Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

The Trackpacer, Alexandra Kline

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

Competitive and recreational runners struggle to maintain a target pace during workouts and currently have no easy-to-see visual feedback on their pace. Lack of real-time, easy-to-see pace feedback makes it difficult for athletes to maintain a target pace and thereby makes their workouts less effective. Some GPS watches provide pacing feedback, but they are impossible to read while running hard.

Pacing is a basic yet essential component of track and field, no matter what type of running event is taking place. During practice, certain paces are prescribed to evoke certain physiological responses from athletes. For example, a coach might ask …

Compact Fmcw Radar For Gps-Denied Navigation And Sense And Avoid, James David Mackie

Theses and Dissertations

Location information is vital for any type of aircraft and even more crucial for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). GPS is a readily available solution but signals can easily be jammed or lost. In this thesis, radar is explored as a backup system for self-localization when GPS signals are not available. The method proposed requires that an area be pre mapped by collecting radar data with known latitude and longitude coordinates. New radar data is then collected and compared to previously stored values. Channel matrices are stored at each point and are used as the basis for location comparisons. Various methods …

Triplet Ground State Of The Neutral Oxygen-Vacancy Donor In Rutile Tio2, A. T. Brant, Eric M. Golden, Nancy C. Giles, Shan Yang, M. A. R. Sarker, S. Watauchi, M. Nagao, I. Tanaka, D. A. Tryk, A. Manivannan, Larry E. Halliburton

Faculty Publications

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is used to investigate the triplet (S = 1) ground state of the neutral oxygen vacancy in bulk rutile TiO₂ crystals. This shallow donor consists of an oxygen vacancy with two nearest-neighbor, exchange-coupled ³⁺ ions located along the [001] direction and equidistant from the vacancy. The spins of the two trapped electrons, one at each ³⁺ ion, align parallel to give the S = 1 state. These neutral oxygen vacancies are formed near 25 K in as-grown oxidized TiO₂ crystals by illuminating with sub-band-gap 442 nm laser light. The angular dependence of the EPR …

Comparative Analysis Of Reconstructed Image Quality In A Simulated Chromotomographic Imager, Ryan L. Tervo

Theses and Dissertations

A hyperspectral chromotomographic instrument has been developed to determine the spatial and spectral distribution of a target. It does this by recording the dispersed images produced by a rotating direct vision prism with a high speed camera. The recorded images are processed through a tomographic reconstruction algorithm to produce a reconstructed hypercube. A physics-based system model was developed to investigate three areas. The first was how the prism angle selection and range of angles used impacted the reconstructed image quality. The second was an assessment of a new iterative reconstruction algorithm developed to remove artifacts produced in the Back Projection …

Opportunistic Access In Frequency Hopping Cognitive Radio Networks, Ethan S. Hennessey

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers in the area of cognitive radio often investigate the utility of dynamic spectrum access as a means to make more efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum. Many studies have been conducted to find ways in which a secondary user can occupy spectrum licensed to a primary user in a manner which does not disrupt the primary user's performance. This research investigates the use of opportunistic access in a frequency hopping radio to mitigate the interference caused by other transmitters in a contentious environment such as the unlicensed 2.4 GHz region. Additionally, this work demonstrates how dynamic spectrum access …

Fuzz Pedal Design Project, Kyle Schaefer

Biomedical Engineering

The purpose of this project was to design and build a high quality, yet affordable, analog “fuzz” guitar pedal kit to be sold to other members of Cal Poly’s Audio Engineering Society. The Audio Engineering Society (AES) has hosted pedal-building projects in the past, but my project partner Michael Twardochleb first had the idea to build an original kit to be officially affiliated with the club. Michael had built other pedals of his own in the past, making him an excellent partner to have for this project. Our design was based on the classic Vox Tonebender’s circuit, which was in …

