Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Exertion Control, Travis Taylor

Electrical Engineering

Current wearable fitness devices give the user after-the-fact fitness data, but little real-time feedback. Exertion Control, a new wearable device, continuously measures the user’s heart rate, creates a heart rate target, and helps the user reach it. This project completes the senior design and master’s thesis requirements and contains two milestones. The senior design product continuously measures the wearer’s heart rate and logs it with a user-friendly interface. This data models the heart’s exertion response and recovery response. The master’s thesis device refines the closed control loop with the user to give them a workout optimized to fit their needs.

How Can Occupancy Modeling And Occupancy Sensors Reduce Energy Usage In Academic Buildings: An Application Approach To University Of San Francisco, Paloma R. Duong

Master's Projects and Capstones

Buildings are amongst the highest energy consumers relative to industry and transportation. They account for 40% of the world’s energy consumption, due to the need for lighting, equipment, heating, cooling and ventilation. Academic buildings are multi-purpose buildings that create a challenge on energy reduction. Most are old and have fixed occupancy schedules, resulting in high energy consumption because these buildings experience significant occupancy variation throughout the day. Five academic buildings were analyzed; their building information, energy consumption data and methods to project energy savings have been analyzed. The case studies presented different strategies on predicting energy savings, but these have …

Simulation And Performance Evaluation Of Algorithms For Unmanned Aircraft Conflict Detection And Resolution, Jeffrey H. Ledet

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The problem of aircraft conflict detection and resolution (CDR) in uncertainty is addressed in this thesis. The main goal in CDR is to provide safety for the aircraft while minimizing their fuel consumption and flight delays. In reality, a high degree of uncertainty can exist in certain aircraft-aircraft encounters especially in cases where aircraft do not have the capabilities to communicate with each other. Through the use of a probabilistic approach and a multiple model (MM) trajectory information processing framework, this uncertainty can be effectively handled. For conflict detection, a randomized Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm is used to accurately detect …

A Radial Basis Function Method For Solving Optimal Control Problems., Hossein Mirinejad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work presents two direct methods based on the radial basis function (RBF) interpolation and arbitrary discretization for solving continuous-time optimal control problems: RBF Collocation Method and RBF-Galerkin Method. Both methods take advantage of choosing any global RBF as the interpolant function and any arbitrary points (meshless or on a mesh) as the discretization points. The first approach is called the RBF collocation method, in which states and controls are parameterized using a global RBF, and constraints are satisfied at arbitrary discrete nodes (collocation points) to convert the continuous-time optimal control problem to a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem. The …

Control Design Of A Single-Phase Dc/Ac Inverter For Pv Applications, Haoyan Liu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents controller designs of a 2 kVA single-phase inverter for photovoltaic (PV) applications. The demand for better controller designs is constantly rising as the renewable energy market continues to rapidly grow. Some background research has been done on solar energy, PV inverter configurations, inverter control design, and hardware component selection. Controllers are designed both for stand-alone and grid-connected modes of operation. For stand-alone inverter control, the outer control loop regulates the filter capacitor voltage. Combining the synchronous frame outer control loop with the capacitor current feedback inner control loop, the system can achieve both zero steady-state error and …

Impact Of Clustering Microgrids On Their Stability And Resilience During Blackouts, Mahmoud S. Saleh, Ammar Althaibani, Yusef Esa, Yassine Mhandi, Ahmed Mohamed

Publications and Research

In this paper, the impact of clustering multiple microgrids during blackouts, on their stability and supply availability, will be investigated. Microgrids have the capability of satisfying their emergency loads during blackouts. However, distributed energy resources (DERs)-dominated microgrids are affected by the uncertainty of their input energy supply, e.g. impact of solar irradiance on photovoltaic (PV) output. Moreover, an individual islanded microgrid is prone to instability issues due to large sudden load/generation changes. In order to increase the supply security, and enhance system stability, we propose to use the existing distribution grid infrastructure, if applicable, during blackouts to form microgrid clusters. …

Closing The Cerification Gaps In Aircraft Attitude Higher Order Sliding Mode Control, Chandrasekhara Bharath Panathula

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Out-Of-Loop Compensation Method For Op-Amps Driving Heavy Capacitive Loads, Shubham Gandhi

Master's Theses

It is well known that real op-amps do not share most of the desirable characteristics of an ideal one, particularly those of gain and output impedance. When presented with a capacitive load, such as a MOSFET or ADC, feedback in an op-amp circuit can quickly become unstable. This thesis studies and characterizes an op-amp’s output impedance and how its interaction with this type of load creates a parasitic pole which leads to instability. Applying ideas from feedback control theory, a model for studying the problem is developed from which a generalized method for compensating the undesirable circumstance is formulated.

