Engineering Commons^™

Marine Chemistry Control System, Natalie Weisenburger, Kathryn Turk, Julio Sierra

Biomedical Engineering

The aim of this project is to design a control system that manipulates different variables of ocean chemistry including pH, temperature, DO, N2 , and CO2 content for research by ocean chemists of marine species and their environments in 2, 5 gallon tanks.

Digital Forensics Challenge, Zoe Lie, Sydney Marie Mendoza

Computer Engineering

No abstract provided.

Reach - A Community Service Application, Samuel Noel Magana

Computer Engineering

Communities are familiar threads that unite people through several shared attributes and interests. These commonalities are the core elements that link and bond us together. Many of us are part of multiple communities, moving in and out of them depending on our needs. These common threads allow us to support and advocate for each other when facing a common threat or difficult situation. Healthy and vibrant communities are fundamental to the operation of our society. These interactions within our communities define the way we as individuals interact with each other, and society at large. Being part of a community helps …

An Fpga Implementation Of Digital Guitar Effects, Carson James Robles

Computer Engineering

One of the most versatile aspects of the electric guitar is its ability to change its sound completely and on-the-fly through the use of effects pedals. Conventional guitar pedals contain one effect and can be chained together. The goal of this project is to serve as a contained multi-effects station with five popular electric guitar effects packed into one product. On top of this, the effects each have two tunable parameters to allow users to dial in the exact tone they are looking for. All of the signal processing done in this project is conducted on an FPGA which also …

Frequency Modulation Integrated Circuit For Radars, Jade S. Visutsiaz, Hue Thu Doung

Electrical Engineering

Frequency-modulated continuous wave radars are a type of radar capable of measuring the distance to a stationary object or velocity of a moving object by radiating a continuous transmission of a signal that linearly sweeps its frequency repeatedly between two set frequencies. Frequency-modulated continuous wave radar signals are generated by a high frequency voltage-controlled oscillator or digital-to-analog converter. This project is an integrated circuit that produces the frequency-modulated signal on a single chip in the analog realm. The circuit was designed using Cadence Virtuoso with TSMC 180 nm process technology model. The generated signal is intended for use with ultra-wideband …

Spread Spectrum Buck Converter, Summer Elise Rutherford, Kyle Brandon Halloran, Brian Taylor Arbiv

Electrical Engineering

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is an issue prevalent to DC-DC converters. When a system doesn’t effectively filter out external noise or signals, these signals can cause disturbances to the system at large. The switching technology of DC-DC converters (PWM in particular), lends the system susceptible to EMI because there is a prevalent peaks at the switching frequency, meaning any external signals will not be effectively attenuated at this frequency. This can cause significant issues at the input bus of the DC-DC converters because this bus is likely the input of a multitude of devices; the EMI susceptibility caused by switching technology …

Industry Automation And Controls Lab, Nadir Ilyas Khan, Michael Campos, Samantha Bituen

Electrical Engineering

This work details our efforts to build a new industrial automation lab for the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Electrical Engineering department from the ground up. Thanks to a donation of Modicon M580 programmable logic controllers (PLCs) from Schneider Electric, we built a lab hardware layout to support a learning environment for students. The Electrical Engineering department currently doesn’t offer any courses for students to learn about automation in topics more closely following the topics learned in their curriculum. It will be beneficial for the school and the students to have graduates in the major with some knowledge of controls …

Pv Hybrid Inverter And Bess, Jacob Sussex, William Dresser, Owen Mckenzie, Jonathan Wharton, Derek Seaman

Electrical Engineering

The storage of energy from renewable sources such as photovoltaic based systems is a growing market, with 36 MWh of storage installed in Q1 of 2018. A report from EnergySage earlier this year states that in 2017, 74% of residential solar owners were also interested in energy storage systems. Mainstream systems like Tesla’s Powerwall are competing with other lithium-ion based storage systems from a wide number of providers on the market today. Short term and long term data collection on a system like this could be useful in designing future systems which perform better than the current market offerings. This …

Automatic Gain Control Integrated Circuit, Kyman Huang, Garth Leung, Lauren Williams

Electrical Engineering

This paper aims to describe the design process of an automatic gain controller (AGC) integrated circuit. An AGC is intended to provide variable gain in order to produce a consistent, distortionless output with a wide range of input magnitudes. This implementation was created as a standalone, small IC for audio systems. The chip requires only 7 pins, allowing for a small 8-pin package. LTSpice was used for the circuit design process and initial simulation. Cadence Virtuoso was used for the circuit layout and further simulations. Xilinx Vivado was used for digital circuit design and initial simulations. This project set out …

Alzheimer’S Disease Detection Using Convolutional Neural Netowork & Wavelets, Ean Hendrickson, Gabriel Amancio, Chloe Eusbio, Kaioli Bessert

Electrical Engineering

It is estimated that 5.7 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s dementia, including about 1 in 10 people above the age of 65. Alzheimer’s disease detection can help doctors to diagnose patients earlier and help them with preventative, proactive treatment. In this project, we attempt to use two different methods to analyze MRI brain images for Alzheimer’s disease detection, one with convolutional neural network and deep learning algorithm, and the other one with discrete wavelet transform. Computer simulation results are presented in the report.

