Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Dual-Input Dc-To-Dc Converter Topologies And Control Schemes, Shaun Alan Stickel

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Dual-input DC-to-DC converters are power supplies that draw power from two sources simultaneously and deliver power to a single load, the ratio of power drawn from each source and be held constant with changes in the load. Applications for dual-input power supplies are computer systems, mobile systems using energy harvesting, and systems needing redundant power supplies. This writing covers the operation and control of dual-input DC-to-DC converters that implement a non-inverting buck-boost function and utilize only a single power path.

Traditionally, a dual-input power supply is created by placing two standard power paths in parallel. This adds considerable control complexity …

Power Protection Analysis For A Ten Bus System, Sean Hanna

Electrical Engineering

Each power system built in the industry requires a protection plan. Undetected faults in a power system can contribute to hazardous conditions, overheating of power devices, low or high system voltages, unbalanced conditions, and blackouts. This senior project is the design of a protection plan for a power system using the software Electric Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP). With ten buses, five transformers, two generators, two motors, and six transmission lines, there are many possibilities for a fault to occur. The Load flow and fault analysis are studied before the system is protected. All components of the system are protected using …

Mohat Tool To Illustrate Diode And Transistor Modes Of Operation Using Ltspice, Getu D. Engdaw

Electrical Engineering

This project develops a tool to identify the modes of operation of diodes and transistors in a circuit. The MoHAT tool receives schematics or circuit files generated from LTspice, and it determines the state of each diode and transistor. This tool illustrates diodes, BJT and MOS regions of operations using text or graphics accordingly. The tool also suggests necessary adjustments to switch from one mode of operation to another upon users request. Furthermore, the tool specifies if a transistor functions in amplification region. The MoHAT tool compares the nodal voltages of an element and determines the mode of operation.

Utilization Of High Efficient Single Phase Motor, Kevin Hua

Electrical Engineering

A Smith Motor is a three phase induction motor that has shunt capacitors parallel to its induction coils. The shunt capacitors provide balance and allow the motor to operate using a single phase power supply. Preliminary studies show that the Smith Motor is more efficient than a single phase induction motor powered by a single phase power supply, but less efficient than a three phase induction motor powered by a three phase power supply. The Smith Motor’s advantage is its ability to operate from a single phase power source instead of having a three phase power source installed. Its limitation …

Computer Aided Brain Tumor Edge Extraction Using Morphological Operations, Warqaa Shaher Alazawee

Masters Theses

Detecting the precise boundary of the area containing a recognized brain tumor is a complex problem and must be addressed since it applies to many medical modalities and tumor types. The objective of this thesis is to provide an efficient algorithm for detecting edges of brain tumors to help neurosurgeons identify the border of the critical area and distinguish the precise margin of the tumor from the rest of the brain tissue during the surgery. This thesis work exploits MRI brain tumor images as a tool to aid surgeons. MRI image segmentation is an essential step as a preliminary process …

An Integrated Framework For Cardiac Sounds Diagnosis, Zichun Tong

Masters Theses

The Phonocardiogram (PCG) signal contains valuable information about the cardiac condition and is a useful tool in recognizing dysfunction and heart failure. By analyzing the PCG, early detection and diagnosis of heart diseases can be accomplished since many pathological conditions of the cardiovascular system cause murmurs or abnormal heart sounds. This thesis presents an algorithm to classify normal and abnormal heart sound signals using PCG. The proposed analysis is based on a framework composed of several statistical signal analysis techniques such as wavelet based de-noising, energy-based segmentation, Hilbert-Huang transform based feature extraction, and Support Vector Machine based classification. The MATLAB …

Study Of Machine Learning Methods In Intelligent Transportation Systems, Vishal Jha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Machine learning and data mining are currently hot topics of research and are applied in database, artificial intelligence, statistics, and so on to discover valuable knowledge and the patterns in big data available to users. Data mining is predominantly about processing unstructured data and extracting meaningful information from them for end users to help take business decisions. Machine learning techniques use mathematical algorithms to find a pattern or extract meaning out from big data. The popularity of such techniques in analyzing business problems has been enhanced by the arrival of big data.

