Engineering Commons^™

Optimized Trajectory Generation For Car-Like Robots On A Closed Loop Track, Tyler Friedl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a method for generating an optimized path through a given track. The path is generated by choosing waypoints throughout the track then iteratively optimizing the position of these waypoints. The waypoints are then connected by optimized paths represented by curvature polynomials. The end result is a path through the track represented as a spline of curvature polynomials. This method is applied to multiple simulated tracks and the results are presented. By generating and representing the paths in the continuous domain, the method has improved computational efficiency from many of the discrete methods used to generate an optimal …

Computer-Aided Cancer Diagnosis And Grading Via Sparse Directional Image Representations, Hadi Rezaeilouyeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prostate cancer and breast cancer are the second cause of death among cancers in males and females, respectively. If not diagnosed, prostate and breast cancers can spread and metastasize to other organs and bones and make it impossible for treatment. Hence, early diagnosis of cancer is vital for patient survival. Histopathological evaluation of the tissue is used for cancer diagnosis. The tissue is taken during biopsies and stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain. Then a pathologist looks for abnormal changes in the tissue to diagnose and grade the cancer. This process can be time-consuming and subjective. A reliable and …

Data-Centric Situational Awareness And Management In Intelligent Power Systems, Xiaoxiao Dai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rapid development of technology and society has made the current power system a much more complicated system than ever. The request for big data based situation awareness and management becomes urgent today. In this dissertation, to respond to the grand challenge, two data-centric power system situation awareness and management approaches are proposed to address the security problems in the transmission/distribution grids and social benefits augmentation problem at the distribution-customer lever, respectively.

To address the security problem in the transmission/distribution grids utilizing big data, the first approach provides a fault analysis solution based on characterization and analytics of the synchrophasor …

Optimal Capacity And Energy Efficiency Of Massive Mimo Systems, Ahmed Alshammari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A lot of effort has been made during the last two decades to study and apply the concepts of MIMO technology in most of the wireless standards. Therefore, a huge improvement in the performance of wireless communications has been made. However, Demand for wireless services has exponentially increased during the past ten years. Hence, high throughput is very important for all users to get the best experience with the offered services. This creates many technical challenges that are difficult to handle with the existing technology. Therefore, massive multiple input multiple output (massive MIMO) is a new technology that has been …

Microgrid Control Strategy Study And Controller Design Based On Model Predictive Control, Yitong Shen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the 21st century, because of the exhausting of oil, coal and other non-renewable energy, human beings enter a period of large-scale exploitation and utilization of renewable energy. Renewable energy generation become an important way for new energy utilization, however, as more and more distributed generation connect to power distribution network, the traditional distribution network structure will be changed. A large number of distributed generation applications of modern power electronic technology, have also produced a lot of harmonics to impact the power quality. It will threaten the safe operation of the distribution network and obstruct the utilization of renewable energy. …

Design And Operation Of Distribution Markets, Sina Parhizi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growing penetration of distributed prosumers especially microgrids poses new challenges to the operation of wholesale markets and distribution power systems. Price spikes and higher uncertainty are among these consequences. Distribution markets are envisioned as a remedy to streamline integration of distributed resources and microgrids in the electricity market. This dissertation offers an analytical formulation of electricity markets in the distribution level, considering various prevailing aspects of the market operation problem.

The prevailing challenges in regards to integration of microgrids in the electricity markets are illustrated first, and the distribution market operator (DMO) construct is outlined. The day-ahead scheduling of …

Mechanical Effects Of Surgical Adhesives On Ascending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Replacement, Dong Qiu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm (aTAA) is a potentially lethal disease which grows gradually over time and may lead to aortic dissection and rupture. Currently, aTAA surgical repair using Dacron graft is a well-established treatment. In addition, surgical adhesives are frequently used in the surgeries to seal the anastomotic site. This study aims to investigate mechanical effects of four commonly used surgical adhesives, namely BioGlue, CoSeal, Crosseal, and Tisseel, on the suture site using in-vitro digital image correlation (DIC) method and finite element (FE) simulations in an ovine model. In this study, first, mechanical properties of ovine ascending aorta were obtained …