Even …

Design And Performance Evaluation Of A Prototype Mrf-Based Haptic Interface For Medical Applications, Mehrdad Kermani Ph.D., P.Eng., Nima Najmaei, Ali Asadian, Rajni Patel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

This paper describes the construction and stability and transparency evaluation of a prototype two degrees-of-freedom (DoF) haptic interface, which takes ad-vantage of magneto-rheological fluid (MRF)-based clutches for actuation. These small-scale clutches were designed in our lab, and their evaluation were reported previously [1],[2]. MRF-based actuators exhibit superior characteristics,which can significantly contribute to transparency and stability of haptic devices. Based on these actuators, a distributed antagonistic configuration is used to develop the2-DoF haptic interface. This device is incorporated in a master–slave teleoperation setup intended for medical per-cutaneous interventions and soft-tissue palpation. Preliminary studies on the stability and transparency of the haptic …

Signal Flow Graph Approach To Efficient Dst I-Iv Algorithms, Sirani M. Perera

Publications

In this paper, fast and efficient discrete sine transformation (DST) algorithms are presented based on the factorization of sparse, scaled orthogonal, rotation, rotation-reflection, and butterfly matrices. These algorithms are completely recursive and solely based on DST I-IV. The presented algorithms have low arithmetic cost compared to the known fast DST algorithms. Furthermore, the language of signal flow graph representation of digital structures is used to describe these efficient and recursive DST algorithms having (n�1) points signal flow graph for DST-I and n points signal flow graphs for DST II-IV.

Machine Learning Through Mimicry And Association, Nickolas S. Holcomb

Honors College Theses

Adaptability is a key missing features that has impeded the growth of assistive robotics. In the traditional model, all actions must be explicitly coded by a skilled programmer familiar with the hardware. This project explores a method of teaching a webcam equipped arm type robot new primitive movement using visual demonstrations.

Predictive Control Of Power Grid-Connected Energy Systems Based On Energy And Exergy Metrics, Meysam Razmara

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Building and transportation sectors account for 41% and 27% of total energy consumption in the US, respectively. Designing smart controllers for Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems and Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) can play a key role in reducing energy consumption. Exergy or availability is based on the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics and is a more precise metric to evaluate energy systems including HVAC and ICE systems. This dissertation centers on development of exergy models and design of model-based controllers based on exergy and energy metrics for grid-connected energy systems including HVAC and ICEs.

In this PhD dissertation, …

Plc Water Pump Control, Kevin Logsdon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project set out to use a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) to control a water pump to maintain the water level in a tank at a desired setpoint. A proximity sensor is mounted above the upper reservoir to detect the distance to the water level from the sensor, which will be communicated back to an Allen-Bradley CompactLogix PLC. To control the water level, an AC variable speed drive, that can receive instructions from the PLC, is connected to a water pump that will ramp up the RPM as the water level drops below the setpoint to bring it back to …

A Lithium Battery Current Estimation Technique Using An Unknown Input Observer, Daniel Cambron

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Current consumption measurements are useful in a wide variety of applications, including power monitoring and fault detection within a lithium battery management system (BMS). This measurement is typically taken using either a shunt resistor or a Hall-effect current transducer. Although both methods have achieved accurate current measurements, shunt resistors have inherent power loss and often require isolation circuitry, and Hall-effect sensors are generally expensive. This work explores a novel alternative to sensing battery current by measuring terminal voltages and cell temperatures and using an unknown input observer (UIO) to estimate the battery current. An accurate model of a LiFePO_{4 …}

Small Satellite Noncommutative Rotation Sequence Attitude Control Using Piezoelectric Actuators, Joshua L. Evans

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Attitude control remains one of the top engineering challenges faced by small satellite mission planning and design. Conventional methods for attitude control include propulsion, reaction wheels, magnetic torque coils, and passive stabilization mechanisms, such as permanent magnets that align with planetary magnetic fields. Drawbacks of these conventional attitude control methods for small satellites include size, power consumption, dependence on external magnetic fields, and lack of full control authority. This research investigates an alternative, novel approach to attitude-control method for small satellites, utilizing the noncommutative property of rigid body rotation sequences. Piezoelectric bimorph actuators are used to induce sinusoidal small-amplitude satellite …

Inter-Row Robot Navigation Using 1d Ranging Sensors, Tyler A. Troyer, Santosh Pitla, Ethan Nutter

