Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Decentralized Coordination Of Multiple Autonomous Vehicles, Yongcan Cao

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation focuses on the study of decentralized coordination algorithms of multiple autonomous vehicles. Here, the term decentralized coordination is used to refer to the behavior that a group of vehicles reaches the desired group behavior via local interaction. Research is conducted towards designing and analyzing distributed coordination algorithms to achieve desired group behavior in the presence of none, one, and multiple group reference states.

Decentralized coordination in the absence of any group reference state is a very active research topic in the systems and controls society. We first focus on studying decentralized coordination problems for both single-integrator kinematics and …

Cooperative Remote Sensing And Actuation Using Networked Unmanned Vehicles, Haiyang Chao

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation focuses on how to design and employ networked unmanned vehicles for remote sensing and distributed control purposes in the current information-rich world. The target scenarios are environmental or agricultural applications such as river/reservoir surveillance, wind profiling measurement, and monitoring/control of chemical leaks, etc. AggieAir, a small and low-cost unmanned aircraft system, is designed based on the remote sensing requirements from environmental monitoring missions. The state estimation problem and the advanced lateral flight controller design problem are further attacked focusing on the small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform. Then the UAV-based remote sensing problem is focused with further flight …

Optimal Sensing And Actuation Policies For Networked Mobile Agents In A Class Of Cyber-Physical Systems, Christophe Tricaud

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The main purpose of this dissertation is to define and solve problems on optimal sensing and actuating policies in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). Cyber-physical system is a term that was introduced recently to define the increasing complexity of the interactions between computational hardwares and their physical environments. The problem of designing the "cyber'' part may not be trivial but can be solved from scratch. However, the "physical'' part, usually a natural physical process, is inherently given and has to be identified in order to propose an appropriate "cyber'' part to be adopted. Therefore, one of the first steps in designing a …

Minimum Symbol Error Rate Timing Recovery System, Nagendra Bage Jayaraj

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents a timing error detector (TED) used in the symbol timing synchronization subsystem for digital communications. The new timing error detector is designed to minimize the probability of symbol decision error, and it is called minimum symbol error rate TED (MSERTED). The new TED resembles the TED derived using the maximum likelihood (ML) criterion but gives rise to faster convergence relative to MLTED. The new TED requires shorter training sequences for symbol timing recovery. The TED operates on the outputs of the matched filter and estimates the timing offset. The S-curve is used as a tool for analyzing …

Architecture, Inertial Navigation, And Payload Designs For Low-Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Personal Remote Sensing, Calvin Coopmans

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents work done towards a Personal Remote Sensing (PRS) system: small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with electronic, control, and sensing subsystems. Based on papers presented to conferences (AutoTestCon2008 and MESA2009), as well as other work on PRS, multiple levels of engineering are detailed: complex multi-UAV data flow; attitude estimation filters; real-time microprocessor functionality; and small, mobile power systems. Wherever possible, Open-Source tools and designs have been used, modified, or studied, providing excellent cost to performance ratios in most cases. First, the overall PRS UAV architecture, AggieAir, is presented with a motivating examples (GhostEye and EagleEye camera payloads). Then, …

Metamaterial-Inspired Miniaturized Multi-Band Microwave Filters And Power Dividers, Alper Genc

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Integration of more communication standards in one microwave wireless device created a demand on developing compact, low-cost, and robust multi-band microwave components. This dissertation presents three studies for designing miniaturized and multi-band circuits that can be used for multi-band radio frequency (RF) front-ends. These three studies are the design of dual-band and tunable bandpass filters as well as dual- and triple-band equal-split power dividers/combiners. The dual-band filter is based on split ring resonators and double slit complemantary split ring resonators. A dual-band prototype three-stage Chebyshev filter, with a fractional bandwidth of 2% at 0.9 GHz and a fractional bandwidth of …

Integrated Solar Panel Antennas For Cube Satellites, Mahmoud N. Mahmoud

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis work presents an innovative solution for small satellite antennas by integrating slot antennas and solar cells on the same panel to save small satellite surface real estate and to replace deployed wire antennas for certain operational frequencies. The two main advantages of the proposed antenna are: 1) the antenna does not require an expensive deployment mechanism that is required by dipole antennas; 2) the antenna does not occupy as much valuable surface real estate as patch antennas. The antenna design is based on using the spacing between the solar cells to etch slots in these spaces to create …

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Integrated Frequency Reconfigurable Antennas For Public Safety Applications, Hema Swaroop Mopidevi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis work builds on the concept of reconfiguring the antenna properties (frequency, polarization, radiation pattern) using Radio Frequency (RF) Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). This is a part of the overall research performed at the RF Micro/Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (μN∈MS) Laboratory at Utah State University, which includes design, microfabrication, test, and characterization of μN∈MS integrated cognitive wireless communication systems (Appendix A).