Computational Modeling Of Percolation Conduction And Diffusion Of Heterogeneous Materials, Jian Qiu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heterogeneous materials provide a unique combination of desirable mechanical, thermal or electrical properties. This dissertation presents several micro-structure modeling approaches to predict the effective properties of heterogeneous materials and demonstrates its certain application toward two highly heterogeneous, unconventional structural composite materials (carbon fiber reinforced composite materials and graphene nanoplatelets composite). By using the efficient computational algorithm based on the FEA, a randomly oriented disk-shaped particles system are generated. A new element partition scheme based on the vector operations and geometry of inclusion has been implemented to mesh the intersected disks. The computed equivalent conductivity is expressed as a power-law function …

Risk Optimized Microgrid Resource Management, Thomas William Cashel Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes a risk based price adjustment method for a day ahead scheduling of a distribution side tiered community microgrid within a transactive energy style market. The system is organized into a master controller and local controller confïguration to simulate behind meter activity that is not visible to the master controller. Conditional value at risk is used to asses the risk of distributed energy resources in each local controller and the risk for each local controller is aggregated providing each local controller a single risk value. Each device's, or local controller's, risk value is used to adjust the price …

Design Prototyping Methods: State Of The Art In Strategies, Techniques, And Guidelines, Bradley Camburn, Vimal Viswanathan, Julie Linsey, David Anderson, Daniel Jensen, Richard Crawford, Kevin Otto, Kristin Wood

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

Prototyping is interwoven with nearly all product, service, and systems development efforts. A prototype is a pre-production representation of some aspect of a concept or final design. Prototyping often predetermines a large portion of resource deployment in development and influences design project success. This review surveys literature sources in engineering, management, design science, and architecture. The study is focused around design prototyping for early stage design. Insights are synthesized from critical review of the literature: key objectives of prototyping, critical review of major techniques, relationships between techniques, and a strategy matrix to connect objectives to techniques. The review is supported …

Impact Of Reviewer Social Interaction On Online Consumer Review Fraud Detection, Kunal Goswami, Younghee Park, Chungsik Song

Faculty Publications

Background Online consumer reviews have become a baseline for new consumers to try out a business or a new product. The reviews provide a quick look into the application and experience of the business/product and market it to new customers. However, some businesses or reviewers use these reviews to spread fake information about the business/product. The fake information can be used to promote a relatively average product/business or can be used to malign their competition. This activity is known as reviewer fraud or opinion spam. The paper proposes a feature set, capturing the user social interaction behavior to identify fraud. …

Optimal Trajectory Determination And Mission Design For Asteroid/Deep-Space Exploration Via Multibody Gravity Assist Maneuvers, Sean Fritz, Kamran Turkoglu

Faculty Publications

This paper discusses the creation of a genetic algorithm to locate and optimize interplanetary trajectories using gravity assist maneuvers to improve fuel efficiency of the mission. The algorithm is implemented on two cases: (i) a Centaur-class target close to the ecliptic plane and (ii) a Centaur-class target with a high inclination to the ecliptic plane. Cases for multiple numbers of flybys (up to three) are discussed and compared. It is shown that, for the targets considered here, a single flyby of Jupiter is the most efficient trajectory to either target with the conditions and limitations discussed in this paper. In …

Assessment Of Individual Photovoltaic Module Performance After 26 Years Of Field Exposure At The Telonicher Marine Lab In Trinidad, California, Jake Rada

Projects

In 1990, 192 ARCO M75 photovoltaic (PV) modules were installed as a part of the Schatz Solar Hydrogen Project at the Humboldt State University (HSU) Telonicher Marine Lab in Trinidad, California, within 150 m of the Pacific Ocean. This 9.2 kW-rated PV array was used to power the marine laboratory air compressor and an electrolyzer. Individual current-voltage (IV) curve tests were performed on each of the PV modules prior to the array’s construction in 1990 and again in 2001, 2010, and, most recently, in 2016, following decommissioning of the array. After 25.5 years of use, 188 of the original 192 …

Automatic Power Management For Instructional Computers At Humboldt State University: A Calculation Of Potential Energy Savings And Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions, Nicholas F. Flenghi

Projects

Computers consume an estimated 5,610 GWh per year in California alone. Much of that energy is consumed by computers that are not being used. In this project, detailed user login data are used to estimate the energy consumption of instructional computers at Humboldt State University (HSU) over the course of one semester. The data are also used to estimate the potential energy savings from automating the shutdown process. Potential cost savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions resulting from implementing an automatic-shutdown power management plan are also calculated.