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this paper a fuzzy logic navigation controller for an inter-row agricultural robot is developed and evaluated in laboratory settings. The controller receives input from one-dimensional (1D) ranging sensors on the robotic platform, and operated on ten fuzzy rules for basic row-following behavior. The control system was implemented on basic hardware for proof of concept and operated on a commonly available microcontroller development platform and open source software libraries. The robot platform used for experimentation was a small tracked vehicle with differential steering control. Fuzzy inferencing and defuzzification, step response and cross track error were obtained from the test conducted …

Comparing Various Hardware/Software Solutions And Conversion Methods For Controller Area Network (Can) Bus Data Collection, Samuel E. Marx, Joe D. Luck, Santosh Pitla, Roger M. Hoy

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Various hardware and software solutions exist for collecting Controller Area Network (CAN) bus data. Digital data accuracy could vary based upon different data logging methods (e.g., hardware/software timing, processor timing, etc.). CAN bus data were collected from agricultural tractors using multiple data acquisition solutions to quantify differences among collection methods and demonstrate potential data accumulation rates. Two types of data were observed for this study. The first, CAN bus frame data, represents data collected for each line of hex data sent from an ECU. One issue with frame data is the resulting large file sizes, therefore a second logging format …

Expanding The Class Of Globally Convergent Fliess Operators, Irina M. Winter-Arboleda, W. Steven Gray, Luis A. Duffaut Espinosa

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A common representation of an input-output system in nonlinear control theory is the Chen-Fliess functional series or fliess operator. Such a functional series is said to be globally convergent when there is no a priori upper bound on both the L₁-norm of an admissible input and the length of time over which the corresponding output is well defined. It is known that every Fliess operator having a generating series with Gevrey order 0 ≤ s < 1 is globally convergent. In this paper it is shown that there exists a subset of series with Gevrey order s = 1 which also exhibit global convergence. In particular, the example of Ferfera, which arises in the context of system interconnections, is shown to be one such example.

Nonrecursively Interconnected Fliess Operators Preserve Global Convergence: An Expanded View, Irina M. Winter-Arboleda, Luis A. Duffaut Espinosa, W. Steven Gray

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A common representation of an input-output system in nonlinear control theory is the Chen-Fliess functional series or Fliess operator. Such a functional series is said to be globally convergent when there is a no a priori upper bound on both the L₁-norm of an admissible input and the length of time over which the corresponding output is well defined. Recent developments have expanded the class of globally convergent Fliess operators. The goal of this paper is to show that the global convergence property is preserved for nonrecursive inter-connections (i.e., the parallel, product and cascade connections) involving this largest known class …

Sparse Adaptive Local Machine Learning Algorithms For Sensing And Analytics, Jack Cannon

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

The goal of digital image processing is to capture, transmit, and display images as efficiently as possible. Such tasks are computationally intensive because an image is digitally represented by large amounts of data. It is possible to render an image by reconstructing it with a subset of the most relevant data. One such procedure used to accomplish this task is commonly referred to as sparse coding. For our purpose, we use images of handwritten digits that are presented to an artificial neural network. The network implements Rozell's locally competitive algorithm (LCA) to generate a sparse code. This sparse code is …

Electromechanics Of An Ocean Current Turbine, Vasileios Tzelepis

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The development of a numeric simulation for predicting the performance of an Ocean Current Energy Conversion System is presented in this thesis along with a control system development using a PID controller for the achievement of specified rotational velocity set-points. In the beginning, this numeric model is implemented in MATLAB/Simulink® and it is used to predict the performance of a three phase squirrel single-cage type induction motor/generator in two different cases. The first case is a small 3 meter rotor diameter, 20 kW ocean current turbine with fixed pitch blades, and the second case a 20 …

Developing And Testing An Anguilliform Robot Swimming With Theoretically High Hydrodynamic Efficiency, John B. Potts Iii

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

An anguilliform swimming robot replicating an idealized motion is a complex marine vehicle necessitating both a theoretical and experimental analysis to completely understand its propulsion characteristics. The ideal anguilliform motion within is theorized to produce ``wakeless'' swimming (Vorus, 2011), a reactive swimming technique that produces thrust by accelerations of the added mass in the vicinity of the body. The net circulation for the unsteady motion is theorized to be eliminated.

