Digital Circuits Commons^™

3d Printed Portable Automatic Pill Dispenser​, Amber M. Ocasio

Publications and Research

Medication adherence is a major public health concern, particularly among patients with chronic illnesses. Reports from the National Institutes of Health indicate that adherence rates are significantly lower for chronic conditions, with patients taking only ~50% of medications prescribed. Unintentional non-adherence—such as forgetting doses—is more prevalent (62.9%, 47.1%, 46.9%) than intentional non-adherence, and the consequences include medication waste, disease progression, reduced functional abilities, lower quality of life, and increased reliance on medical resources. Because existing automatic pill dispensers cost over $100 on average, they remain inaccessible for many lower-income patients who could benefit from such technology. This project addresses this …

True-Bsg: A True Random Bit-Stream Generator For Fast And Efficient Stochastic Computing, Mehran Shoushtari Moghadam, M. Hassan Najafi

Faculty Scholarship

Stochastic computing (SC) leverages random bitstreams to perform arithmetic operations, offering ultra-lowcost, fault-tolerant, and highly parallelizable computations. The quality of these bit-streams is crucial for the accuracy and reliability of SC. This paper introduces TRUE-BSG, a novel true random bit-stream generator designed for fast and energyefficient SC. Unlike state-of-the-art (SoTA) pseudo-random and quasi-random bit-stream generators, TRUE-BSG utilizes a highquality true random number generator (TRNG), capable of producing random bits at a rate of 1 Gigabit per second. Our TRNG ensures high entropy and minimal correlation. TRUE-BSG shows comparable accuracy to software-based generators and better energy efficiency than SoTA bit-stream generators, …

Ams-Hd: Acute Mountain Sickness Detection With Hyperdimensional Computing, M. Hassan Najafi, Mehran Shoushtari Moghadam

Faculty Scholarship

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a potentially life-threatening condition that affects many individuals traveling to high altitudes. Early diagnosis is crucial, especially for travelers who may not have immediate access to medical resources. While traditional machine learning (ML) methods have been used to detect AMS using biomedical data (e.g., heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, respiration rate, blood pressure, and body temperature), hyperdimensional computing (HDC) has yet to be explored for this purpose using the few of biomedical data. Previous classification methods fall short of balancing accuracy with low hardware complexity, but HDC offers a promising solution. HDC provides a hardware-efficient …

Breaking New Ground: Division Directly In Memory, M. Hassan Najafi, Mehran Shoushtari Moghadam

Faculty Scholarship

In-memory computing (IMC) has emerged as a promising paradigm for overcoming the limitations of traditional von Neumann architectures by reducing data movement and enhancing computational efficiency. Despite significant advancements in this area, implementing complex arithmetic operations, such as division, directly within memory has remained an elusive challenge. This paper introduces a pioneering technique for performing division operations directly in memory, representing the first successful integration of such functionality into the IMC framework. Our approach leverages an innovative circuit based on an unconventional model of computing–stochastic computing (SC). Our technique extends the computational capabilities of IMC systems and paves the way …

Exploring Smart Thermostat, Don P. Dang

2024 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

This study examines the security, privacy, and compatibility challenges associated with smart thermostats in smart home systems. Smart thermostats, as part of the growing Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, face vulnerabilities such as unauthorized access, data breaches, and inconsistent security protocols. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research evaluates encryption techniques, communication protocols (Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi Fi), and user behaviors that impact system security and efficiency. Key findings indicate that 35% of users are concerned about hacking risks, while 25% express data privacy concerns. Many users lack awareness of security measures, such as firmware updates and password management, which increases vulnerabilities. …

Trisc: Low-Cost Design Of Trigonometric Functions With Quasi Stochastic Computing, Mehran Shoushtari Moghadam, M. Hassan Najafi

