Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Probing The Wave Nature Of Light-Matter Interaction, D. E. Boone, C. H. Jackson, A. T. Swecker, J. S. Hergenrather, K. S. Wenger, O. Kokhan, Balša Terzić, I. Melnikov, I. N. Ivanov, E. C. Stevens, G. Scarel

Physics Faculty Publications

The wave-particle duality of light is a controversial topic in modern physics. In this context, this work highlights the ability of the wave-nature of light on its own to account for the conservation of energy in light-matter interaction. Two simple fundamental properties of light as wave are involved: its period and its power P. The power P depends only on the amplitude of the wave’s electric and magnetic fields (Poynting’s vector), and can easily be measured with a power sensor for visible and infrared lasers. The advantage of such a wave-based approach is that it unveils unexpected effects of light’s …

Cryogenic Probe Station At Old Dominion University Center For Accelerator Science, Junki Makita, Jean R. Delayen, Alex Gurevich, Gianluigi Ciovati

Physics Faculty Publications

With a growing effort in research and development of an alternative material to bulk Nb for a superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavity, it is important to have a cost effective method to benchmark new materials of choice. At Old Dominion University's Center for Accelerator Science, a cryogenic probe station (CPS) will be used to measure the response of superconductor samples under RF fields. The setup consists of a closed-cycle refrigerator for cooling a sample wafer to a cryogenic temperature, a superconducting magnet providing a field parallel to the sample, and DC probes in addition to RF probes. The RF probes will …

Applying Convolutional Neural Networks For The Source Reconstruction, He Ming Yao, Wei E.I. Sha, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper proposes a novel source reconstruction method (SRM) based on the convolutional neural network algorithm. The conventional SRM method usually requires the scattered field data oversampled compared to that of target object grids. To achieve higher accuracy, the conventional SRM numerical system is highly singular. To overcome these difficulties, we model the equivalent source reconstruction process using the machine learning. The equivalent sources of the target are constructed by a convolutional neural networks (ConvNets). It allows us to employ less scattered field samples or radar cross section (RCS) data. And the ill-conditioned numerical system is effectively avoided. Numerical examples …

Application-Adaptable Chipless Rfid Tag, Katelyn Brinker, Reza Zoughi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Chipless RFID has gained prominence due to its application versatility and cost and complexity advantages over traditional RFID. However, chipless RFID tags are typically designed for a specific application instead of being deployable for a multitude of applications. In this paper, a new approach to adaptable chipless RFID tag is proposed that can be optimized for a variety of applications, including materials characterization with tags as embedded sensors. Additionally, the designed approach renders tags that can be interrogated with a linearly polarized probe and achieves bit densities up to 27.57 bits/cm 2,

Synchrotron Radiation X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy And Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies Of Insb Thin Films On Gaas Grown By Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition, Yingda Qian, Yuanlan Liang, Xuguang Luo, Kaiyan He, Wenhong Sun, Hao Hsiung Lin, Devki N. Talwar, Ting Shan Chan, Ian Ferguson, Lingyu Wan, Qingyi Yang, Zhe Chuan Feng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A series of ultrathin InSb films grown on GaAs by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition with different V/III ratios were investigated thoroughly using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), X-ray diffraction, and synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The results predicted that InSb films on GaAs grown under too high or too low V/III ratios are with poor quality, while those grown with proper V/III ratios of 4.20-4.78 possess the high crystalline quality. The temperature-dependent SE (20-300°C) and simulation showed smooth variations of SE spectra, optical constants (n, k, e1, and ϵ2), and critical energy points (E1, E1+Δ1, E′0, E2, and E′1) for InSb …

Analysis Of Evolutionary Algorithms In The Control Of Path Planning Problems, Pavlos Androulakakis

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the ability of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) to develop near optimal solutions to three different path planning control problems. First, we begin by examining the evolution of an open-loop controller for the turn-circle intercept problem. We then extend the evolutionary methodology to develop a solution to the closedloop Dubins Vehicle problem. Finally, we attempt to evolve a closed-loop solution to the turn constrained pursuit evasion problem. For each of the presented problems, a custom controller representation is used. The goal of using custom controller representations (as opposed to more standard techniques such as …