The main objective of this thesis is to …

Designing, Building And Testing A Solar Thermoelectric Generation, Steg, For Energy Delivery To Remote Residential Areas In Developing Regions, Yacouba Moumouni

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

New alternatives and inventive renewable energy techniques which encompass both generation and power management solutions are fundamental for meeting remote residential energy supply and demand today, especially if the grid is quasi-inexistent. Solar thermoelectric generators can be a cost-effective alternative to photovoltaics for a remote residential household power supply. A complete solar thermoelectric energy harvesting system is presented for energy delivery to remote residential areas in developing regions. To this end, the entire system was built, modeled, and then validated with LTspice simulator software via thermal-to-electrical analogy schemes. Valuable data in conjunction with two novel LTspice circuits were obtained, showing …

Configuration Scrubbing Architectures For High-Reliability Fpga Systems, Aaron Gerald Stoddard

Theses and Dissertations

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are being used more frequently in space applications because of their reconfigurability and intensive processing capabilities. FPGAs in environments like space are susceptible to ionizing radiation which can cause Single Event Upsets (SEUs) in the FPGA's configuration memory. These upsets may cause the programmed user design on the FPGA to deviate from its normal behavior. Space missions cannot afford to allow important data processing applications to become corrupted due to these radiation upsets.Configuration scrubbing is an upset mitigation technique that detects and corrects upsets in an FPGA's configuration memory. Configuration scrubbing periodically monitors an FPGA's …

Object Detection And Tracking In Wide Area Surveillance Using Thermal Imagery, Santosh Bhusal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The main objective behind this thesis is to examine how existing vision-based detection and tracking algorithms perform in thermal imagery-based video surveillance. While color-based surveillance has been extensively studied, these techniques can not be used during low illumination, at night, or with lighting changes and shadows which limits their applicability. The main contributions in this thesis are (1) the creation of a new color-thermal dataset, (2) a detailed performance comparison of different color-based detection and tracking algorithms on thermal data and (3) the proposal of an adaptive neural network for false detection rejection.

Since there are not many publicly available …

Fast Transient Digitizer And Pcb Interface, Kevin Thomas Buck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis outlines the design, layout and characterization of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and a printed circuit board (PCB) designed to discretize an input signal and read out the data at a user desired interval to replicate the input signal at a lower frequency or pulse rate with no quantization error. The ASIC for this task utilizes 128 individual capacitive storage cells to capture data at approximately 200 ps intervals, thus the chip can capture approximately 25 ns of an input signal. The read out rate can be adjusted to the desired rate by the user by changing …

Performance Analysis Of Hybrid Algorithms For Lossless Compression Of Climate Data, Bharath Chandra Mummadisetty

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Climate data is very important and at the same time, voluminous. Every minute a new entry is recorded for different climate parameters in climate databases around the world. Given the explosive growth of data that needs to be transmitted and stored, there is a necessity to focus on developing better transmission and storage technologies. Data compression is known to be a viable and effective solution to reduce bandwidth and storage requirements of bulk data. So, the goal is to develop the best compression methods for climate data.

The methodology used is based on predictive analysis. The focus is to implement …

The Performance Of Quaternary Amplitude Modulation With Quaternary Spreading In The Presence Of Interfering Signals, Allison Manhard

All Theses

Multiple-access digital communications is considered with direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DS-SS) quadrature amplitude modulation and quaternary spreading in each transmission. Each transmitted signal undergoes attenuation and a delay at a receiver in the additive white Gaussian noise channel. The receiver uses coherent demodulation with a correlation detector synchronized to the one of the K received signals so that the K - 1 other transmissions act as interference. The average probability of error at the output of the detector is determined using Monte Carlo simulation and compared with an approximation in which the interference component in each detection statistic is approximated by a …

Single Particle And Biological Cell Detection By A Radio Frequency Interferometer, Zheng Wang

All Theses

This thesis presents a series of studies on single particle and biological cell detection and differentiation by a radio frequency (RF) interferometer system. Several techniques, such as dielectrophoresis (DEP), time domain method and 3D focusing have been illustrated and investigated to demonstrate the capacity of interrogating the electric property of single particle or biological cell by the RF interferometer. Silica particles and live yeast cells are trapped at the sensing area by DEP force and detected by the RF sensor. Solutions of particle mixtures (~4 μm silica and ~10 μm polystyrene) and cell mixtures (viable and non-viable yeast cells, normal …

Integrated Coherent Combining Of Angled-Grating Broad-Area Lasers: Design, Fabrication And Characterization, Yunsong Zhao