There are approximately 1,000 computers used for teaching and learning purposes at …

Lecture Videos To Supplement Electromagnetic Classes At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Dean Y. Arakaki

Electrical Engineering

Electromagnetics and Transmission Lines is a fundamental, yet difficult subject in the Electrical Engineering (EE) field. To help improve information retention, a series of lecture videos was created to supplement traditional lectures, to facilitate in-class discussions, and to improve students’ proficiency and interest in electromagnetics.

Engineering electromagnetics classes at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo cover fundamentals to understand and analyze cell phone communications, radar systems (air traffic control, law enforcement), and biomedical imaging (MRI). However, this subject also requires considerable mathematics preparation in vector calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, and background in both physics and EE.

Lecture videos …

Modeling Of Selective Laser Sintering/ Selective Laser Melting, Xuan Wang, Connor West

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Selective laser sintering and selective laser melting are powder based additive manufacturing (AM) process that can rapidly manufacture parts with comparable mechanical properties to conventional manufacturing methods directly from digital files. However, the processing recipe development and design optimization of AM parts are often based on trial and error which erodes the benefit of AM. Modeling is a powerful tool to enable faster development cycle by significantly reducing the experimental efforts. In this paper we discussed the current status of selective laser sintering/melting modeling, in which the laser and powder interaction was studied to understand and predict the process and …

Engineering Research Review 2017, Office Of Engineering Research

Engineering Research Review

Contents:
[Page] 2 New sensor design more accurately determines blood glucose levels
[Page] 4 Capping material helps alum inactivate phosphorus in lake water
[Page] 6 Statistician develops efficient predictive algorithms
[Page] 8 Timber bridges viable option for county, township roads
[Page] 11 Structural engineers test fully precast concrete bridge for local roads
[Page] 12 Remaining-useful-life algorithms enhance lithium-ion battery management system
[Page] 14 Balancing energy demand can reduce peak power usage
[Page] 16 Engineering researchers win college, university awards

Inspire Newsletter Summer 2017, Missouri University Of Science And Technology. Inspire - University Transportation Center

INSPIRE Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Seismic Evaluation Of 196kv Transformer Bushings, Joanne R. Shields

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Transformer bushings have shown to have an unsatisfactory performance during earthquakes and have therefore been chosen for further testing. How the bushings fail, and how this failure can be prevented has been analyzed. Two used 196 kV bushings made by General Electric were chosen for seismic testing at the iSTAR laboratory located at Portland State University in Portland, OR. The multiple objectives that brought about these tests were: to determine how the bushings failed due to gasket extrusion at the porcelain-flange connection and to verify that the failure was due to pure tipping and not sliding, to determine the damping …

Data-Driven Network-Centric Threat Assessment, Dae Wook Kim

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

As the Internet has grown increasingly popular as a communication and information sharing platform, it has given rise to two major types of Internet security threats related to two primary entities: end-users and network services. First, information leakages from networks can reveal sensitive information about end-users. Second, end-users systems can be compromised through attacks on network services, such as scanning-and-exploit attacks, spamming, drive-by downloads, and fake anti-virus software. Designing threat assessments to detect these threats is, therefore, of great importance, and a number of the detection systems have been proposed. However, these existing threat assessment systems face significant challenges in …

Design And Testing Of Scalable 3d-Printed Cellular Structures Optimized For Energy Absorption, Sagar Dilip Sangle

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Sandwich panel structures are widely used due to their high compressive and flexural stiffness and strength-to-weight ratios, good vibration damping, and low through-thickness thermal conductivity. These structures consist of solid face sheets and low-density cellular core structures that are often based upon honeycomb topologies. Interest in additive manufacturing (AM), popularly known as 3D printing (3DP), has rapidly grown in past few years. The 3DP method is a layer-by-layer approach for the fabrication of 3D objects. Hence, it is very easy to fabricate complex structures with complex internal features that cannot be manufactured by any other fabrication processes. Due to the …