Leveraging 3d Models For Sar-Based Navigation In Gps-Denied Environments, Zachary A. Reid

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This thesis considers the use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to provide absolute platform position information in scenarios where GPS signals may be degraded, jammed, or spoofed. Two algorithms are presented, and both leverage known 3D ground structure in an area of interest, e.g. provided by LIDAR data, to provide georeferenced position information to airborne SAR platforms. The first approach is based on the wide-aperture layover properties of elevated reflectors, while the second approach is based on correlating backprojected imagery with digital elevation imagery. Both of these approaches constitute the system we have designated: SARNAV. Building on 3D backprojection, localization …

Switching Neural Network Systems For Nonlinear Tracking, Manoj Ghimire

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we consider the problem of tracking in complex nonlinear dynamical systems. While the Kalman filter is known to be the mean-squared error optimal tracker under linear dynamics and linear measurements, more sophisticated models and algorithms are required for complex dynamics. Here, we consider switching systems where the dynamical properties vary (''switch modes") over time. For example, the dynamics of a vehicle may switch as it transitions from interstate to urban conditions, human speech dynamics switch as speakers change, and stock market dynamics switch with discrete news events. In this work, we use mode-dependent neural networks to capture …

Autonomous Uav Battery Swapping, Reed Jacobsen, Nikolai Ruhe, Nathan Dornback

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

One of the main hindrances of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology are power constraints. One way to alleviate some power constraints would be for two UAVs to exchange batteries while both are in flight. Autonomous mid-air battery swapping will expand the scope of UAV technology by allowing for indefinite flight times and longer missions. A single board computer will control each UAV’s flight software to respond to inputs to align with each other mid-flight. When the two UAVs have joined, mechanical components will exchange a depleted battery on the worker UAV for a freshly charged battery that belongs to the …

Ball Oscillating Bouncer, Eric Blok, Daniel Altemese, Ryan Nowacki, Maram Qurban

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this report is to document the need, objectives, marketing and engineering requirements, as well as validate the design of an autonomous control device capable of continuously bouncing a table tennis ball on a paddle. This includes the design of a self correcting system using lightweight materials, and as few sensors and components as possible to achieve a compact, portable design. To accomplish this, the system is designed to react to a ball falling from as short a distance as 10 centimeters above the paddle, meaning all sensor processing, control processing, and motor drives should be able to …

Sports Spectator Beacon, Alexander Connelly

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this design project is to develop a system that can determine the location of an implemented beacon. The main operating technique used in determining the location is RSSI multilateration. The system consists of a beacon, network transmitters, mobile users, core processing and an interface with each software component for data transmission. The beacon is only an RF transmitter; therefore, receivers need to be able to interpret the signal of the beacon. In order to determine the location of the beacon from the receivers, the locations of the receivers must be known. The network transmitters’ act as a …

Soil Moisture Sensor, Jaclyn Miller, Derek Bitecofer, Seung Jun Lee

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Since water is an important resource and not all communities around the world can afford to be liberal with their water needs; it has become important to use available water as efficiently as possible, especially in agriculture. For the purpose of reducing the overwatering of crops, an unattended ground moisture sensor can be implemented to measure the moisture level in the soil surrounding the plants. This will allow a farmer to know when to water or stop watering crops. For convenience, the moisture data information should be transmitted wirelessly to the user. The design of an unattended ground moisture sensor …

Learning Convolutional Neural Network For Face Verification, Elaheh Rashedi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Convolutional neural networks (ConvNet) have improved the state of the art in many applications. Face recognition tasks, for example, have seen a significantly improved performance due to ConvNets. However, less attention has been given to video-based face recognition. Here, we make three contributions along these lines.

