Engineering Commons^™

Transit Seating, Luke Mielke, Chris San Nicolas, Jon Rich, Sam Thompson

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Pet Food Monitor Using The Raspberry Pi, Kimberly Aguero

Computer Engineering

Computer system built on a Raspberry Pi that will monitor the levels of food in a pet food bowl. If it detects that there is no food in the bowl, it will notify the user via email or text.

Sun Watch 3.0, Eli Backer

Computer Engineering

The Sun Watch was a part of Eli Backer's portfolio in applying to Masters of Fine Art programs around the country. It is a typical-looking wristwatch that does not give the time, but the position of the sun in the sky via a row of LEDs along the edge of the device. It is programmable with a custom programming board that uses pogo-pins to make reliable contact. In using the device, it is the designer's hope that the user will become less addicted to time.

The Story Of Beyoncé: The Roborodentia 2016 Contestant, Brandon Arnold, Mana Kulkarni, Aaron Newberg, Jon Sleep

Computer Engineering

No abstract provided.

Prosense, Johnny Favazza Ii, Casey Glasgow, Matt Epperson

Computer Engineering

This project aims to gather advanced data sets from MEMS sensors and GPS and deliver it to the user, who can capitalize on the data. The once negligible half-degree difference of your board barreling down a wave can be recorded from a gyro and exploited for the perfect turn. The exact speed dreaded by longboarders where speed wobbles turn into a road rash can be analysed and consequently avoided. Ascertaining the summit of your flight using combined GPS sensors from the ski ramp allows for the correct timing of tricks. When it comes to pursuing excellence in professional sports, amateur …

El Capitán: Cal Poly Rose Float Digital Drive System, Gregory Raffi Baghdikian

Computer Engineering

In today’s world of smartphones, self-driving cars, and internet-connected coffee makers, it seems as if computers are contained in everything around us. These “embedded systems” have become critical components of our lives, improving everything about the things they control, from cost, to speed, to simplicity. One area that embedded systems has hardly gained a foothold is in the world of floatbuilding. Most of the floats in the Tournament of Roses Parade, including the one built jointly by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Pomona, are technologically very simple, using mostly analog components and rudimentary discrete digital logic to …

Build-A-Board, Christopher Messerer, Brian Holland

Computer Engineering

The purpose of this project is to build a single board computer that will be able to run Linux and provide some expansion capabilities in the form of GPIO, USB, etc. This single board computer will have all the components that a fully functional computer has but with a much smaller form factor and overall capabilities.

Musictrakr, Benjamin Lin

Computer Engineering

MusicTrackr is an IoT device that musicians attach to their instruments. The device has a start and stop button that allows users to record their playing sessions. Each recorded session is sent wirelessly to a cloud database. An accompanying website displays all of the recorded sessions, organized by date. After picking a specific date, the user can view graphs showing total practice time and average session length as well play back any recordings during that date. In addition, the user may add comments to any specific date or recording. Lastly, the user may tag a specific date with a color …

Oluso, Diego Fernandez, Tyler Heucke, Nishant Mattu, Michael Roesch

Computer Engineering

Oluso is a new startup offering affordable, inexpensive technology to empower the individual. Our product is designed to keep the user in contact with someone close to them in emergency situations. Over the course of the past several months we have performed interviews with both individuals who may be interested in this product as well as organizations who may be interested in purchasing this product for their members. Our product is nearing completion and all of the companies we have interviewed have displayed a significant amount of interest in our product. The combination of easy communication and peace of mind …

Rapid Battery Exchange Automation, Andrea Everson

Computer Engineering

With the drastic threat of exhausting the world’s fossil fuels, society has been scrambling to find alternative forms of energy for transportation. One of these viable options is an electric vehicle powered by batteries. While this idea is fairly viable, consumers are looking to have the same experience with an electric car than they would with a gas-powered vehicle. One of their major concerns is the lack of range in an electric vehicle.