Faculty Scholarship

Low-cost and hardware-efficient design of trigonometric functions is challenging. Stochastic computing (SC), an emerging computing model processing random bit-streams, offers promising solutions for this problem. The existing implementations, however, often overlook the importance of the data converters necessary to generate the needed bit-streams. While recent advancements in SC bit-stream generators focus on basic arithmetic operations such as multiplication and addition, energy-efficient SC design of non-linear functions demands attention to both the computation circuit and the bit-stream generator. This work introduces TriSC, a novel approach for SC-based design of trigonometric functions enjoying state-of-the-art (SOTA) quasi-random bit-streams. Unlike SOTA SC designs of …

Prototyping Interactive Tactile Digital Logic Simulations: A Hybrid Approach, Logan Bateman

MS in Computer Science Project Reports

Tactile exhibits are common in museums and on the walls of university halls. However, few (if any) tools exist for creating tactile exhibits for teaching digital logic or computing concepts. This project implemented a framework for creating tactile digital logic simulation exhibits, with a focus on rapid prototyping and distributed architecture. Prototyping allows for fast iteration, with the ability to simulate unlimited hardware components such as buttons, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and other input or output devices. Through the abstraction of implementations and a distributed communication protocol, switching to real hardware is seamless and works in tandem with simulated hardware. …

All You Need Is Unary: End-To-End Bit-Stream Processing In Hyperdimensional Computing, Mehran Shoushtari Moghadam, M. Hassan Najafi

Faculty Scholarship

Hyperdimensional Computing (HDC) is a brain-inspired computing paradigm introduced to achieve energy efficiency with a lightweight and single-pass training model. Hypervectors (HVs) at the heart of the HDC systems play a fundamental role in elevating the accuracy and obtaining the desired performance. Image-based HV encoding requires two types of HVs: Position and Level HVs. State-of-the-art approaches utilize pseudo-random methods for generating these HVs, which might degrade system performance and cause higher power consumption due to poor randomness in HV generation. These conventional methods require iteratively calculating orthogonal Positional HVs for acceptable accuracy. This work proposes a fast, ultra-lightweight, and high-quality …

Uhd: Unary Processing For Lightweight And Dynamic Hyperdimensional Computing, Mehran Shoushtari Moghadam, M. Hassan Najafi

Faculty Scholarship

Hyperdimensional computing (HDC) is a novel computational paradigm that operates on long-dimensional vectors known as hypervectors. The hypervectors are constructed as long bit-streams and form the basic building blocks of HDC systems. In HDC, hypervectors are generated from scalar values without considering bit significance. HDC is efficient and robust for various data processing applications, especially computer vision tasks. To construct HDC models for vision applications, the current state-of-the-art practice utilizes two parameters for data encoding: pixel intensity and pixel position. However, the intensity and position information embedded in high-dimensional vectors are generally not generated dynamically in the HDC models. Consequently, …

Building A Wireless Electronic Control Unit For An Electric Vehicle, Hector S. Sosa

2024 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Modern vehicles have a variety of features such remote start systems, advance drive assist systems, smart suspension systems, and a feature rich infotainment system. With all this technology in the car, there exists a complex network of computers working together in conjunction to deliver the modern driving experience that many people have today. To be competitive in the market, auto manufacturers are tasked to add additional features to vehicles by adding additional or modifying electronic control units (ECUs). In this study, an ECU will be designed for a mock electric vehicle which contains an already established network of ECU’s. The …

Low-Power, Event-Driven System On A Chip For Charge Pulse Processing Applications, Joseph A. Schmitz

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation presents an electronic architecture and methodology capable of processing charge pulses generated by a range of sensors, including radiation detectors and tactile synthetic skin. These sensors output a charge signal proportional to the input stimulus, which is processed electronically in both the analog and digital domains. The presented work implements this functionality using an event-driven methodology, which greatly reduces power consumption compared to standard implementations. This enables new application areas that require a long operating time or compact physical dimensions, which would not otherwise be possible. The architecture is designed, fabricated, and tested in the aforementioned applications to …

