Engineering Commons^™

Development And Initial Testing Of A Low-Cost, Electronic, Microprocessor-Controlled Prosthetic Knee, Lucas Jonathan Galey

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cost-effective lower-limb prostheses have been successful in restoring mobility, independence, and a way of life to millions of global amputees who do not have the means to afford more sophisticated prosthetics. Comprehensively, the current above knee (AK) prosthetic market is segmented into two extremes â?? very affordable relief style knees that offer basic functionality with high risk of accident due to falls, and very expensive styles that offer electronic microprocessor stumble control and adaptive cadence. There remains a gap for a middle-ground system that provides stumble control and greater stability within an achievable price bracket for the developing world. This …

Touch And Step Potential Analysis At 23.9kv To 4.16kv & 13.8kv To 4.16kv Distribution Substations With Pad-Mounted Transformers, Floating Grounds, And Other Exposed Ungrounded Metal Bodies Using Winigs, David Guillermo Guzman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

An electrical substation is composed of various subsystems that allow for the effective and safe operation of the power grid. One of the subsystems integrating a conventional substation is defined as the ground grid system. This system allows for the effective operation of the power grid and all the electrical equipment connected to it by providing a ground potential reference, commonly known as the system ground. In addition, the ground grid system provides safety to the workers and the public transiting inside or living nearby a substation by reducing the step and touch potential (or voltage) levels present during a …

Validation Of An Error Sonification Auditory Feedback Training Program On Proper Sagittal Plane Squat Technique, Rena Hale

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common degenerative joint diseases that hinders an individual's quality of life. A large portion of knee OA instances can be correlated to previous anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Knee joint injury leading to OA is most prevalent in males aged 20-55 years old and can be caused by improper form during execution of a given task or lack of neuromuscular control. Screening protocols are used to assess deficits of an athlete, with the goal of reducing the risk of injury during both training and in competition. Neuromuscular training programs have been created to …

The Use Of Remote Sensing Technologies And Models To Study Pollutants In Pdn Region, Suhail Mahmud

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Using a suite of modeling techniques and instrumentation we study the atmospheric pollutants in the PdN Region. The first objective of this work was to measure hemi-spherically integrated, spectrally resolved solar photon flux (actinic flux) between the wavelengths 300 and 700 nm, and use the measured actinic flux to improve air quality simulations. Actinic flux was measured in the PdN region in order to calculate photolysis rate coefficients for different pollutants. The improved photolysis rate coefficients were then integrated into a photochemical air quality model (CAMx) in order to improve air quality forecasting. We present the simulations performed for a …

Structural And Dielectric Properties Of Molybdenum Doped Cobalt Ferrite, Alejandra Gabriela Melendez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4; referred to CFO hereafter) is one of the most promising materials from the ‘ferrites family’ with a large cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy (1.8 – 3×10 5 Jm-3 at 300 K). CFO exhibits unique, distinct characteristics such as higher Curie temperature (~793 K), moderate saturation magnetization (80 emu/g), higher coercivity (5400 Oe), excellent chemical-structural stability, large Kerr effect, Faraday rotation and good mechanical hardness at room temperature. While it is well known that CFO is found in inverse spinel structure of the form AB2O4 , where O atoms are arranged in a face centered cubic lattice, A tetrahedral sites …

Liquid-Phase Exfoliation Of Two-Dimensional Graphite For Ink-Jet Printing, Monica Michel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Over the last decade, the study of two-dimensional (2D) materials has seen an incredible growth due to their unique thermal, mechanical and electronic properties. Solution phase manufacturing offers a way in which they can be produced at large scale by creating dispersions from the exfoliated material. Once created, different options for assembling devices exist. One technique for large scale manufacturing of materials in this form is ink-jet printing, which is a form of additive manufacturing that has proven to be attractive for the printed electronics industry. One challenge that ink-jet printing still faces is the shortage of inks with appropriate …

Optimal Energy Management System For A Net Zero Building Using Multi-Agent Systems Approach, Arzhang Ghassemi Pashakalaei

