying, floor and wall tiling, painting and decorating and plastering.

A mixed method research strategy was employed for the purpose of determining labour market trends for these trades, comprising of employer and apprentice surveys in addition to semi-structured interviews. Findings from the research uncover not only a shift …

Zero-Bias Deep Learning Enabled Quick And Reliable Abnormality Detection In Iot, Yongxin Liu, Jian Wang, Jianqiang Li, Shuteng Niu, Houbing Song

Publications

Abnormality detection is essential to the performance of safety-critical and latency-constrained systems. However, as systems are becoming increasingly complicated with a large quantity of heterogeneous data, conventional statistical change point detection methods are becoming less effective and efficient. Although Deep Learning (DL) and Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) are increasingly employed to handle heterogeneous data, they still lack theoretic assurable performance and explainability. This paper integrates zero-bias DNN and Quickest Event Detection algorithms to provide a holistic framework for quick and reliable detection of both abnormalities and time-dependent abnormal events in Internet of Things (IoT).We first use the zero bias dense …

Improvements Of Atmospheric Deposition Sampling Procedures And Further Analysis Of Its Impact On Utah Lake, Seth Michael Barrus

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on Atmospheric Deposition (AD) loading on Utah Lake. Utah Lake is susceptible to Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) because of its large surface area to volume ratio, proximity to Great Basin dust sources, and various wind patterns from close mountain ranges that blow AD towards the lake. In this study, we continued the collection and analysis of AD samples that started in 2017 and 2018, while reporting additional 2019 and 2020 data. We constructed a sampler on Utah Lake itself, which allowed us to better estimate how AD loads were distributed over the lake. An interpolation assumption was …

Recent Trends In Cloud Computing And Edge Computing, Sonali Deshpande, Nilima Kulkarni

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Background: This study aims to analyze the work done in domain of cloud computing and edge computing using artificial intelligence from 2015 to 2021. Recent research shows the bibliometric methods are useful for such kind of analysis. Thus in this paper analysis is carried out using the bibliometric methods.

Methods: different articles on edge computing and edge intelligence were retrieved using one of the most popular database- Scopus. The research articles are considered between 2015 to 2021. Scopus analyzer is used for getting some analysis results such as documents by year, source, country and so on. VOSviewer Version 1.6.16 is …

You Want Me To Teach Engineering? Impacts Of Recurring Experiences On K-12 Teachers’ Engineering Design Self-Efficacy, Familiarity With Engineering, And Confidence To Teach With Design-Based Learning Pedagogy, Shaunna Smith, Kimberly Talley, Araceli Ortiz, Vedaraman Sriraman

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

This paper reports on findings from a group of ten teachers who were enrolled in a semester-long, graduate-level educational technology course that used design-based learning to explore the integration of making and the engineering design process into a variety of K-12 educational contexts. Using convergent mixed methods, this study examines how the course impacted teachers’ familiarity and confidence in teaching the engineering design process, as viewed through their pre- and post-semester engineering design self-efficacy scores and their weekly reflective journal entries. These measures are important factors for developing teacher experience and confidence in integrating engineering and design-based learning strategies within …

Investigation Of Dusting Hole Film Cooling On A Transonic Turbine Blade Tip With A Squealer, Matthew Cox

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Optimization Of Power Performance Of A Wave Energy Converter, L. F. De Valderrama, C. Harrison, P. Tubuntoeng, A. Kapperman, B. Rodriguez, A. Daniels, J. Whipple, B. Labban, C. Akan, N. Ozdemir

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

With climate change on the rise, unprecedented dependence on electricity, and an increased incidence of extreme weather, the UNF team participating in the U.S. Department of Energy 2021 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition: Powering the Blue Economy wants to give an alternative solution to provide renewable energy in areas that lose electricity as a result of a natural disaster, or that due to their isolated location cannot use traditional renewable energy sources. This led to the creation of the Osprey C.R.E.W (Cheap Reliable Energy from Waves). The Osprey C.R.E.W. is a wave energy converter that uses the vertical motion of the …

Hydrodynamic Analysis Of A Wave Energy Converter (Wec), A. Kapperman, B. Rodriguez, A. Daniels, C. Harrison, P. Tubuntoeng, L. Fernandez De Valderrama, B. Labban, J. Whipple, C. Akan, N. Ozdemir

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Honorable Mention Winner

The UNF CREW competing in the U.S. Department of Energy 2021 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition developed a Wave Energy Converter (WEC) for quick deployment in disaster relief areas. When natural disasters disable coastal power grids, a WEC can be easily deployed close to shore and serve as a source of electricity. The ocean waves move magnets through a coil wired within the WEC to generate electricity. To initiate the design process, ANSYS AQWA software simulated both the oceanic environment and the device’s response in the WEC’s testing conditions. AQWA allows the user to change device dimensions easily …