Pulse Electrodeposition Of Pd-Ni Alloy Nanoparticles For Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Formic Acid, Fang-Zu Yang, Jun-Pei Yue, Zhong-Qun Tian, Shao-Min Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Pd-Ni alloy nanoparticles with nickel atomic contents of 12.0%, 16.4% and 22.6% were successfully electrodeposited from a Pd-Ni alloy electrolyte by square wave pulse plating. The alloy nanoparticles were in the spherical shape with a diameter of 50 ~ 80 nm. As the growth potential of the alloy was negatively shifted, the nickel content of the alloy was increased, and the size of the nanoparticles was almost the same, whereas the number, the degree of crosslinking and the real active area of the nanoparticles were increased. As the nickel content of the alloy nanoparticles increased, the peak current for …

Fabrication And Impedance Performance Of Gradient Lani0.6Fe0.4O3-δ-Gd0.2Ce0.8O2 Composite Cathodes For Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, Yang Li, Bo Huang, Meng Yuan, Zhi-Qiu Zhang, Zong-Yao Liu, Xu-Chen Tang, Xin-Jian Zhu

Journal of Electrochemistry

A LNF-GDC composite cathode with a gradual change in the composition between ScSZ electrolyte and LNF cathode was fabricated to reduce the cathode polarization resistance (R_p). The gradual change in composition between ScSZ electrolyte and LNF cathode shows the decreases in the charge transfer resistance (R_ct) and gas phase diffusion resistance (R_d). The results revealed that the Rp value, measuring 0.452 Ω·cm² at 750 °C, was the lowest for LNF-GDC composite cathodes with three layers and gradient changes in composition between ScSZ and LNF (Cathode C),, whereas the Rp value of 70%LNF-30%GDC composite …

Electrochemical Performance Of Si-C Composites Prepared By Discharge-Plasma Assisted Milling, Yu-Long Chen, Ren-Zong Hu, Hui Liu, Wei Sun, Min Zhu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Silicon-carbon (Si-C) composites, with microstructure of multi-scaled Si particles being homogenously dispersed in micro-sized carbon matrix, had been prepared by dielectric barrier discharge plasma assisted two-step milling for the first time. The Si-C composite anode had a discharge capacity of 1259 mAh·g^-1 at the first cycle, while the capacity retained 474 and 396 mAh·g^-1 after 20 and 100 cycles, respectively. Charge-discharge curves and AC impedance response indicated that both silicon and carbon phases in the composite anode were involved during the lithiation/delithiation reactions and the electron transport resistance in the Si-C composite anode was much lower than that …

Study On Carbon Supported Pd Catalysts Modified By Phosphomolybdic Acid For H2O2 Electrocatalytic Reduction, Li-Mei Sun, Cheng Zhang, Ying-Rong Bao, Hong-Xia Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Pd/C catalyst was prepared with the chemical reduction method, and phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) was modified on the Pd/C catalyst using the dipping method. The compositions and structures of the Pd/C and Pd/C modified by phosphomolybdic acid (PMA-Pd/C) catalysts were characterized with X-ray diffraction and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy analyses. The electrocatalytic activity and stability of the catalysts for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) were studied using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The results showed that the phosphomolybdic acid was tightly fixed on the surface of Pd/C catalyst through the chemical interaction. The eletrocatalytic activity of …

Design And Development Of A Novel Glucose Biosensor Based On The Ferrocene-Functionalized Fe3O4 Nanoparticles/Carbon Nanotubes/Chitosan Nanocomposite Film Modified Electrode, Hua-Ping Peng, Dai-Jun Zha, Wei Chen, Ai-Lin Liu, Xin-Hua Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

A novel platform for the fabrication of glucose biosensor was successfully constructed by entrapping glucose oxidase (GOD) in a ferrocene monocarboxylic acid-aminated Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles conjugate (FMC-AFNPs)/chitosan (CS)/multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) nanocomposite. The formation of FMC-AFNPs could effectively prevent the leakage of ferrocene and retain its electrochemical activity. This GOD/FMC-AFNPs/CS/MWNTs matrix provided a biocompatible microenvironment for retaining the native activity of the immobilized GOD. Moreover, the presence of MWNTs enhanced the charge-transport properties of the composite and facilitated electron transfer between the GOD and the electrode for the electrocatalysis of glucose. Under the optimal conditions the designed …