The robot was designed to replicate the desired, theoretical motion by applying control theory methods. Independent joint control was used due to hardware limitations. The fluid velocity vectors in the …

Design And Control Of A Bidirectional Dual Active Bridge Dc-Dc Converter To Interface Solar, Battery Storage, And Grid-Tied Inverters, Kenny George

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In order to further reduce the size of today’s power converters, wide bandgap semiconductor technologies are being explored. These devices, such as silicon carbide (SiC), have been shown to outperform their silicon counterparts when used in high frequency switching, high temperature, and high voltage applications. These properties make them highly desirable in the bidirectional dual active bridge power converter. Being an isolated converter topology, the dual active bridge employs a transformer to provide step-up/step-down functionality and galvanic isolation for the converter. Transformers, as well as other passive components such as inductors and capacitors may be reduced in size when higher …

A Lidar Based Semi-Autonomous Collision Avoidance System And The Development Of A Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulator To Aid In Algorithm Development And Human Studies, Thomas F. Stevens

Master's Theses

In this paper, the architecture and implementation of an embedded controller for a steering based semi-autonomous collision avoidance system on a 1/10^th scale model is presented. In addition, the development of a 2D hardware-in-the-loop simulator with vehicle dynamics based on the bicycle model is described. The semi-autonomous collision avoidance software is fully contained onboard a single-board computer running embedded GNU/Linux. To eliminate any wired tethers that limit the system’s abilities, the driver operates the vehicle at a user-control-station through a wireless Bluetooth interface. The user-control-station is outfitted with a game-controller that provides standard steering wheel and pedal controls along …

Fast Sequence Component Analysis For Attack Detection In Synchrophasor Networks, Jordan Landford, Rich Meier, Richard Barella, Xinghui Zhao, Robert B. Bass, Scott Wallace

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Modern power systems have begun integrating synchrophasor technologies into part of daily operations. Given the amount of solutions offered and the maturity rate of application development it is not a matter of "if" but a matter of "when" in regards to these technologies becoming ubiquitous in control centers around the world. While the benefits are numerous, the functionality of operator-level applications can easily be nullified by injection of deceptive data signals disguised as genuine measurements. Such deceptive action is a common precursor to nefarious, often malicious activity. A correlation coefficient characterization and machine learning methodology are proposed to detect and …

Simulation, Control And Testing Of Advanced Hydraulic Hybrid Transmissions, Italo M. Ramos, Monika Ivantysynova, Michael Sprengel

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hydraulic hybrids transmissions have the potentially to substantially improve the fuel efficiency of on road vehicles. In fact recent studies have demonstrated that this technology can improve fuel economy by upwards of 30% over competing electric hybrids. To further improve the fuel economy and performance of this technology a novel blended hydraulic hybrid transmission has been constructed at the Maha Fluid Power Research Center. While this novel hybrid architecture created by the Maha lab has many benefits over conventional systems, there are a number of control challenges present due to several discrete modes of operation. And though improving fuel economy …

Cooperative 3-D Map Generation Using Multiple Uavs, Andrew Erik Lawson

University Scholar Projects

This report aims to demonstrate the feasibility of building a global 3-D map from multiple UAV robots in a GPS-denied, indoor environment. Presented are the design of each robot and the reasoning behind choosing its hardware and software components, the process in which a single robot obtains a individual 3-D map entirely onboard, and lastly how the mapping concept is extended to multiple robotic agents to form a global 3-D map using a centralized server. In the latter section, this report focuses on two algorithms, Online Mapping and Map Fusion, developed to facilitate the cooperative approach. A limited selection …

Smart Thermostat, Matt Allen, Sam Billett, Kevin Read

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

The current thermostat marketplace is dominated by programmable thermostats that are engineered to give the user as much control as possible. However, not all users program these thermostats optimally. Some prefer comfort over energy efficiency and will heat an empty house. Others do not care to program their thermostat and leave it at a set temperature. The Smart Thermostat that we have created is engineered to optimize the temperature for the user, using the common sense of the engineer to lower energy consumption. It uses a Raspberry Pi as a platform to implement a fuzzy logic control System. By removing …

Forest Sign Maker, Victor Espinosa Iii, Kevin Ly, Lisa Yip

Mechanical Engineering

Executive Summary:

The Inyo National Forest is arguably one of the most beautiful locations in California, containing natural masterpieces such as Mount Whitney and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Despite its magnificence, the Inyo National Forest can be a treacherous region. The Friends of the Inyo take pride in being able to facilitate the viewing experience for all outdoorsmen by maintaining the mountain trails, which includes providing adequate trail signage.

Unfortunately, there is a fundamental issue with the recent state of trail signage in the Inyo National Forest: the rate at which signs are being vandalized or naturally destroyed is …

The Electric Reel For Soccer Fields, Stephen Taylor

Electrical Engineering

Painting a soccer field consumes too much time. The process of reeling the string after laying out string along the field needs to improve. As a result, my project addresses improvements in how the workers retrieve the string through the production of an electric reel. This electric reel allows the worker to have control of the speed, direction, and on/off state of the device. Direction control allows the user ability to reel and unwind the string. Variable speed allows the user to control how fast the reel unwinds and reels the string. The device gathers string in an orderly manner …