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Buildings have a significant impact on energy usage and the environment. Much of the research in architectural sustainability has centered on economically advanced countries because they consume the most energy and have the most resources. However, sustainable architecture is important in developing countries, where the energy consumption of the building sector is increasing significantly. The aims of this Thesis are investigating using the hybrid system, which formed by interconnecting two source of renewable energy as solar (PV arrays) and wind (turbine) along with city grid for compensation purposes wherever it is required. In this Thesis, after literature review, we consider …

An Effective And Optimal Quality Control Approach For Green Energy Manufacturing Using Design Of Experiments Framework And Evolutionary Algorithm, Juan Alejandro Saavedra

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) strategies vary significantly across industries in the manufacturing sector depending on the product being built. Such strategies range from simple statistical analysis and process controls, decision-making process of reworking, repairing, or scraping defective product. This study proposes an optimal QC methodology in order to include rework stations during the manufacturing process by identifying the amount and location of these workstations. The factors that are considered to optimize these stations are cost, cycle time, reworkability and rework benefit. The goal is to minimize the cost and cycle time of the process, but increase the …

Quantitative Comparison Of A Nanoengineered Alumina Coated Cnt Arrays To Sio2 Coated Cnts And Solution Based Delivery System, Shree Aier

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

To meet the growing need for nanoengineered biocompatible materials to serve as drug delivery platforms, in this research, carbon nanotube arrays were fabricated by chemical vapor deposition, followed by an alumina coating by the high yielding, tightly controlled atomic layer deposition. This nanoengineered vertically aligned alumina nanowire array serves as a platform for delivering antigens, which act as cancer adjuvants. The physicochemical characteristics of the nanowires (NWs) can significantly influence the delivery of a biomolecule to immune cells. To investigate the material characteristics, the delivery efficiency of the antigen using NWs was quantitatively assessed by flow cytometry. Further, the mechanism …

Emerging Adaptive Architectures For Biomolecular Computation, Matthew Fleetwood

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

The goal of this work is to explore applications of reservoir computing in biomolecular computation. Reservoir computing is a unique model for representing a mapping from one instance in time to a specific output. A neural network of randomly connected neurons is linked with a single output neuron or multiple output neurons. The output neurons are capable of mapping inputs to desired outputs using adaptable algorithms. This framework is investigated by using the Python programming language and object oriented design and programming. Neurons are created in programs by bundling information like input data and attributes of the network, which utilize …

High-Performance Computing For Drought Prediction, Henry Cooney

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

In recent decades, there has been considerable interest in using satellite soil moisture data to examine the global water-energy cycle and manage water resources. Current satellites are limited in their sensing depth, and can only directly measure top soil layers. Using a particle filter, this data may be fused with the output of a hydrologic simulation to improve simulation results, and characterize a hydrologic system at the watershed level. However, this approach increases computational requirements dramatically, and requires rethinking to accommodate data scaling and achieve good performance.

We present a detailed performance study of several alternative implementations of the hybrid …

Providing Support For An Interdisciplinary Research Group With A Multidisciplinary Informationist Team: Is It Effective?, Margaret Henderson, Karen Gau, Julie A. Arendt, Martha Roseberry, John Cyrus

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Background

Three subject librarians and a data librarian, representing three departments and two libraries at a university, were awarded an NLM Informationist Supplement to support an interdisciplinary Research Group with an NIH grant. The Informationist Team developed a model to utilize the skills of multiple librarians to support the increasing number of interdisciplinary and interprofessional research groups at the university. Librarians routinely attended lab meetings and shared notes with each other to monitor researcher needs.

Methods

The Informationist Team regularly provided support for literature searches, creating search alerts, bibliographic citation management and sharing, and data management to an interdisciplinary Research …

G-Code Generation For Multi-Process 3d Printing, Callum Peter Bailey

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Since the inception of stereolithography in the 1980s, interest in 3D printing has exploded, with desktop 3D printers now commercially accessible to the general public. In recent years, next-generation multifunctional technologies have been developed, which combine 3D printing with other technologies such as wire embedding, foil embedding, CNC machining, and robotic component placement, enabling complex parts to be made on a single multifunctional machine.