This project aims to present a solution that would extend the range by allowing users to quickly go from low battery to fully charged battery by performing …

Modeling And Python Scripting In Maya For The Animation Short Style, Gilenn Emille G. Collado

Computer Engineering

The computer animation and graphics industry has dramatically improved over the years alongside the growth of technology. This paper discusses how that came about through a specific tool called Maya. It talks about its features and what it can create for you and the world. It also describes how scripting can simplify a job and make more of it. It highlights the effectiveness of the ability to manipulate code to create something amazing.

Optical Bistability In A Vcsel Coupled To Serially-Connected Pin Photodiodes Quantizer Device, Sanaz Faryadras

Graduate Theses - Physics and Optical Engineering

In this work we investigated the structure and performance of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) which will be used in building an optical quantizer. In any p-i-n structure, capacitance is the most important factor in deciding the highest modulation speed. Therefore, components with smaller capacitance would show higher switching speed. A novel electrical quantizer was constructed using two identical 850 nm Finisar VCSELs, which could manifest electrical switching up to 1.4 MHz. Also, a new electrical quantizer was built with two Eudyna PIN photodiodes (PD-PD), which works at higher frequencies up to 8 MHz, comparing to previous works. The …

The Design And Construction Of A Rear Bumper With Incorporated Spare Tire Rack, Alan C. Isaacson

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project outlines the design and construction of a rear bumper with incorporated spare tire and equipment rack for a 1946 Willys CJ2A Jeep. The spare tire rack is capable of swinging out away from the vehicle to allow for the use of the vehicle’s tailgate. The bumper was designed for strength, functionality and aesthetic qualities alike. Additionally, the bumper design considered all vehicle codes and regulations.

Continuum Modeling Of The Densification Of W-Ni-Fe During Selective Laser Sintering, Connor M. West

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to effectively model the time history of the temperature distribution during the selective laser sintering process and use this information to investigate the resulting relative density. The temperature is a critical parameter of the process because it directly effects the overall quality of the part. First, an efficient, affordable, and reliable simulation was developed within the finite element software, Abaqus. Next, the results from the simulations were compared to the experimental results performed by Wang et al. (2016). The FEA model consisted of a 3 layer simulation. Multiple simulations at various laser recipes were …

Design Of Inexpensive And Easy To Use Diy Internet Of Things Platform, Samuel R. Jaffe

Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on the design and implementation of a new, inexpensive, and less complex system for a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The hardware aspects focus on a new chip called the ESP8266 which contains both microcontroller and WiFi connectivity capabilities in an extremely affordable package. The system uses the Arduino IDE to program the ESP8266, which is known to be an extremely user-friendly environment. All other software is both free and easy to use. Past methods of creating IoT projects involved either expensive hardware, often ranging from $50-$100 per node, or complicated programming requiring a full …

Physical Testing Of Potential Football Helmet Design Enhancements, Michael Jeremy Schuster

Master's Theses

Football is a much loved sport in the United States. Unfortunately, it is also hard on the players and puts them at very high risk of concussion. To combat this an inventor in Santa Barbara brought a new design to Cal Poly to be tested.

The design was tested in small scale first in order to make some preliminary conclusions about the design. In order to fully test the helmet design; however, full scale testing was required. In order to carry out this testing a drop tower was built based on National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, NOCSAE, …

Processing Of Simulated And Experimental Images Of Closely Spaced Binary Stars Using Speckle Interferometry, Niels Smidth

Master's Theses

Theory and methods of processing speckle interferometry data from close visual binary stars are presented and implemented. The effects of the optical systems used for observing close visual binary stars are explained and simulated from both the geometrical and physical optical viewpoints. The atmospheric phase distortion and shot noise responsible for the observed speckle patterns are simulated. The deconvolution technique originally presented by Labeyrie is implemented to extract astrometric data from close visual binary stars. This method is applied to both simulated and experimental data from Kitt Peak National Observatory as validation. Parts of the deconvolution process are optimized to …

Benefits Of Advanced Traffic Management Solutions: Before And After Crash Analysis For Deployment Of A Variable Advisory Speed Limit System, Alexander Lindsay Chambers