First, we proposed a ConvNet-based system for long-term face tracking from videos. Through taking advantage of pre-trained deep learning models on big data, we developed a novel system for accurate video face tracking in the unconstrained environments depicting various people and objects moving in and out of the frame. In the proposed system, we …

Detectability Of Fuzzy Discrete Event Systems, Ahmed Mekki

Wayne State University Dissertations

Dynamic systems that can be modeled in terms of discrete states and a synchronous events are known as discrete event systems (DES). A DES is defined in terms of states, events, transition dynamics, and initial state. Knowing the system’s state is crucial in many applications for certain actions (events) to be taken. A DES system is considered a fuzzy discrete event system (FDES) if its states and events are vague in nature; for such systems, the system can be in more than one state at the same time with different degrees of possibility (membership). In this research we introduce a …

Exploring Fpga Implementation For Binarized Neural Network Inference, Li Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Deep convolutional neural network has taken an important role in machine learning algorithm. It is widely used in different areas such as computer vision, robotics, and biology. However, the models of deep neural networks become larger and more computation complexity which is a big obstacle for such huge model to implement on embedded systems. Recent works have shown the binarized neural networks (BNN), utilizing binarized (i.e. +1 and -1) convolution kernel and binarized activation function, can significantly reduce the parameter size and computation cost, which makes it hardware-friendly for Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) implementation with efficient energy cost. This thesis …

Hole Selective Tunneling Oxide Applications With Insight Into Sophisticated Characterization Techniques, Nizamettin Kortan Ogutman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tunneling metal oxide layers combined with industrially applicable novel cleaning methods can boost the current efficiency limit, which corresponds to approximately %22 in production, of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. Within the scope of this dissertation, extremely thin tunneling layers (1-3nm) of aluminum oxide is studied in conjunction with the development of wet cleaning procedures that are feasible in production lines currently exist today. These tunneling stacks are deployed to serve as exceptional surface passivation layers due to the inherent built-in charge provided by aluminum oxide. This capability is further strengthened by the introduction of extremely well controlled wet chemical …

Ambiqual – A Full Reference Objective Quality Metric For Ambisonic Spatial Audio, Miroslaw Narbutt, Andrew Allen, Jan Skoglund, Michael Chinen, Andrew Hines

Conference papers

Streaming spatial audio over networks requires efficient encoding techniques that compress the raw audio content without compromising quality of experience. Streaming service providers such as YouTube need a perceptually relevant objective audio quality metric to monitor users’ perceived quality and spatial localization accuracy. In this paper we introduce a full reference objective spatial audio quality metric, AMBIQUAL, which assesses both Listening Quality and Localization Accuracy. In our solution both metrics are derived directly from the B-format Ambisonic audio. The metric extends and adapts the algorithm used in ViSQOLAudio, a full reference objective metric designed for assessing speech and audio quality. …

Quantitative Characterization Of Lithium-Ion Batteries Under Abuse Conditions, Xiaoniu Du

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Design Of Shape-Conforming Nosecone For Optimal Fluid Flow From Transonic To Supersonic Range, Anna Tombazzi

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Modern flight vehicles, such as rockets, missiles, and airplanes, experience a force caused by forebody wave drag during the flight. This drag force is induced when the frontal point of each vehicle breaks the pressure wave during flight. Efforts to reduce this wave drag force to improve flight efficiency include modifying the nosecone profile of the flight vehicles to lower the drag force.

This project revolved around creating a design to make the transformation of nosecone shapes from a ¾ Parabolic profile to a ½ Power Series profile possible, mid-flight. Using a novel nosecone assembly, shape memory alloys (SMAs) and …

Navigational Heads-Up Display, Alex Walenchok, Nicholas Seifert, Joshua Reed, Joshua Humphrey

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

One problem drivers face is distraction from looking at their mobile device while navigating rather than watching the road. This problem can be solved with a heads-up display placed directly on the driver’s windshield. By using a mobile device with a custom GPS application, the following design will be able to send GPS data to a device that will display navigational information on a car windshield. The design includes two primary components, a mobile device and a System Unit, where the System Unit is composed of a portable power supply, a single board computer, and a display. For the design, …

A Simulation Method For Studying Effects Of Site-Specific Clutter On Sar-Gmti Performance, Marcus James Campbell