In the first step, a compact and broadband Planar Inverted F Antenna (PIFA) is designed with a goal to accommodate reconfigurability at a later stage. Then, a Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna …

Neural Networks And The Natural Gradient, Michael R. Bastian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Neural network training algorithms have always suffered from the problem of local minima. The advent of natural gradient algorithms promised to overcome this shortcoming by finding better local minima. However, they require additional training parameters and computational overhead. By using a new formulation for the natural gradient, an algorithm is described that uses less memory and processing time than previous algorithms with comparable performance.

Signal Processing On Waveform Data From The Eyesafe Ladar Testbed (Elt), K.D. Neilsen, Scott E. Budge, R.T. Pack

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The Eyesafe Ladar Test-bed (ELT) is a raster scanning, single-beam, energy-detection ladar with the capability of digitizing and recording the return pulse waveform at 2 GHz in the field for off-line 3D point cloud formation research in the laboratory. The ELT serves as a prime tool in understanding the behavior of ladar waveforms. Signal processing techniques have been applied to the ELT waveform in an effort to exploit the signal with respect to noise reduction, range resolution improvement, and ability to discriminate between two surfaces of similar range. This paper presents a signal processing method used on the ELT waveform. …

Methodology To Derive Resource Aware Context Adaptable Architectures For Field Programmable Gate Arrays, Harikrishna Samala

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The design of a common architecture that can support multiple data-flow patterns (or contexts) embedded in complex control flow structures, in applications like multimedia processing, is particularly challenging when the target platform is a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with a heterogeneous mixture of device primitives. This thesis presents scheduling and mapping algorithms that use a novel area cost metric to generate resource aware context adaptable architectures. Results of a rigorous analysis of the methodology on multiple test cases are presented. Results are compared against published techniques and show an area savings and execution time savings of 46% each.

Native Earth Electric Field Measurements Using Small Spacecraft In Low Earth Orbit, John A. Pratt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The use of small satellites to measure the native electric field of the earth has historically presented many problems as a result of the generally modest pointing capabilities of small satellites. In spite of this, the cost of small satellites makes them ideal for just such scientific missions. This thesis details many of the constraints of electric field measuring missions as well as the requirements on any spacecraft designed to accomplish such. The data from a small sounding rocket mission is then analyzed and its usefulness discussed. Possible other methods for use are also discussed.

Automatic People Counting And Matching, John Sallay

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis explores software algorithm for implementing a people counting and matching system to be used on a bus. A special camera is used, known as a texel camera, that generates depth and color information for a scene. This added information greatly facilitates both the tasks of matching and counting.

Although people counting is a relatively mature field, there are several situations in which current technologies are not able to count correctly. Several of these difficult situations are tested with 82% counting accuracy.

The idea of matching people on a bus is also developed. The goal is not to identify …

Design, Test, And Calibration Of The Utah State University Floating Potential Probe, Jessica D. Gregory

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The ionosphere is a conducting layer in the Earth's upper atmosphere and is the nearest naturally occurring plasma environment. Inherent to all plasma environments is an electric field. Currently, the double electric field probe is the most successful instrument for measuring the electric fields of space plasmas. Utah State University/Space Dynamics Lab has developed a double electric field probe, called the Floating Potential Probe (FPP), with a slightly different instrumentation approach than what has been done previously. The FPP is one component of a suite of instruments that launched in fall of 2007 from Wallops Island, Virginia, as part of …

A Comprehensive Integration And Analysis Of Dynamic Load Balancing Architectures Within Molecular Dynamics, Christopher Reed Rogers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The world of nano-science is an ever-changing field. Molecular Dynamics (MD) is a computational suite of tools that is useful for analyzing and predicting behaviors of substances on the molecular level. The nature of MD is such that only a few types of computations are repeated thousands or sometimes millions of times over. Even a small increase speedup or efficiency of an MD simulator can compound itself over the life of the simulation and have a positive and observable effect. This thesis is the end result of an attempted speedup of the MD problem. Two types of MD architectures are …

Fractional Order Modeling And Control: Development Of Analog Strategies For Plasma Position Control Of The Stor-1m Tokamak, Shayok Mukhopadhyay

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This work revolves around the use of fractional order calculus in control science. Techniques such as fractional order universal adaptive stabilization (FO-UAS), and the fascinating results of their application to real-world systems, are presented initially. A major portion of this work deals with fractional order modeling and control of real-life systems like heat flow, fan and plate, and coupled tank systems. The fractional order models and controllers are not only simulated, they are also emulated using analog hardware. The main aim of all the above experimentation is to develop a fractional order controller for plasma position control of the Saskatchewan …