All Dissertations

In this thesis, we proposed, fabricated and demonstrated the coherent beam combining of angled-grating broad-area lasers. We have obtained the simultaneous coherent beam combining and single transverse mode operation completely on chip without any external phase control/components. Since the single transverse mode is the key to obtain diffraction-limit beam quality and high brightness, the proposed design is a good candidate for high power and high brightness applications. In the proposed coherently combined laser array, we use the angled-grating broad-area laser as the building block and overlap the adjacent emitters at one facet. The overlapped region becomes a 2D coupling region. …

A Special Protection Scheme Utilizing Trajectory Sensitivity Analysis In Power Transmission, Dan Suriyamongkol

All Dissertations

In recent years, new measurement techniques have provided opportunities to improve the North American Power System observability, control and protection. This dissertation discusses the formulation and design of a special protection scheme based on a novel utilization of trajectory sensitivity techniques with inputs consisting of system state variables and parameters. Trajectory sensitivity analysis (TSA) has been used in previous publications as a method for power system security and stability assessment, and the mathematical formulation of TSA lends itself well to some of the time domain power system simulation techniques. Existing special protection schemes often have limited sets of goals and …

An Approach To Automotive Electrification And Testing, Christopher Rowe

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In order to compete in the EcoCAR 2 competition, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has redesigned the Powertrain of a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. This endeavor was made possible by the EcoCAR 2 competition sponsored by the Department of Energy, General Motors, and Argonne National Laboratory. The Powertrain was changed from a conventional internal combustion engine with a start/stop capability, to a fully electric Powertrain, with a diesel generator, and plug in charging capability. This paper will cover the electrical work performed on the vehicle during the summer prior to year three of the competition, EcoCAR 2 …

Model Development And Validation For Wind Generation Transmission Systems, Mahmood Shihadeh Saadeh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this research a new benchmark system is proposed for wind energy transmission systems. New model development, validation, and calibration methods for power transmission systems are proposed and implemented as well. First, a model reduction criteria is chosen based on electrical interconnection and geographical information. Model development is then done using reduction techniques on an operation model provided by a transmission operator based on the chosen criteria. Then model validation is performed using actual PMU synchrophasor measurements provided by a utility company. The model development and validation process ensures the accuracy of the developed model and makes for a realistic …

8 Bit Split Array Based Charge Scaling Digital To Analog Converter With Rail To Rail Buffered Output, Sai Kiran Akula

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the design, simulation and layout of a silicon carbide (SiC) 8 bit split array charge scaling digital to analog convertor (DAC). The converter consists of the charge scaling capacitor chain with two operational trans-conductance amplifiers (op amp) in voltage follower configuration. The op amps used in the design have the input common mode ranges of 0 to 11.2 V and 4.7V to 14.5V respectively. Additional logic circuit topologies are designed, which help to switch the op amps when needed to provide a rail to rail unity gain at the output. As the design is based on the …

Automated Multi-Modal Search And Rescue Using Boosted Histogram Of Oriented Gradients, Matthew A. Lienemann

Master's Theses

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provides a platform for many automated tasks and with an ever increasing advances in computing, these tasks can be more complex. The use of UAVs is expanded in this thesis with the goal of Search and Rescue (SAR), where a UAV can assist fast responders to search for a lost person and relay possible search areas back to SAR teams. To identify a person from an aerial perspective, low-level Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) feature descriptors are used over a segmented region, provided from thermal data, to increase classification speed. This thesis also introduces a dataset …

High-Frequency Transformer Design For Solid-State Transformers In Electric Power Distribution Systems, Roderick Javier Garcia Montoya

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to present a high- or medium-frequency transformer design methodology for Solid-State Transformer (SST) applications. SSTs have been proposed as a replacement of the traditional 50/60 Hz transformer in applications demanding high-power density. Moreover, due to the high penetration of distributed generation, DC grids, energy storage systems, and sensitive loads, SSTs have been considered as an enabling technology for envisioned future energy systems. These applications demand additional functionalities that may not be achieved with traditional transformers. For example, active power flow control, harmonic suppression, voltage regulation, voltage sag compensation, and reduced size and volume.