Master's Theses

Variable speed limit (VSL) systems are important active traffic management tools that are being deployed across the U.S. and indeed around the world for relieving congestion and improving safety. Oregon’s first variable advisory speed limit signs were activated along Oregon Highway 217 in the summer of 2014. The variable advisory speed system is responsive to both congestion and weather conditions. This seven-mile corridor stretches around Western Portland and has suffered from high crash rates and peak period congestion in the past. VSL systems are often deployed to address safety, mobility and sustainability related performance. This research seeks to determine whether …

Factors Influencing Demand For Buses Powered By Alternative Energy Sources, Janer Galván, Victor Cantillo, Julian Arellana

Journal of Public Transportation

Transit buses consume high amounts of fossil fuels, with the consequent release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In recent decades, much effort has been concentrated on the development of cleaner fuels to mitigate this externality. However, market shares for cleaner-fueled buses are still modest, which is why it is relevant to evaluate the aspects influencing their acceptance. This article presents an econometric model to evaluate factors influencing demand for transit buses in Colombia powered by cleaner fuels. For this purpose, a stated preference survey was applied to public transportation entrepreneurs. Results suggest that the target population considers acquisition cost …

A Composite Index For Evaluating Transit Service Quality Across Different User Profiles, Juan De Oña, Rocio De Oña, Francisco Diez-Mesa, Laura Eboli, Gabriella Mazzulla

Journal of Public Transportation

This paper evaluates the quality of service of the metropolitan Metro of Seville (Spain) across different user profiles, as determined through cluster analysis. Service quality evaluation is performed using a composite index that combines the user point of view with the service operator point of view. The combination of these two types of service quality measurement fulfils the need to provide a reliable measurement tool for transit performance. Six user profiles were identified, and it was ascertained that they have different opinions about the service, with heterogeneous gaps between the points of view among the six user profiles.

Examining Bus Lost Time Dynamics For A Bus Rapid Transit Station, Ankit Kathuria, M. Parida, Ch. Ravi Sekhar, Manu Pathak

Journal of Public Transportation

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems are considered to be the most effective alternative for solving urban transportation problems for both developed and developing countries. The conventional approach to estimate dwell time (DT) is based on traditional DT models derived for normal bus stops, but not for modern BRT stations. BRT stations are different from bus stops in terms of length of platform, multiple loading areas, and number of passengers handled. Therefore, understanding dwell time dynamics, including the recently-introduced component of Bus Lost Time (BLT), is important to improve the operations of BRT systems. This research introduces various possible scenarios of …

Complex Filters As As A Cascade Of Of Buffered Gingell Structures: Design From From Band-Stop Constraints, Samuel Robert Johnston

Master's Theses

This thesis presents an active Complex Filter implementation that that creates a transfer function with with a single real pole and a complex zero. The two-input/two-output network developed in in this thesis responds differently based upon upon the relative phase difference of of the two inputs. If a negative ninety-degree phase difference occurs between the two inputs, the filter will exhibits a bandstop response. While a positive ninety-degree phase difference exhibits a bandpass response. This topology is relatesd to to Gingell’s RC-CR polyphase topology but because of of the use of of op-amps, can be cascadedd without without suffering loading …

Regrowth Of Chlorella Sorokiniana On Recycled Media With Replenished Nutrients, William H. Spence

Master's Theses

Growth media recycling during algae cultivation is necessary to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of biofuel production from algae feedstocks. Without recycling media, the cost of algae based biofuel production would be prohibitively high and large scale algae based biofuel production would not be economically viable. The ratio of media recycled to media wasted assumed for algae farms is generally calculated to maintain salt concentrations below growth inhibitory levels, ignoring the influence of secondary metabolites which might decrease productivity. Secondary metabolites, which include allelopathic or auto-inhibitory biological contaminants, might lead to the accumulation of growth-inhibiting compounds in recycled …

Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter Development For Residential Dc Electricity, Cassidy Alan Aarstad