Electron Density And Electron Neutral Collision Frequency In The Ionosphere Using Plasma Impedance Probe Measurements On Sounding Rockets, Swadesh Patra

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Plasma Impedance Probe (PIP) is an RF-instrument that is used to measure plasma electron density and electron neutral collision Frequency. Radio Frequency probe techniques for the determination of plasma parameters are attractive especially because the RF response is not susceptible to spacecraft charging problems at frequencies above the electron plasma frequency where ion sheath effects are negligible. The work done in this thesis is presented as a compendium of two papers, the first paper dealing with PIP measurements on a sounding rocket mission and the second being a qualitative study of the effects of spacecraft aerodynamics on the impedance …

Surface Wave Propagation In A Dielectric Waveguide Loaded With An Anisotropic, Conductive, And Spatially Dispersive Substrate, Tushar Andriyas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents an analytical treatment of surface waves inside a dielectric slab loaded with a conductive and spatially dispersive semiconductor-like substrate. The work is primarily focused on the modelling of the substrate and getting the field solutions out from the Helmholtz equation. Appropriate boundary conditions have been used in order to get a unique dispersion relation. The surface wave modes are then extracted from the relation by using a root-searching algorithm, which in this work is the MATLAB Genetic Algorithm toolbox. Many different substrate configurations have been considered, starting from the very basic isotropic case to the most complex …

A Methodology To Design Pipelined Simulated Annealing Kernel Accelerators On Space-Borne Field-Programmable Gate Arrays, Jeffrey Michael Carver

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Increased levels of science objectives expected from spacecraft systems necessitate the ability to carry out fast on-board autonomous mission planning and scheduling. Heterogeneous radiation-hardened Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) with embedded multiplier and memory modules are well suited to support the acceleration of scheduling algorithms. A methodology to design circuits specifically to accelerate Simulated Annealing Kernels (SAKs) in event scheduling algorithms is shown. The main contribution of this thesis is the low complexity scoring calculation used for the heuristic mapping algorithm used to balance resource allocation across a coarse-grained pipelined data-path. The methodology was exercised over various kernels with different …

Full-Wave Analyses Of Nano-Electromechanical Systems Integrated Multifunctional Reconfigurable Antennas, Xiaoyan Yuan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis work builds upon the theoretical studies and full-wave analysis of radio frequency micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (RF M/NEMS) integrated multi-functional reconfigurable antennas(MRAs). This is a part of the overall μN∈MS research efforts performed in the RF NEMS Laboratory at USU, which includes design, microfabrication, test, and characterization of M/NEMS integrated congitive wireless communication systems (fig. A.1).

The thesis work focuses on two MRAs. 1) A triple bands patch antenna which can operate at 800, 2400, and 4900 MHz in response to public safety wireless communication systems. 2) A multi-frequency multi-polarization MRA for wireless personal area networking application (WPAN) …

Optimization Of Strongly Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Using A Modified Genetic Algorithm With Micro-Movement (Mgam), Xing Wei

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The genetic algorithm (GA) is a popular random search and optimization method inspired by the concepts of crossover, random mutation, and natural selection from evolutionary biology. The real-valued genetic algorithm (RGA) is an improved version of the genetic algorithm designed for direct operation on real-valued variables. In this work, a modified version of a genetic algorithm is introduced, which is called a modified genetic algorithm with micro-movement (MGAM). It implements a particle swarm optimization (PSO)-inspired micro-movement phase that helps to improve the convergence rate, while employing the efficient GA mechanism for maintaining population diversity. In order to test the capability …

Object Trajectory Estimation Using Optical Flow, Shuo Liu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Object trajectory tracking is an important topic in many different areas. It is widely used in robot technology, traffic, movie industry, and others. Optical flow is a useful method in the object tracking branch and it can calculate the motion of each pixel between two frames, and thus it provides a possible way to get the trajectory of objects. There are numerous papers describing the implementation of optical flow. Some results are acceptable, but in many projects, there are limitations. In most previous applications, because the camera is usually static, it is easy to apply optical flow to identify the …

A Pipeline Analog-To-Digital Converter For A Plasma Impedance Probe, Mohamad A. El Hamoui

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Space instrumentation technology is an essential tool for rocket and satellite research, and is expected to become popular in commercial and military operations in fields such as radar, imaging, and communications. These instruments are traditionally implemented on printed circuit boards using discrete general-purpose Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) devices and other components. A large circuit board is not convenient for use in micro-satellite deployments, where the total payload volume is limited to roughly one cubic foot. Because micro-satellites represent a fast growing trend in satellite research and development, there is motivation to explore miniaturized custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designs to reduce …