Engineering Technology Undergraduate Students: A Survey Of Demographics And Mentoring, Anne M. Lucietto, Elizabeth Dell, Elaine M. Cooney, Lisa Ann Russell, Emily Schott

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

A report published by a group of engineering technology practitioners and others interested in engineering technology called “Engineering Technology Education in the United States” was released in early 2017. The report provided recommendations of areas for further study related to engineering technology students to increase our understanding of the population. These specifically suggested focusing on the students in comparison to other students in similar and different fields of study. Following these recommendations, a team of engineering technology education researchers has been collaborating to gather information in these areas. The team obtained institutional approval and distributed two surveys throughout the United …

A Two Alternative Forced Choice Method For Assessing Vibrotactile Discrimination Thresholds In The Lower Limb, Riccardo Iandolo, Marta Caré, Valay Shah, Simona Schiavi, Giula Bommarito, Giacomo Boffa, Psiche Giannoni, Matilde Inglese, Leigh A. Mrotek, Robert A. Scheidt, Maura Casadio

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The development of an easy to implement, quantitative measure to examine vibration perception would be useful for future application in clinical settings. Vibration sense in the lower limb of younger and older adults was examined using the method of constant stimuli (MCS) and the two-alternative forced choice paradigm. The focus of this experiment was to determine an appropriate stimulation site on the lower limb (tendon versus bone) to assess vibration threshold and to determine if the left and right legs have varying thresholds. Discrimination thresholds obtained at two stimulation sites in the left and right lower limbs showed differences in …

Development Of Heat Transfer Correlations For Low-Reynolds Numbers, Flows In Horizontal Circular Pipes, Latif Eyada Ibraheem

Dissertations

Turbulent flows are intrinsic to most fluid-based engineering systems, including internal combustion engines. In these devices, mixing, scalar transport and heat transfer are both critical for proper operation and challenging to model. In previous work, Kreun et al. [1] modeled a pre-heated intake manifold of a Diesel engine for cold-start simulations. Accurately predicting the heat transfer at the intake port proved to be a challenging task. Existing heat transfer correlations yielded predictions which were (at best) within 20% of the measured values. The discrepancy was attributed to a mismatch between the range of applicability of existing heat transfer models and …

Assessing Infrastructure Elements Using Automated Object Detection Technique In Smart City Applications, Majid Mastali

Dissertations

Nowadays, road features are becoming more complex leading to more complicated complaints regarding urban environments. Point Cloud Data (PCD) processing is an essential element for detecting objects and analysing human driving behavior to identify the variables defining challenging objects and maneuvers in smart cities. PCDs include a range of processing, including indirect processing (e.g., data converting, cleaning process) and direct process (e.g., pass through elevation filter, statistical outlier removal, normal estimation as well as classification). Static and dynamic object detection and analysis are typically considered the most sophisticated options subsumed under PCDs. They involve direct evaluation of both static and …

Methodology To Qualify And Monitor A Chemically Bonded Sand System Used In Foundries, Prayag Pravinbhai Patel

Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to establish a new quality control framework that combines a statistical process control (SPC) approach to casting quality for chemically bonded sand systems used in foundries. Foundries in the United States use the American Foundry Society standardized sand testing to monitor chemically bonded sand systems. These standardized tests are inefficient for two reasons. Firstly, standard tests are based on mechanical, physical, chemical and thermal properties of a sand system that do not consider interaction between these properties, but sand casting processes are inherently thermo-mechanical, thermo-chemical and thermo-physical. Secondly, these tests can only detect large …

Cooking Hand Multi-Tool, Amanda D. Meares, Amy H. Wilson, Ethan G. Littlejohn, Duania A. Evans