Master's Theses

The following technical report describes the development and testing of an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) for DC circuits operating primarily at 48 volts. We have identified an effective method for determining when arcing is occurring. Our method is primarily based on comparing the frequency spectrum of current flowing through the circuit during an arcing event to a known characteristic spectrum. Once an arc has been identified, our interrupter is capable of responding adequately to eliminate the arc. Hardware tests show the AFCI developed in this thesis responded, in all test cases, within 2 seconds of an arc fault occurrence. …

Ncma Groundwater Model Using Usgs Modflow-2005/Pest, Brian Matthew Wallace

Master's Theses

A numerical model for the NCMA aquifer complex is presented. The objective of the study is to develop a numerical groundwater model for the NCMA aquifer system to enhance the understanding of subsurface groundwater flow. Infiltration, streamflow, pumping, and return flows are implemented to characterize the aquifer complex over time. The numerical model is calibrated to municipal and monitoring well data, average monthly water balances, and hydraulic contours. Transient aquifer inflows and outflows are assessed in the results of the study and are compared to balance terms from previous studies. The 2007 Todd Engineers Study subsurface inflows and outflows generate …

Astro – A Low-Cost, Low-Power Cluster For Cpu-Gpu Hybrid Computing Using The Jetson Tk1, Sean Kai Sheen

Master's Theses

With the rising costs of large scale distributed systems many researchers have began looking at utilizing low power architectures for clusters. In this paper, we describe our Astro cluster, which consists of 46 NVIDIA Jetson TK1 nodes each equipped with an ARM Cortex A15 CPU, 192 core Kepler GPU, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of flash storage. The cluster has a number of advantages when compared to conventional clusters including lower power usage, ambient cooling, shared memory between the CPU and GPU, and affordability. The cluster is built using commodity hardware and can be setup for relatively low …

The Effects Of Latency On 3d Interactive Data Visualizations, Allen Korenevsky

Master's Theses

Interactive data visualizations must respond fluidly to user input to be effective, or so we assume. In fact it is unknown exactly how fast a visualization must run to present every facet within a dataset. An engineering team with limited resources is left with intuition and estimates to determine if their application performs sufficiently well.

This thesis studies how latency affects users' comprehension of data visualizations, specifically 3D geospatial visualizations with large data sets. Subjects used a climate visualization showing temperatures spanning from the 19th to the 21st century to answer multiple choice questions. Metrics like their eye movements, time …

Modeling And Control Of A Tailsitter With A Ducted Fan, Matthew Elliott Argyle

Student Works

There are two traditional aircraft categories: fixed-wing which have a long endurance and a high cruise airspeed and rotorcraft which can take-off and land vertically. The tailsitter is a type of aircraft that has the strengths of both platforms, with no additional mechanical complexity, because it takes off and lands vertically on its tail and can transition the entire aircraft horizontally into high-speed flight. In this dissertation, we develop the entire control system for a tailsitter with a ducted fan. The standard method to compute the quaternion-based attitude error does not generate ideal trajectories for a hovering tailsitter for some …

Electrical And Thermal Transport Properties Of Ge Substituted Fesi Kondo Insulator, Y K Kuo

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

The effects of Ge partial substitution on the Si site of FeSi Kondo insulator (KI) were investigated by means of electrical and thermal transport measurements. Electrical resistivity (ρ), Seebeck coefficient (S), and thermal conductivity (k) measurements were performed on a series of FeSi_1-xGe_x alloys with x varying from 0.00 to 0.25. It is found that the substitution of Ge onto the Si sites causes a substantial decrease in the electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient at low temperatures, attributed to the shift of Fermi energy from the dip of the density of states as a consequence …

Fast And Accurate Indexing Technique For Large Multi-Biometric Data Sets, Debasis Samanta

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

Biometric-based person identification is gaining importance and now-a-days it is required to process a large amount of biometric data in the order of millions. Therefore, the traditional approach where the identity of a query template is decided by matching the query template with all stored templates is impractical. The problem is further compounded when we have to deal with two or more biometric traits. In this paper, we propose an approach to index a large pool of multi-biometric data so that the matching process can be accomplished in a real time without compromise in accuracy of person identification. Our proposed …