Meshed Patch Antennas Integrated On Solar Cell - A Feasibility Study And Optimization, Timothy W. Turpin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis work presents the feasibility of integrating meshed patch antennas directly onto the solar cell assembly to save valuable surface real estate of a small satellite. The solar cell cover glass is used as the substrate for the patch antenna. The antenna topology is chosen to be a meshed patch so that it is transparent to light to ensure the proper operation of solar cells. We found that although there is a compromise between the antenna efficiency and see-through percentage, one is able to optimize the antenna by carefully designing the mesh. To verify the design and integration, a …

Optimal Fractional Order Proportional And Integral Controller For Processes With Random Time Delays, Varsha Bhambhani

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis developed a new practical tuning method for fractional order proportional and integral controllers (FO-PI / PI^α) for varying time-delay systems like networked control systems (NCS), sensor networks, etc. Based on previously proposed FO-PI controller tuning rules using fractional Ms constrained integral gain optimization (F-MIGO), simultaneous maximization of the jitter margin and integrated time weighted absolute error (ITAE) performance for a set of hundred gain delay time-constant (KLT) systems having different time-constants and time-delay values are achieved. A multi-objective optimization algorithm is used to simultaneously maximize the ITAE factor and jitter margin of the plants at initial …

A Laboratory-Based Course In Real-Time Digital Signal Processing Implementation, Scott E. Budge

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A four credit-hour laboratory course in real-time digital signal processing (DSP) implementation is described. This course has been developed and taught at Utah State University for over 12 years, incorporating feedback from students and extensive classroom experience. The educational goal of the course is to teach seniors/first year graduate students how to select, implement, and evaluate DSP systems for real-time signal processing. A major component of the class is a series of seven laboratories in which the student must perform realtime processing on hardware based on modern digital signal processors and FPGAs. Student feedback has indicated that the course has …

Gathering Leadership Momentum Across Great Distances: Creating An Online Community Of Practice, Erin Dini-Davis, Danielle Theiss-White

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

At the 2007 Mountain Plains Library Association Leadership (MPLA) Institute, held in New Mexico, USA, eight academic librarians formed an online multi-state, multigenerational community of practice. MPLA is a twelve-state library association within the United States. Using Google Groups™, the members formed an online environment called the MPLA Community of Practice for continuing development of the leadership skills presented at the Institute. These early-career librarians represent diverse educational backgrounds and work in libraries serving varied populations with differing disciplinary emphases. The group meets monthly with each member preparing and facilitating online discussions, complete with personal assessments, topical readings, and questions. …

A C To Register Transfer Level Algorithm Using Structured Circuit Templates: A Case Study With Simulated Annealing, Jonathan D. Phillips

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A tool flow is presented for deriving simulated annealing accelerator circuits on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) from C source code by exploring architecture solutions that conform to a preset template through scheduling and mapping algorithms. A case study carried out on simulated annealing-based Autonomous Mission Planning and Scheduling (AMPS) software used for autonomous spacecraft systems is explained. The goal of the research is an automated method for the derivation of a hardware design that maximizes performance while minimizing the FPGA footprint. Results obtained are compared with a peer C to register transfer level (RTL) logic tool, a state-of-the-art …

Experiments In Distributed Multi-Robot Coordination, Larry Dale Ballard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consensus control algorithms for multi-agent systems are an area of much research. Several consensus control laws are experimentally validated on a multi-robot testbed in this thesis. A graphical user interface (GUI) is developed that simplies use of the testbed, as well as allows the execution of the testbed programs to be divided across multiple computers. This not only provides a more powerful computing environment, but a more realistic communication environment for the testbed. A method for a time varying or dynamic formation is both proposed and experimentally validated on the testbed. This research also explores a method for dynamic group …

Student Achievement And Affective Traits In Electrical Engineering Laboratories Using Traditional And Computer-Based Instrumentation, Matthew D. Lammi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Distance education has the ability to transcend distance and time, reaching students anywhere at any time, particularly those underrepresented in engineering. Engineering is a practice-oriented profession requiring an interweaving of scientific theory and applied hands-on activities. Despite the need for distance education in engineering, few studies have systematically investigated the impact of student achievement and attitude in distance engineering laboratories. This quasi-experimental research addressed that need by studying the cognitive and affective domains of achievement in engineering laboratories while employing computer-based and traditional oscilloscopes. The students from two courses, electrical engineering for nonmajors and electronic fundamentals, were randomly assigned into …