Biomedical Engineering

The purpose of this project was to devise a solution for Jorge Segura, a US Marine who was wounded in Afghanistan and had to have his non-dominant arm amputated above the elbow. His current prosthetic attachments are not suited to cooking tasks, so he needed a way to cook more effectively with either prosthetic attachments or accessibility devices. The main tasks that he needed help with was holding down food on cutting boards and stabilizing pots, pans, and bowls especially when stirring. After background research, exploring commercially available devices, and talking with our challenger, our solution was to design three …

Additive Manufacturing Powder Removal: Viper 2.0, Andrew D. Epperson, Sean Mccracken, Melissa O'Neil, Alex Ward

Mechanical Engineering

This report presents the final design review of this senior project team. The project is being sponsored by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a federal design agency. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is interested in improving their metal additive manufacturing process. The goal of this senior project is to improve the efficiency and safety of a method currently being used to remove metal powders for additively manufactured components. A senior project team in 2017-2018 created the Vibration Induced Powder Evacuator and Reclaimer (VIPER), a device that uses a vibration motor to shake a printed part until it is clean from excess powder. …

Cal Poly Satellite Positioning Systems: "Thrust Or Bust!", Josh W. Neiman, Milena A. Milich, Gerardo Ramirez, Joshua A. Tran

Mechanical Engineering

Satellites need a way to make precise corrections to their orbit and positioning. The purpose of this project is to design a gimbal mechanism for Astranis that orients an ion thruster along a requested vector. The gimbal must produce any vector within a 2.5° cone in a thirty-minute window. Current systems are expensive and not well suited to this application. The design must be operable in a space environment and optimize mass, size, and reliability. Our design toggles between four discrete positions to achieve an average thrust vector. The gimbal accomplishes this using four solenoids that tilt a plate about …

C6 Wheels, Samuel L. Pizot, Luke Martin, Josh Warner, Jonah Levis

Mechanical Engineering

This document details the C6 Wheels project being undertaken for senior design. The objective is to design and manufacture carbon fiber reinforced polymer wheels for the Cal Poly Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) team. The wheel shells will be used on FSAE’s competition vehicles. FSAE requested the wheels to improve the handling characteristics of their vehicles by reducing the unsprung and rotational mass. They have attempted carbon fiber wheels previously but have not yet run any on their vehicles. FSAE specifically proposed the design of carbon fiber shells with an aluminum center as opposed to full carbon fiber wheels …

Nano Fab Lab 63, Brian K. Deemer, Josh Clemons, Nick Brodine, Delaney Fitzsimmons

Mechanical Engineering

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) has several steps in the production process for ceramic nanofiber tubes that they would like to improve - electrospinning, cutting, rolling, sealing and heat treating. We undertook the challenge to deliver LLNL with a semi-automated process that efficiently integrates the steps of cutting, rolling, and sealing to save time and improve control over end dimensions. In this document, we discuss the technical background of the manufacturing steps currently followed to create nanofiber tubes, identify which steps are incorporated in our prototype and explain how they will interface with one another, define the design requirements, present …

Restricted Crossings On Rural Highways, John Sangster, Tim Adams

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This study examines the potential for replacing the standard intersection design at two-way stop control (TWSC) and all- way stop control (AWSC) intersections along rural highways with a roundabout or a restricted crossing u-turn (RCUT) facility. The geometry of the RCUT design prohibits left and through movements from the side road, and provides a u-turn location downstream from the main crossing. This type of facility has been implemented for rural highways extensively in both Maryland and North Carolina, as well as in limited cases in many other states such as Minnesota and Missouri, with the potential to serve as a …

Assessing The Impact Of Game Day Schedule And Opponents On Travel Patterns And Route Choice Using Big Data Analytics, Anuj Sharma, Vesal Ahsani

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The transportation system is crucial for transferring people and goods from point A to point B. However, its reliability can be decreased by unanticipated congestion resulting from planned special events. For example, sporting events collect large crowds of people at specific venues on game days and disrupt normal traffic patterns.

The goal of this study was to understand issues related to road traffic management during major sporting events by using widely available INRIX data to compare travel patterns and behaviors on game days against those on normal days. A comprehensive analysis was conducted on the impact of all Nebraska Cornhuskers …

Atmospheric Water Harvesting: An Experimental Study Of Viability And The Influence Of Surface Geometry, Orientation, And Drainage, Carson T. Hand

Master's Theses

Fresh water collection techniques have gained significant attention due to global dwindling of fresh water resources and recent scares such as the 2011-2017 California drought. This project explores the economic viability of actively harvesting water from fog, and techniques to maximize water collection. Vapor compression and thermoelectric cooling based dehumidifier prototypes are tested in a series of experiments to assess water collection capability in foggy environments, and what parameters can increase that capability. This testing shows an approximate maximum collection rate of 1.25 L/kWh for the vapor compression prototype, and 0.32 L/kWh for the thermoelectric cooling prototype; compared to 315 …