Chatgpt As Metamorphosis Designer For The Future Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai): A Conceptual Investigation, Amarjit Kumar Singh (Library Assistant), Dr. Pankaj Mathur (Deputy Librarian)

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore ChatGPT’s potential as an innovative designer tool for the future development of artificial intelligence. Specifically, this conceptual investigation aims to analyze ChatGPT’s capabilities as a tool for designing and developing near about human intelligent systems for futuristic used and developed in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Also with the helps of this paper, researchers are analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT as a tool, and identify possible areas for improvement in its development and implementation. This investigation focused on the various features and functions of ChatGPT that …

Design Of Hardware To Aid Smartphone-Based Oscilloscope App, Riddock Moran

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

A smartphone-based oscilloscope improves on traditional lab oscilloscopes in accessibility and portability but faces several performance limitations compared to traditional oscilloscopes. Among these, an oscilloscope app that uses the phone’s audio to read voltage signals will have a sampling rate and voltage bottlenecked by the capabilities of the audio codec, which will rarely exceed a rate of 48 kHz and 1 volt, respectively. Additionally, smartphones lack the ability to read line-in audio, allowing only one channel input through the microphone. Direct connections to an audio source may not be possible due to requiring an audio jack connection, and different poles …

Automated Robotic Light Bulb Testing Platform, Agha I. Akram, Muhammad Ali Ummy

Publications and Research

The main purpose of this project is to create a functional prototype of a multilayered system that incorporates aspects of electrical, mechanical, and computer engineering technology. The main objective of the system is to be able to determine whether a light bulb is working or not. The building blocks of this system are a robotic arm that is able to slide along a rail (for added mobility), a conveyor belt, and an electromechanical device that holds and tests light bulbs. Initially, the robot arm picks up a light bulb and places it into the holder which then tests it. A …

Lpvit: A Transformer Based Model For Pcb Image Classification And Defect Detection, Kang An, Yanping Zhang

Computer Science Faculty Scholarship

PCB (printed circuit board) is an extremely important component of all electronic products, which has greatly facilitated human life. Meanwhile, tons of PCBs in the waste streams become a waste of resources, which puts the recycling and reuse of PCBs in urgent need. In the manufacturing and recycling of electronic products, the classification of PCBs, recognition of sub-components, and defect detection have been the key technology. Traditional manual detection and classification are subjective and rely on individuals’ experience. With the development of artificial intelligence, lots of research efforts have been dedicated to the automated detection and recognition of PCBs. In …

3d Bionic Arm, Anny Baez Silfa

Publications and Research

Previous work had been done on what was an adaptation of a robotic arm for Roboqueen, which is a persistent research project of the Department of Computer Engineering Technology. This robotic arm consisted of removing the cardboard hands from the Roboqueen and being replaced by 3D printed fingers and wrists to add functionality that did not exist before. Servo motors connected to Arduinos hidden in the forearm will be used to move the fingers and pick up and hold objects in the hand. Currently, the Finger Myoware is an update of the robotic arm in order to understand how prosthetic …

Improve The Prototype Of Low-Cost Near-Infrared Diffuse Optical Imaging System, Chen Xu, Mohammed Z. Shakil

Publications and Research

Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) and Optical Spectroscopy using near-infrared (NIR) diffused light has demonstrated great potential for the initial diagnosis of tumors and in the assessment of tumor vasculature response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The aims of this project are 1) to test the different types of LEDs in the near-infrared range, and design the driving circuit, and test the modulation of LEDs at different frequencies; 2) to test the APDs as a detector, and build the receiver system and compare efficiency with pre-built systems. In this project, we are focusing on creating a low-cost infrared transmission system for tumor and …

Low-Cost Near Infrared Diffuse Optical Imaging System, Mohammed Z. Shakil, Chen Xu