Cost Analysis Of Osprey C.R.E.W., J. Whipple, B. Labban, A. Kapperman, B. Rodriguez, C. Harrison, P. Tubuntoeng, L. F. De Valderrama, A. Daniels, C. Akan, N. Ozdemir

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Renewable energy adoption is on the rise in the U.S. and abroad. More than ever, energy sourcing needs to shift away from harmful fossil fuels and towards fully renewable energy sources. Adapting from traditional fossil fuel energy sources to renewable energy sources is paramount for environmental health and public health. Fossil fuels emit harmful pollutants, which have led to changing weather conditions and exasperated natural disasters. Existing renewable sources are not ideal, either. For instance, solar cannot run continuously and wind turbines are subject to weather changes. The recent energy debacle in Texas shows the need for alternative renewable energy …

Effects On Fatigue Of Applying Titanium Nitride Coating To 17-4 Ph Stainless Steel, Jade Welsh, Scott Zinn, Steve Stagon, Jutima Simsiriwong

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Honorable Mention Winner

Surface coatings when applied to metals have many useful applications such as improving the biocompatibility and resistance to corrosion and wear. In this study, the effect of thickness of titanium nitride (TiN) on 17-4 precipitation hardened (PH) stainless steel under cyclic (i.e. fatigue) loading is investigated. TiN are applied to wrought 17-4 PH stainless steel using physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique in a low-pressure vacuum chamber filled with a mixture of inert argon and nitrogen gases with a ratio of 10:1. In addition, these specimens are subjected to two different vapor durations, but a constant voltage and …

3d-Printed Energy-Absorbing Polymer Structures For Reducing Injury Risk From Overhead Impacts To Hard Hats, Andrew Miceli, Grant Bevill, Jutima Simsiriwong

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Project of Merit Winner

Struck-by accidents (i.e., being hit by a falling object) are a leading cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the construction industry. While hardhats are the conventional means of head protection in this setting, their overall design has not appreciably changed in decades. In this project, a commercially available hardhat was augmented by creating a compliant cantilever on the superior surface supported by a 3D-printed block (10 x 10 x 50mm, with hexagonal lattice infill) to serve as a sacrificial energy-absorbing structure. The lattices were created using three polymer materials (PLA, ABS, and High-Impact Polystyrene (HIPS)) …

Relay Communication With Real Time Microgrid Simulation, Ryan Crump, Daniel David, Touria El Mezyani

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

The development of smart grids with increasing penetration of renewable energy sources into the electrical grids have raised several technical challenges for the control and monitoring. One of these challenges is the system reliability, which depends on power grids’ resilience and high integrity of data. The protective relays play vital role in the grid reliability that involves monitoring power lines and mitigating blackouts. In a large power grid, the protective relays operate locally by controlling the opening and closing of switches (breakers) in power lines, which allows to disconnect or remove from service any part of the power system when …

Real Time Simulation And Experimentation Of Smart Grid Control Using An Fpgi-Based Controller, Nicholas Myers, Christopher Merring, Touria El Mezyani

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Smart Grids consist of multiple controls, computers, and new technologies and equipment that operate distributed renewable energy resources and energy storage devices, monitoring systems, and smart meters. Advanced control is utilized to manage real-time pricing, flexible loads, solar, wind, and many forms of energy storage, and microgrid management. Distributed and fast control routines are essential for an optimal system operation to manage the smart grids efficiently. The control design and development require adequate experimentation and validation due to the significant rule that plays the smart grids’ control in energy management, grid security, and economic benefits. Therefore, it is essential to …

Safe Route: A Mobile App-Based Intelligent And Personalized Fire Evacuation System, Christian Hayes, Aiyin Jiang, Zornitza Prodanoff, Hemani Kaushal

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Project of Merit Winner

All modern buildings have fire evacuation protocols, the most common of which are exit signs to the nearest exit. However, these simple protocols ignore the possibility of unsafe paths and unexpected fire hazards. The goal during fire evacuations is to escape safely and efficiently, but this can be difficult without knowing which routes are safest. A mobile application called Safe Route was created at the University of North Florida (UNF) to provide building occupants with a personalized fire evacuation route helping them to efficiently navigate to the safest exit. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons were utilized …

Optimization Of Solar-Coal Hybridization For Low Solar Augmentation, Aaron T. Bame

Theses and Dissertations

One approach to enabling a larger penetration of renewable sources of energy is the implementation of hybrid power plants. This work presents a process to determine the preliminary optimal configuration of a concentrating solar power-coal hybrid power plant with low solar augmentation, and is demonstrated on a coal power plant in Castle Dale, UT. A representative model is developed and validated against published data for a coal power plant of a different configuration than Hunter Unit 3. The simplifications within the representative model include combining multiple feedwater heaters, combining turbines that operate across the same boundary states, and the mass-average …