Preparation Of High Performance Porous Silicon Powders By Etching Al-Si Alloy In Acid Solution For Lithium Ion Battery, Shi-Ji Hao, Chun-Li Li, Kai Zhu, Ping Zhang, Zhi-Yu Jiang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Porous silicon powders prepared by etching Al-Si alloy using an acid solution was reported in the first time. The morphology and structure of as-obtained material were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. It was found that the spongy porous silicon powders presented well crystalline structure and consisted of nano-Si particles. The particle size of porous Si powders was about 20 μm, and the specific surface area was 102.7 m²·g^-1. The electrochemical properties of porous silicon powders were evaluated as an anode material for lithium ion batteries. The material proportion in the …

Synthesis And Electrochemical Properties Of Lico1-XMgXMno4 And Lico1-XAlXMno4 (X= 0, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1) As Positive Materials For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Mei-Ling You, Qing-Song Tong, Xiu-Hua Li, Min Lin, Xing-Kang Huang, Yong Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Al-doped and Mg-doped LiCoMnO₄ materials were synthesized through solid-state reaction. The effects of doping amounts of Mg and Al on the initial capacities, discharge plateaus, and cycle performances were investigated. The morphologies and structures of the as-prepared materials were studied by scanning electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. The results indicate that the as-prepared samples were composed of uniform, well-crystallized particles. The pristine LiCoMnO₄ possessed an initial capacity of 87.0 mAh·g^-1, while LiCo_0.98Mg_0.02MnO₄ and LiCo_0.98Al_0.02MnO₄ delivered 91.3 and 93.6 mAh·g^-1, respectively. The proper …

Electrochemical Oxidation Of Ammonium Nitrite In Absorption Solution Of Flue Gas, Yong-Hong Lu, Xiao-Bo Dong, Li-Sha Wang, Yan Liu, Chen-Jian Zhu, Hai-Bo Xu

Journal of Electrochemistry

In order to make full uses of ammonium nitrite in absorption solution from flue gas simultaneous desulfurization, denitrification and demercurization processes, here the electrochemical oxidation method was used to transform ammonium nitrite into ammonium nitrate. By using polarization curve, cyclic voltammogram and galvanostatic methods, suitable electrode materials were evaluated and chosen. The influence of electrolyte composition was discussed and the appropriate process parameters were obtained. Finally, the effect of electrochemical oxidation was confirmed by chemical analysis method. In 0.05 mol·L^-1 NaNO₂ + 0.05 mol·L^-1 (NH₄)₂SO₄ simulated absorption solution (5 L, pH = …

Preparation Of Pd/Tio2/C Catalyst And Its Electrocatalytic Performance In Basic Solution For Ethanol Oxidation, Qiao-Xia Li, Yi-Chao Yang, Ming-Shuang Liu, Hong-Min Mao, Qun-Jie Xu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nanoparticles TiO₂ were prepared by hydrothermal method using precursor tetrabutyl titanate. The Pd/TiO₂/C catalyst was synthesized by liquid phase reducing method supported on nano TiO₂ and Vulcan carbon XC-72. The Pd/TiO₂/C catalyst was characterized by XRD, TEM, cyclic voltammetry, and chronopotentiometry. XRD confirmed the face-centered cubic structure of Pd particles, and TEM indicated that Pd particles (size 3 ~ 4 nm) dispersed uniformly on TiO₂ and carbon XC-72. The results from cyclic voltammogram and chronopotentiogram showed the higher ethanol oxidation activity and stability of Pd/TiO₂/C catalyst (20% Pd) as compared with …

Log-Periodic Dipole Array Antenna As Chipless Rfid Tag, S. Gupta, Gui Jun Li, R. C. Roberts, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A passive chipless radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag based on a log-periodic (LP) dipole array is proposed, where the tailorable bandrejection property of the LP aperture is utilised to realise a large number of codes. The proposed tag principle is successfully validated by measurements, where the absence and presence of the band-rejection is shown to carry the bit information. Its fabrication simplicity is also demonstrated by its implementation on a flexible substrate. Finally, two different tag formation schemes, based on a specific set of resonance suppressions, are discussed in detail. © 2014 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