Publications and Research

Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) and Optical Spectroscopy using near-infrared (NIR) diffused light has demonstrated great potential for the initial diagnosis of tumors and in the assessment of tumor vasculature response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The NIR technique utilizes intrinsic hemoglobin contrast, which is directly related to tumor angiogenesis development, a key process required for tumor growth and metastasis. The NIR diffuse tomography holds great promise in distinguishing early-stage invasive breast cancers from benign lesions. This technique also provides insight into tumor metabolism and tumor hypoxia, important indicators of tumor response to various forms of therapy. Currently, the high cost of the …

Improving 3d Printed Prosthetics With Sensors And Motors, Rachel Zarin

Honors Projects

A 3D printed hand and arm prosthetic was created from the idea of adding bionic elements while keeping the cost low. It was designed based on existing models, desired functions, and materials available. A tilt sensor keeps the hand level, two motors move the wrist in two different directions, a limit switch signals the fingers to open and close, and another motor helps open and close the fingers. All sensors and motors were built on a circuit board, programmed using an Arduino, and powered by a battery. Other supporting materials include metal brackets, screws, guitar strings, elastic bands, small clamps, …

3d Printed Smart Mobile, Bingfang Chen

Publications and Research

The goal of this research project is to design and build a prototype of a smart mobile robot to participate and compete in IEEE Micro-mouse and similar competitions. The robot has to find its way out of a maze as quickly as possible, by exploring and learning the paths in the maze. 3D printing technology will be used to build a lightweight robot frame so that it can move at a fast speed.

Investigating On Through Glass Via Based Rf Passives For 3-D Integration, Libo Qian, Jifei Sang, Yinshui Xia, Jian Wang, Peiyi Zhao

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Due to low dielectric loss and low cost, glass is developed as a promising material for advanced interposers in 2.5-D and 3-D integration. In this paper, through glass vias (TGVs) are used to implement inductors for minimal footprint and large quality factor. Based on the proposed physical structure, the impact of various process and design parameters on the electrical characteristics of TGV inductors is investigated with 3-D electromagnetic simulator HFSS. It is observed that TGV inductors have identical inductance and larger quality factor in comparison with their through silicon via counterparts. Using TGV inductors and parallel plate capacitors, a compact …

Automating Knife-Edge Method Of Thz Beam Characterization, Christopher Charles Faber

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

The goal of this project is to create a time and cost-effective solution for THz beam profiling.

The knife edge method of beam characterization is a technique to verify the intensity profile of a beam involving traveling a blade orthogonal to the beam path and measuring transmission in successive steps. We use a vector network analyzer (VNA) to measure S21 transmission from a THz source. Manual implementation of this method was time-consuming and inefficient.

Project hardware includes an Arduino, a motor shield, and a ball screw linear rail with stepper motor actuator. Software was created in LabView and data is …

Laser-Scribed Graphene Micro-Supercapacitors, Kimi D. Owens

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

M. F. El-Kady and R. B. Kaner, “Scalable fabrication of high-power graphene micro-supercapacitors for flexible and on-chip energy storage,” Nature Communications, vol. 4, p. 1475, Feb. 2013.

Supercapacitors are electrical components that have higher energy density than regular capacitors. Currently, they are large and bulky which makes it hard to be implemented into smaller electronic devices or on-chip. In Scalable Fabrication of High-power Graphene Micro-supercapacitors for Flexible and On-chip Energy Storage, El-Kady and Kaner developed an inexpensive and reliable method for scaling down supercapacitors to be approximately 7.53 x 5.35 mm. To make the laser-scribed graphene (LSG) micro-supercapacitors, an aqueous …

Security Analysis Of The Uconn Husky One Card, Trevor Phillips

Honors Scholar Theses

The “Husky One Card” is the name given to student IDs at the University of Connecticut. It can identify students, faculty, and staff in a variety of situations. The One Card is used for meal plans, Husky Bucks (an equivalent of money, but valid only in the Storrs area), residence hall/ university facility access, and student health services. The current Husky One Card consists of a picture identification on the front and a standard 1-dimensional barcode and 3-track magnetic strip on the back.