Weather Balloon Payload Box, Shellbie Liberty

All Undergraduate Projects

A payload box holding a self-rotating camera was constructed to go on a weather balloon that will document the upcoming solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. A group of physics students, and the paper’s author, are working under Dr. Darci Snowden on the CWU Near Space Observation Team for research dedicated to the eclipse in Oregon. Various projects, including the payload box, are being designed to go up on a high altitude weather balloon. The payload box was designed and constructed to withstand the impact force of falling from 120,000 ft. This was done so the box could be reusable …

Pin Router Duplicator Base, Matthew Tebo

All Undergraduate Projects

The idea for the following project came from the Lean Manufacturing class that is offered at Central Washington University. In this class the manufacturing processes is demonstrated through the production of guitar kits. A problem with the class is that the CNC machine gets backed up causing a bottleneck in the production line. The solution to this problem was to make a pin router duplicator. A pin router duplicator is a device that allows the operator to trace a finished part with a pin while a router mimics its movements, cutting a new part. The component that is looked into …

Specialist Communities In China’S Aerospace Technology And Innovation System: The Cultural Dimension, Alanna Krolikowski

History and Political Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Only two decades ago, China was a marginal player in the global aerospace industry. Today, the pace of China’s space programs is unparalleled and it has joined the sector’s leading ranks. China is the only country after the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States to independently send humans into orbit and a rover to touch down on the Moon. A Chinese station will likely soon be only the only long-term human habitat circling the Earth alongside the International Space Station. Within a decade, China could become only the second country in history to land a person on the Moon’s surface. …

Computational Study Of The Effect Of Interparticle Contact In Conductive Properties Of Random Particulate Systems, Dongfang Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effective conductivity of random particulate material system is computationally investigated using the Monte Carlo scheme and finite element method. A cubic system consisting of randomly-dispersed, equal-sized, deformable ellipsoids are modeled in this study. The steady-state conduction analysis along with a finite element analysis are performed to evaluate the electrical or thermal conductivity for the mechanical contact system. To represent more realistic material system, interfacial friction and gap conductance (or contact resistance) are included among the contacting particles. The Monte Carlo simulations are implemented to give a quantitative relationship between the effective conductivity and the inclusion volume fraction. Several parametric …

Gams Handout 2, Ethan Yang

All ECSTATIC Materials

No abstract provided.

Gams Handout 3, Ethan Yang

All ECSTATIC Materials

No abstract provided.

Optimizing Fiber Parameters Coupled With Chemical Treatment: Promethee Approach, Arif Ali Baig Moghal, Ateekh Ur Rehman, Bhaskar Chittoori

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In order to combat issues related to expansive soils, chemical stabilization augmented with use of synthetic fibers is gaining focus in recent times. However, in most of these applications, the practicing field engineers face difficulty in selecting the right mix of fiber size, fiber dosage and stabilizer content. The decision becomes more typical, as the target is to achieve or enhance multiple geotechnical properties which differ with fiber dosage and stabilizer content based on governing mechanisms. Addressing these issues, in this study an attempt is made to present an approach for selecting fibre dosage and lime mix for a typical …

Low Cost, Adhesion Strength Based Cell Sorter, Emily Burtch, Franck Kamga-Gninzeko, Devin Mair, Sarah Saunders

Capstone Design Expo Posters

In many in vitro experiments, primary cells are harvested from an animal species to undergo experimental manipulation and subsequent analysis. Cell sorters are a luxury to have after cell harvesting to ensure pure populations of cells. Recently, it was discovered that different cell types adhere to cell culture dishes at different strengths. This observation was utilized in the invention of a cell sorting system that sorts cells based on this adhesion strength difference. The resulting system is marketable at under $2000, compared to $50000 plus for current commercially available systems, and is the first commercially-oriented cell adhesion strength based cell …

Company Health Dashboard, Zachary Raney, Ahmad Shahir Abdul Satar

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Company Health Dashboard is a web application that serves as a tool to display information in dynamic grid-like modules. This application displays viewer-friendly information on the televisions around the company office using Raspberry Pi devices. In order to benefit different types of users, the application divides the screen into multiple customizable modules, with each module representing different information. Company employees, for example, can view information about company news, upcoming events, or even what’s on tap for that day. Visitors or clients, on the other hand, can see information about the company while waiting for their meeting.

The design of the …