High-Resolution Mri For 3d Biomechanical Modeling: Signal Optimization Through Rf Coil Design And Mr Relaxometry, James A. Badal

Theses and Dissertations

Computed Tomography (CT) is often used for building 3D biomechanical models of human anatomy. This method exposes the subject to a significant x-ray dose and provides limited soft-tissue contrast. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a potential alternative to CT for this application, as MRI offers significantly better soft-tissue contrast and does not expose the subject to ionizing radiation. However, MRI requires long scan times to achieve 3D images at sufficient resolution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). These long scan times can make subject motion a problem. This thesis describes my work to reduce scan time while achieving sufficient …

Fiber Optic Modulator, Christian A. Fox, Dr. Richard H. Selfridge

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the past decade, much research has been invested in the optics field to develop high-speed optical modulators. In particular, efforts have been directed toward combining the fast electrical responses of nonlinear optical polymers with the light guiding characteristics of fiber optics.1 At Brigham Young University, recent efforts have been made to develop a low-loss polarimetric modulator integrated onto a standard silicon wafer. This paper will discuss the fabrication process, present experimental results, and suggest further improvements for the fiber optic modulator.

Ontology Driven Model For An Engineered Agile Healthcare System, Balaji Ramadoss

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare is in urgent need of an effective way to manage the complexity it of its systems and to prepare quickly for immense changes in the economics of healthcare delivery and reimbursement. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) releases policies affecting inpatient and long-term care hospitals policies that directly affect reimbursement and payment rates. One of these policy changes, a quality-reporting program called Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR), will effect approximately 3,400 acute-care and 440 long-term care hospitals. IQR sets guidelines and measures that will contain financial incentives and penalties based on the quality of care provided. CMS, the …

Computer Speech Recognition With Neural Networks, Roger Scott Twede

Journal of Undergraduate Research

While attempts to create speech recognition systems have surfaced over several decades, obstacles limit the capabilities and performance of current systems. Nonetheless, the promise of incredible benefits and myriads of applications drive the technical world to continue the attempts.

Multimedia Communications, David Stonely, Lawrence Tolman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

People who work at an office or home could use more efficient telephone systems. A popular device to help people with telephone communications is the answering machine. However, popular answering machines can only provide generic messaging to all callers. It was proposed to program a personal computer to be an Intelligent Answering Machine that would play selected messages to certain callers using Caller ID to determine different callers. Using funds provided by the Office of Research and Creative Work, a Digital Signal Processor computer add-in board, the IBM Mwave, was purchased along with its development software to provide a basis …

Resonant Tunneling Of Gaussian Beams, Travis Elgin Oliphant

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Interaction of Gaussian beams with multi-layer dielectric structures has been the subject of numerous studies since Goos and Hiinchen first reported their findings [1]. In addition, resonant tunneling has been a source of considerable investigation both as It applies to quantum electronics and with regard to electromagnetic phenomena. Transistor [2] and a waveguide polarizer [3] have been suggested to take advantage of the resonant tunneling effects of a plane-wave impinging on a multilayer dielectric. The purpose of this study is to further examine the possibility of such applications of resonant tunneling phenomena by extending the analysis to finite width …

Analysis Of Enhanced Resolution Ers·1 Scatterometer Imagery Over The Canadian Boreal Forest, Clarence J. Wilson Iii

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The European Remote Sensing satellite, ERS-1, carries a scatterometer radar which measures the radar backscattering coefficient (rr.) over the entire earth. The primary purpose of this measurement is to determine wind speeds and directions over the ocean. Recently, however, scientists have begun considering the use of ERS-1 backscatter measurements over land surfaces (Mougin et a!., 1995; Kennett and Li, 1989a; Kennett and Ll, 1989b). The ERS-1 scatterometer measurement data provides 50 km resolution of these surfaces and repeated coverage every 4-10 days. While this temporal repetivity is very good, the spatial resolution is extremely low and thus limits applications of …