The goal of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of cloning Husky One Cards, the ease …

One-To-Cloud One-Time Pad Data Encryption: Introducing Virtual Prototyping With Pspice, Paul Tobin, Lee Tobin, Roberto Gandia Blanquer Dr, Michael Mckeever, Jonathan Blackledge

Conference papers

In this paper, we examine the design and application of a one-time pad encryption system for protecting data stored in the Cloud. Personalising security using a one-time pad generator at the client-end protects data from break-ins, side-channel attacks and backdoors in public encryption algorithms. The one-time pad binary sequences were obtained from modified analogue chaos oscillators initiated by noise and encoded client data locally. Specific ``one-to-Cloud'' storage applications returned control back to the end user but without the key distribution problem normally associated with one-time pad encryption. Development of the prototype was aided by ``Virtual Prototyping'' in the latest version …

On The Development Of A One-Time Pad Generator For Personalising Cloud Security, Paul Tobin, Lee Tobin, Michael Mckeever, Jonathan Blackledge

Conference papers

Cloud computing security issues are being reported in newspapers, television, and on the Internet, on a daily basis. Furthermore, in 2013, Edward Snowden alleged backdoors were placed in a number of encryption systems by the National Security Agency causing confidence in public encryption to drop even further. Our solution allows the end-user to add a layer of unbreakable security by encrypting the data locally with a random number generator prior to uploading data to the Cloud. The prototype one-time pad generator is impervious to cryptanalysis because it generates unbreakable random binary sequences from chaos sources initiated from a natural noise. …

Sensor Placement With Time-To-Detection Guarantees, Saif Eddin Jabari, Laura Wynter

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We present a novel and effective method for determining the placement of sensors so as to be able to satisfy probabilistic constraints on the time-to-detection of an incident. Indeed, with the wealth of real-time traffic data available today, an important new goal of intelligent traffic management systems is incident detection with time-to-detection guarantees, in particular on expressways with large distances between sensors. This goal drives investment decisions in new sensor deployment, hence making the topic a pressing need for traffic management. The method we provide makes use of a probabilistic formulation of traffic behavior and incident localization to determine the …

Communications System Using Signal Modulation, William C. Barott

Publications

A communication method and system for communication utilizing modulation of digital signals, such as by targets and/or by use of low-complexity tags is presented. Targets may include any device or object that may alter signals, and tags can include a device with the ability to reflect and/or alter the properties of the signals and, in doing so, impose specific modulations on or alterations of such signals. Modulations can be sensed or detected using a receiver or receivers implementing processing algorithms derived from passive radar detection operations or other processes.

“My Logic Is Undeniable”: Replicating The Brain For Ideal Artificial Intelligence, Samuel C. Adams

Senior Honors Theses

Alan Turing asked if machines can think, but intelligence is more than logic and reason. I ask if a machine can feel pain or joy, have visions and dreams, or paint a masterpiece. The human brain sets the bar high, and despite our progress, artificial intelligence has a long way to go. Studying neurology from a software engineer’s perspective reveals numerous uncanny similarities between the functionality of the brain and that of a computer. If the brain is a biological computer, then it is the embodiment of artificial intelligence beyond anything we have yet achieved, and its architecture is advanced …

System And Method For Identifying Electrical Properties Of Integrate Circuits, Mary Y. Lanzerotti

AFIT Patents

A new method for displaying electrical properties for integrated circuit (IC) layout designs provides for improved human visualization of those properties and comparison of as designed layout design parameters to as specified layout design parameters and to as manufactured layout parameters. The method starts with a circuitry as designed layout in a first digital format, extracts values for electrical properties from that circuitry as designed layout then annotates those values back into the first digital format. The annotated circuitry as designed layout is then converted from the first digital format to a second digital format that can be converted to …