In …

Enhanced-Resolution Processing And Applications Of The Ascat Scatterometer, Richard D. Lindsley

Theses and Dissertations

The ASCAT scatterometer measures the Earth surface microwave radar backscatter in order to estimate the near-surface winds over the oceans. While the spatial resolution of the conventional applications is sufficient for many purposes, other geoscience applications benefit from an improved spatial resolution. Specialized algorithms may be applied to the scatterometer data in order to reconstruct the radar backscatter on a high-resolution grid. Image reconstruction requires the spatial response function (SRF) of each measurement, which is not reported with the measurement data. To address this need, I precisely model the SRF incorporating (1) the antenna beam response, (2) the processing performed …

High Temperature Silicon Carbide Mixed-Signal Circuits For Integrated Control And Data Acquisition, Ashfaqur Rahman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wide bandgap semiconductor materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide have grown in popularity as a substrate for power devices for high temperature and high voltage applications over the last two decades. Recent research has been focused on the design of integrated circuits for protection and control in these wide bandgap materials. The ICs developed in SiC and GaN can not only complement the power devices in high voltage and high frequency applications, but can also be used for standalone high temperature control and data acquisition circuitry.

This dissertation work aims to explore the possibilities in high temperature …

Design And Development Of A Wearable Wireless Health Monitoring System: A Smart Watch Approach, Keerthi Paranikumar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

According to Statistics, every year, about 610,000 people die because of heart disease in United States of America. (i.e. 1 in every 4 deaths.*) Heart disease is common for both men and women. Annually, about 370,000 people die because of coronary heart disease, which is the most common type of heart disease [1]. About 735,000 Americans have heart attack every year. In this, 210,000 people gets heart attack who already has heart problems and 525,000 people get heart attack for the first time [2]. Not many people know that they have heart problems. Around 47% of the people in United …

Wireless Monitoring Of Driver's Pulse Rate And Temperature Using Hand Gloves Approach, Rohith Reddy Narala

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is growing concern about dangers correlated with driving, for people with known cardiovascular diseases. However, the association between having a chronic cardiovascular disease and being involved in a motor vehicle crash remains controversial. This study aims to monitor people with known medical emergencies or other medical conditions while driving [1]. It also helps the co-passengers to be cautious while the person is driving with an abnormal health condition. Designed it to be convenient and also can be easily adaptable by the end user.

The proposed project focuses on a wearable sensor glove that equipped with a pulse rate sensor, …

On Reliability Of Smart Grid Neighborhood Area Networks, Shengjie Xu, Yi Qian, Rose Qingyang Hu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

With the integration of the advanced computing and communication technologies, smart grid system is dedicated to enhance the efficiency and the reliability of future power systems greatly through renewable energy resources, as well as distributed communication intelligence and demand response. Along with advanced features of smart grid, the reliability of smart grid communication system emerges to be a critical issue, since millions of smart devices are interconnected through communication networks throughout critical power facilities, which has an immediate and direct impact on the reliability of the entire power infrastructure. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of reliability issues …

Electrical & Computer Engineering News, Georgia Southern University

Electrical & Computer Engineering: News & Publications (2014-2023)

• Dr. Danda B. Rawat was Recognized as Outstanding Research Faculty 2015

Communication Between Virtual Emulation System And Plc Modbus/Tcp Protocol, Huang Benjamin Huang

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Huang (Benjamin) Huang on November 20, 2015.

Multidimensional Waveform Shaping In Multicarrier Systems, Ertugrul Guvenkaya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Constantly increasing demand for wireless communications in various applications has always led to new ways of modulating the radio frequency (RF) carrier signal by advancing waveform structure throughout generations. Although communication data rates are limited by the theoretical capacity, specific signaling designs for the signal that experiences natural and artificial effects in the transmission medium such as multipath fading channel, hardware impairments and multiuser environment promised better solutions in providing improved wireless access to various type of users and networks. Besides communication capacity, broadcasting nature of radio signals poses the information security as another main concern in wireless communications. In …

Optical Communication Using Hybrid Micro Electro Mechanical Structures (Mems) And Commercial Corner Cube Retroreflector (Ccr), Sunny Kedia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a free-space, long-range, passive optical communication system that uses electrostatically modulated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures coupled with a glass total internal reflection (TIR)-type corner cube retroreflector (CCR) as a non-emitting data transmitter. A CCR consists of three mirrors orthogonal to each other, so that the incident beam is reflected back to the incident beam, source. The operational concept is to have a MEMS modulator fusion with TIR CCR, such that the modulators are working periodically to disrupt the evanescent waves at the air interface of one of the three back glass faces of a TIR CCR. The …