However, the complexity of these integrated processes exceeds the capabilities of established design tools. To this end, this Thesis aims to develop a multi-functional design solution that can automatically generate final control code for next-generation multifunctional …

A Spatially Variant Metamaterial Design Process For Transformation Electromagnetic Devices, Eric Alan Berry

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A technique for the implementation of devices designed using transformation optics (TO) is presented using metamaterial elements arranged using spatially variant lattices. A description of transformation optics, including the design of arbitrarily shaped devices by solving Laplace's equation numerically, is discussed. Analysis of a variety of metamaterial unit cells using frequency sweeps of the unit cells with the resulting permittivity and permeability values. Metamaterial unit cells are also analyzed by the scaling of all the features of the metamaterial elements in the unit cell and calculating the permittivity and permeability. Finite- difference time domain (FDTD) and finite-difference frequency domain (FDFD) …

Investigation Of Ti-6al-4v Alloy Response To Atmospheric Re-Entry Exposure, Jessica Lynn Buckner

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Ti-6Al-4V is a widely used aerospace alloy for its high strength-to-weight ratio and high operating temperature properties. Despite widespread use, titanium and its alloys have been shown to ignite in oxygen and nitrogen rich test streams. The reactivity of titanium is attributed to the high solubility for oxygen that increases with temperature, accelerating the oxidation rate and resulting in a combustion reaction. When introduced to the monatomic oxygen rich and high enthalpy re-entry environment, Ti-6Al-4V X-link components from the space shuttle Columbia exhibited accelerated oxidation and combustion behavior. Ti-6Al-4V metal plates tested in the simulated re-entry environment of an arc-jet …

Using Zeolite For Soil Moisture Retention And Salinity Control, Mark Torres

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There is a great need in the desert southwest United States for exploring ways to save water in agriculture as it accounts for up to 90 percent of water consumption in many western states (USDA 2016). As surface water reaches critical lows the dependence on ground water has increased leading to the need for deeper wells with higher salt concentrations. The studies conducted for this research included using zeolites from the St Cloud Mining Company in Winston, New Mexico to determine the feasibility of using these zeolites to help and retain moisture in zeolite treated soils. The Volumetric Water Content …

Estimating Air Pollution Concentrations Using Moves-Generated Site-Specific Traffic Emissions, Mayra Consuelo Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The research presented here attempts to estimate air pollution concentrations using MOVES and site-specific traffic emissions particularly those emissions surrounding three different air-monitoring stations. The objectives of this research include using MOVES capability to conduct project-level analyses, choosing impact zones to create emissions inventories. Emissions inventories provided by the MOVES model for impact zones within the El Paso county area were used to identify a relationship between air monitoring stations' measured results and emission estimates from a project-level analysis. The research hopes to identify an optimum zone radius that can be used to compare MOVES estimates with air monitoring stations …

Recent Advances In Brain Signal Analysis: Methods And Applications, Victor Hugo C. De Albuquerque, Placido R. Pinheiro, João Paulo Papa, Jorge Manuel R.S. Tavares, Ronaldo Parente De Menezes, Carlos A.S. Oliveira

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Optimal Harmonic Filter Topology Applied In Hv And Ehv Networks Using Particle Swarm Optimization, Reynaldo Ramos

All ETDs from UAB

Passive shunt harmonic filter banks have proven to be an effective method for reducing harmonic distortion in high-voltage and extra high-voltage networks, while providing the necessary volt-ampere-reactive power support and voltage support. Previous work in this area has provided information regarding the design and application of harmonic filters as well as discussion of the different harmonic filter topologies that are typically employed. However, there is a lack of information in the area of optimal harmonic filter topology selection and sizing when the power system is networked. The core contribution of this work is the development of an optimization method for …

Modeling And Analysis Of Systems Using The Least Action Principle In Information Theory, Serkan Guldal