Evaluation Of Tensile Properties For Selective Laser Melted 316l Stainless Steel And The Influence Of Inherent Process Features, Paul Swartz

Master's Theses

Optimal print parameters for additively manufacturing 316L stainless steel using selective laser melting (SLM) at Cal Poly had previously been identified. In order to further support the viability of the current settings, tensile material characteristics were needed. Furthermore, reliable performance of the as-printed material had to be demonstrated. Any influence on the static performance of parts in the as-printed condition inherent to the SLM manufacturing process itself needed to be identified. Tensile testing was conducted to determine the properties of material in the as-printed condition. So as to have confidence in the experimental results, other investigations were also conducted to …

Multiple Input, Single Output Dc-Dc Conversion Stage For Dc House, Jason Baltierrez

Master's Theses

n this thesis project, a proposed architecture for the multiple input, single output conversion stage for the DC House was designed, simulated, and tested. This architecture allows for multiple different input sources to be used to create a single higher power output source. The design uses a DC-DC boost converter with a parallelable output which has been demonstrated to allow increased total output power as a function of the number of input sources available. The parallelable output has been shown to distribute load amongst the input sources relatively closely to optimize the system. This approach is also desirable since it …

Multi-Vector Tracking Of Wifi And Zigbee Devices, Calvin Andrew Laverty

Master's Theses

Location privacy preservation has shifted to the forefront of discussions about next generation wireless networks. While pseudonym-changing schemes have been proposed to preserve an individual's privacy, simulation has shown that new association attack models render these schemes useless. The major contribution of this thesis is the implementation of a tracking network with commodity hardware on the California Polytechnic State University campus which leverages the combination of de-anonymization strategies on captured wireless network data to show the effectiveness of a pseudonym-changing scheme for wireless identification across WiFi and Zigbee protocols.

Surveying Underwater Shipwrecks With Probabilistic Roadmaps, Amy Jeannette Lewis

Master's Theses

Almost two thirds of the Earth's surface is covered in ocean, and yet, only about 5% of it is mapped. There are an unknown amount of sunken ships, planes, and other artifacts hidden below the sea. Extensive search via boat and a sonar tow fish following a standard lawnmower pattern is used to identify sites of interest. Then, if a site has been determined to potentially be historically significant, the most common next step is a survey by either a human dive team or remotely operated vehicle. These are time consuming, error prone, and potentially dangerous options, but autonomous underwater …

Colloid Thruster To Teach Advance Electric Propulsion Techniques To Post-Secondary Students, Alexander M. Powaser

Master's Theses

Colloid thrusters, and electrospray thrusters as a whole, have been around since the 1960s. When they were first developed, the high efficiency and fine thrust control was overshadowed by the high power requirement for such a low thrust that the system provides. This caused the technology to be put on hold for aerospace applications. Now, as small satellites are becoming more prevalent, there has been a resurgence in interest in electrospray thruster technology. The recent advancements in tech- nology allow electrospray thrusters to use significantly less power and occupy less volume than their predecessors. As electrospray technology continues to advance, …

Degradation Of Emerging Contaminants By Advanced Oxidation Using Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes And Continuous Ozone Injection, Emily N. Miller

Master's Theses

With a growing population and continuous accumulation of pollutants, water resources worldwide are quickly being depleted. Drastic improvements need to be made in both water conservation and treatment. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been developed to go above and beyond the capabilities of traditional wastewater treatment facilities to eliminate emerging contaminants from our water systems. AOPs increase the generation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) in oxidation reactions, which are less selective and more reactive than other oxidants, such as ozone, so they are more effective at degrading persistent compounds. This study explored an AOP that utilizes ozonated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) …

Characterization Of Resistance Change In Stretchable Silver Ink Screen Printed On Tpu-Laminated Fabrics Under Cyclic Tensile Loading, Corey R. Sutton

Master's Theses

A stretchable silver ink was screen printed to TPU sheets, then tensile coupons of the TPU, both bare and laminated to cotton, Denim and spandex fabric, were subjected to 1000 cycles of 20% uniaxial strain. In-situ resistance measurements of printed traces were processed to generate datasets of maximum and minimum resistance per cycle. A mechanistic fit model was used to predict the resistance behavior of the ink across TPU/fabric levels. The results show that traces strained on TPU laminated to spandex (polyester) fibers had an average rate of increase in resistance significantly lower than that of traces strained on bare …