Fuzzy Logic Control Of An Inverted Pendulum, Sean Lynn Mckell

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A little-known phenomenon recently explored by a few engineers seems, to some, to be a little out of focus. This phenomenon, dubbed “fuzzy logic” by its inventor, Lotfi A. Zadeh, is an oxymoron to mostit connotes something ethereal and misplaced in a field such as engineering which demands precision in order to produce results which work and do something useful. This “fuzzy” thinking, as an engineer might say, should instead be found in the circles of those humanists who often are immersed in endless debates about whether life is real or not.

Parallel Independent Component Analysis With Reference For Imaging Genetics: A Semi-Blind Multivariate Approach, Jiayu Chen

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Imaging genetics is an emerging field dedicated to the study of genetic underpinnings of brain structure and function. Over the last decade, brain imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been increasingly applied to measure morphometry, task-based function and connectivity in living brains. Meanwhile, high-throughput genotyping employing genome-wide techniques has made it feasible to sample the entire genome of a substantial number of individuals. While there is growing interest in image-wide and genome-wide approaches which allow unbiased searches over a large range of variants, one of the most challenging problems is the correction for the huge number of …

Exploring Demand Flexibility In Heterogeneous Aggregators: An Lmp-Based Pricing Scheme, Chenye Wu, Yiyu Shi, Soummya Kar

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With the proposed penetration of electric vehicles and advanced metering technology, the demand side is foreseen to play a major role in flexible energy consumption scheduling. On the other hand, the past several years has witnessed utility companies' growing interests to integrate more renewable energy resources. These renewable resources, for example, wind or solar, due to their intermittent nature, brought great uncertainty to the power grid system. In this article, we propose a mechanism that attempts to mitigate the grid operational uncertainty induced by renewable energies by properly exploiting demand flexibility with the help of advanced smart-metering technology. To address …

Educational Software For Toddler-Age Children Castle: Computer Aided Steps To Learning, Scott D. Frel, Benjamin W. Holladay

Journal of Undergraduate Research

CAStLe was developed during the Spring of 1995. The primary purose of the project was to complete the requirements for the mandatory senior project all Electrical and Computer Engineering majors must complete. With the support provided by the Office of Research and Creative Activities, this project was enhanced with sound, graphics and a friendly user interface using some of the best product development tools available to date.

Computer Simulation Of Synthetic Aperture Radar, Adam Robertson, Dr. David V. Arnold

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Microwave Earth Remote Sensing group in the BYU Department of Electrical Engineering has developed several Synthetic Aperture Radars (SAR). SARs transmit many short bursts of energy from a satellite or airplane. The bursts of energy are reflected by whatever is in their path. Some of the reflected signals return to the same place that they were transmitted from and are sampled by the radar system. Materials reflect the pulses differently depending on their roughness and their electromagnetic properties, similar to how light bouncing off an object may be bright or dull, blue or red. The received pulses are processed …

Building Software Radios Using Fpgas, Preston A. Jackson, Dr. Brad L. Hutchings

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The ability to implement a commercial AM and FM radio receiver on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) has only recently become possible. FPGAs, the bottleneck technology, have made recent gains is speed and size that allow a signal demodulator to be designed completely in software. As shown below, two additional conversion systems are needed beyond the software demodulator, namely the analog to digital conversion system and the digital to analog conversion system.

Project Summary For The Wireless Heartbeat Monitor, Brad Beinholt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Thank you for your support of the Wireless Heartbeat Monitor project. This has been an exciting project that has given me experience in wireless communications and in medical instrumentation. It has introduced me to microprocessor control and given me training in project planning and followthrough. The Wireless Heartbeat Monitor senses a person’s heartbeat by passing light through the individual’s finger or earlobe. Blood circulating though the body, moving in pulses as the heart and the muscles surrounding the veins and arteries contract, filters this light. Creating a varying electrical signal, a photo resistor senses the slight fluctuations in light leaving …