The Importance Of Managerial Positions In The Agile Development Process, Adam Gray

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In software engineering, the Agile development process is becoming one of the most effective methods to handle the issues of continuous change and fast development. However, there are still some perceived issues that many Agile developers face, and a lot of these issues can seemingly stem from their managers. For example, it may seem like the manager is not always up-to-date on the various aspects of the project, or that they have closed off their mind to new ideas. In this paper, we include an in-depth analysis of the various managerial positions that can be found in the Agile development …

Effective Gamification Within Educational Virtual Reality Environments, Adrian Pilkington

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

With the advent and now widespread use of mobile phones and computers in educational settings, exploring effective and new ways of using technology in the classroom is important for educating the next generation of students. Innovative technology, like Virtual Reality, has started being discussed and researched for its potential benefits in educational settings. This paper presents a brief history of VR, game theory, and examines two VR educational games from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Nursing’s (UNMC) Senior Design teams. The two games will be used to replace lecture-style classes and to go out and educate the community. We …

Second Version On A Centralized Approach To Reducing Burnouts In The It Industry Using Work Pattern Monitoring Using Artificial Intelligence Using Mongodb Atlas And Python, Sasibhushan Rao Chanthati

Harrisburg University Other Works

Industry burnout is interlinked with cultural, individual, physical, or emotional exhaustion, and social factors, the resolution of which requires the technology-driven trends in the workplace and the technologies such as work pattern monitoring and Artificial Intelligence that can deal with large amounts of data. Industries face a gigantic problem i.e., employee burnout which can charge a firm loss in numerous hours and thousands of dollars every year. The more advanced companies use work pattern monitoring using Artificial Intelligence to make their employees work more professionally. In this research my attempts to understand the development and leadership, on the effects of …

Fpga-Accelerated Digital Signal Processing For Uav Traffic Control Radar, Kacen Paul Moody

Theses and Dissertations

As an extension of previous work done by Luke Newmeyer in his master's thesis \cite{newmeyer2018efficient}, this report presents an improved signal processing chain for efficient, real-time processing of radar data for small-scale UAV traffic control systems. The HDL design described is for a 16-channel, 2-dimensional phased array feed processing chain and includes mean subtraction, windowing, FIR filtering, decimation, spectral estimation via FFT, cross-correlation, and averaging, as well as a significant amount of control and configuration logic. The design runs near the the max allowable memory bus frequency at 300MHz, and using AXI DMA engines can achieve throughput of 38.3 Gb/s …

Open Source 3d-Printable Planetary Roller Screw For Food Processing Applications, Marcello C. Guadagno, Jacob M. Loss, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Historically, open source agriculture (OSA) was based on grassroots technology generally manufactured by hand tools or with manual machining. The rise of distributed digital manufacturing provides an opportunity for much more rapid lateral scaling of open source appropriate technologies for agriculture. However, the most mature distributed manufacturing area is plastic, which has limited use for many OSA applications. To overcome this limitation with design, this study reports on of a completely 3D-printable planetary roller screw linear actuator. The device is designed as a parametric script-based computer aided design (CAD) package to allow for the easy adaption for a number of …

College Of Engineering News, Georgia Southern University

College of Engineering & Computing: News & Publications (2010-2023)

• Graduate Student Lands Internship with Boeing

Airplane Pitch Response To Rapid Configuration Change: Flight Test And Safety Assessment, Ralph Kimberlin, Markus Wilde, Brian Kish, Isaac Silver

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

This paper examines airplane response to rapid flap extension on seven general aviation airplanes. The scenario involves a pilot flying in the traffic pattern becoming distracted, abruptly extending flaps while looking outside the airplane, and failing to notice airspeed and pitch-attitude changes. The airplanes tested reached pitch forces of up to 36 lbf, meeting FAA requirements but exceeding the capability of 55% of the population. Flight data showed a pitch-up to more than 30˚ in 5 s after flap extension, causing airspeed to drop below stall speed for four of the airplanes. At traffic pattern altitudes, stalling an airplane can …

Quantifying Surface Morphology Of Manufactured Activated Carbon And The Waste Coffee Grounds Using The Getis-Ord-Gi* Statistic And Ripley’S K Function, Sanghoon Lee, Sukjoon Na, Olivia G. Rogers, Sungmin Youn

All Engineering Faculty Research

Activated carbon can be manufactured from waste coffee grounds via physical and/or chemical activation processes. However, challenges remain to quantify the differences in surface morphology between manufactured activated carbon granules and the waste coffee grounds. This paper presents a novel quantitative method to determine the quality of the physical and chemical activation processes performed in the presence of intensity inhomogeneity and identify surface characteristics of manufactured activated carbon granules and the waste coffee grounds. The spatial density was calculated by the Getis-Ord-Gi* statistic in scanning electron microscopy images. The spatial characteristics were determined by analyzing Ripley’s K function and complete …