All ETDs from UAB

The Least Action Principle (LAP) is widely applied to search for solutions to problems of classical mechanics. It claims that if an infinitesimal change does not affect the action of a system, that action would be the least action. In classical mechanics, if a particle moves from point A to point B, it will search for the path that requires the least energy consumption. Modeling physical phenomena utilizing LAP helps to predict an equation of motion and this principle is applicable for all known systems. In this dissertation, we use the maximum independent set from graph theory as a guiding …

Astrocyte Morphology And Cell Number In Rett Syndrome, Kenneth Taylor Holt

All ETDs from UAB

Rett Syndrome (RTT) is an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a mutation in the transcriptional regulator methyl CPG binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene that affects 1 in 10,000 female live births annually. RTT patients experience seemingly normal development for the first 12-18 months of life; this period of normal development is followed by developmental regression. The symptoms of Rett syndrome include severe cognitive deficits, seizures, loss of ambulation and gross motor skills, breathing abnormalities, hand stereotopies and gastrointestinal dysmotility. The basic science research for this disorder has focused almost exclusively on neuronal mechanisms, leaving limited understating of the role of …

Sustainable Construction With Green Compressed Earth Block (Gceb), Marwan Mostafa

All ETDs from UAB

orthogonal predictors.

Automated Chess Board, Andrew Deakin, Mitch Morse

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Automated Chess Board (ACB) is a novel device that integrates the benefits of playing chess on a computer with those of playing on a physical board. It uses an array of electromagnetic coils underneath a glass playing surface that can be activated individually or in groups. This allows one or more physical wooden chess pieces with affixed permanent magnets to be moved around the board. These coils are controlled by an internal computer running a chess engine, allowing the user to play chess against the computer on a physical board.

AUtomated STroller DEsign (Asd), Evan Paull

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The purpose of this project is to design a system that will drive a jogging stroller for a user. This will allow a user a hands free jogging / walking experience. For someone who finds it too difficult to push their children around the neighborhood or down a nature trail, they now have a solution to free them up to enjoy the outdoors.

Automatic Aeroponic Indoor Garden Container, Trevor Grover, Jason Gramse, Samuel Vonniederhausern

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The objectives and goals for this senior design project are as follows:

• Objective 1: Create a garden container ideal for a small indoor living space, such as an apartment.
• Objective 2: Give the garden container the ability to provide water, nutrients, and light to the plants autonomously.
• Objective 3: Create a garden container that is energy and resource efficient.

In addition to these goals, design requirements were gathered to help achieve these objectives.

Autonomous Can Rotating System, Tyler Curtis

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Autonomous storage and retrieval of canned goods
• Automatic updating of inventory
• Bluetooth connection for easy user interface
• Grows and updates according to user’s needs
• Code easily adaptable to varying mechanical components

Controlwurx, Jacob Sorenson, Michael Wells

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Wireless controller with multiple input devices
• 18 channels of data
• 2, 20 mile range (line-of-sight)
• Input modules consist of slide potentiometers, joysticks, push buttons, and toggle switches

Digital Guitar Amp, David Chester

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Digital Signal Flow

• Equalization Filter allows user to adjust treble, middle and bass equalization
• Wave-shaping emulates the distortion of vacuum tube guitar amps
• Low shelf filter limits high order harmonics for a smoother sound
• High shelf filter eliminates DC and emulates the capacitance found in a tube amp

Embedded-Digital-Signal-Processing-Just-In-Time (Edspjit) Compiler, David N. Petrizze Iii

Electrical and Computer Engineering

A small library for configurable sound processing, minus recompiling, reflashing and the overhead of conditionals

Runs on the embedded controller, compiles the given script immediately

The returned instructions are then executed from flash memory.

Home Automation And Control System (Hacs), Daniel Weckler

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Home Automation and Control System (HACS) is a prototype implementation of "The Internet of Things." The goal of this system is to provide the customer with a user-friendly way of controlling their home using only their smartphone.