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an invaluable tool for detection of ground moving targets when combined with processing techniques of ground moving target indication (GMTI). This work investigates a simulation methodology for studying impact of site-specific ground clutter on SAR-GMTI performance. A terrain model is proposed and is based on digital terrain elevation data (DTED) and national land-use land-cover data (NLCD) as provided by the US Geological Survey. The proposed physical optics simulation method capitalizes on high-fidelity digital target models in combination with the proposed terrain model. SAR phase history is generated for a moving commercial target in situ of …

A Robust Low Power Static Random Access Memory Cell Design, A. V. Rama Raju Pusapati

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Stability of a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cell is an important factor when considering an SRAM cell for any application. The Static Noise Margin (SNM) of a cell, which determines the stability, varies under different operating conditions. Based on the performance of three existing SRAM cell designs, 6T, 8T and 10T, a 10 Transistor SRAM cell is proposed which has good stability and has the advantage of reduced read power when compared to 6T and 8T SRAM cells. The proposed 10T SRAM cell has a single-ended read circuit which improves SNM over the 6T cell. The proposed 10T cell …

Impact Of Near-Field-To-Far-Field Transformation On Sar Images Formed In An Indoor Non-Anechoic Environment, Jacob D. Compaleo

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This work investigates the impact of the near-field-to-far-field transformation (NFFFT) algorithm on phase history measurement collections completed in the Sensors and Signals Exploitation Laboratory (SSEL). SSEL is an indoor non-anechoic environ- ment that is at risk to some measurement interferences such as multiple bounces. Complete 360-degree phase history measurements of scale model aircraft are con- ducted at varying range values within the near-field limit. These measurements are calibrated with the Mie series scattering solution for a sphere. After calibration, the measurements are transformed using the NFFFT, with radar cross-section (RCS) estimated. RCS of the transformed data is compared with the …

Wetting Properties Of Structured Interfaces Composed Of Surface-Attached Spherical Nanoparticles, Bishal Bhattarai

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the effects of the external pressure and surface energy on stability and wetting transition at nanotextured interfaces are studied using molecular dynamics and continuum simulations. The surface roughness of the composite interface is modeled via an array of spherical nanoparticles with controlled wettability. It was found that in the absence of external pressure, the liquid interface is flat and its location relative to the solid substrate is determined by the radius of the particle and the local contact angle. With increasing pressure on the liquid film, its interface becomes more curved and the three-phase contact line is …

Display And Analysis Of Tomographic Reconstructions Of Multiple Synthetic Aperture Ladar (Sal) Images, Bassirou Seck

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic aperture ladar (SAL) is similar to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in that it can create range/cross-range slant plane images of the illuminated scatters; however, SAL has wavelengths 10,000x smaller than SAR enabling a relatively narrow real aperture, diffraction limited beam widths. The relatively narrow real aperture resolutions allow for multiple slant planes to be created for a single target with reasonable range/aperture combinations. These multiple slant planes can be projected into a single slant plane projections (as in SAR). It can also be displayed as a 3-D image with asymmetric resolutions, diffraction limited in the dimension orthogonal to the …

Testing Of Recursive And Non-Recursive Algorithms For Real-Time Phasor And Frequency Estimations In Power Systems, Dhruv Sharma

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Steady-state performance of various recursive and non-recursive algorithms are tested in this report according to the test signals given in the IEEE Standard C37.118.1-2011. Phase magnitude and phase angle of the power grid signals have been estimated using Discrete Fourier Transform (non-recursive), Discrete Fourier Transform (recursive), Least Square, and Wavelet Transform Algorithms. Frequency estimation is performed using Discrete Fourier Transform, Weighted Least Square, and Zero Crossing methods. These algorithms are evaluated in LabView software and tested by generating test signals in a Simulink model. Furthermore, Total Vector Error (TVE) is calculated using dynamic test signals as per the IEEE Standard …

Resource Optimization In Wireless Sensor Networks For An Improved Field Coverage And Cooperative Target Tracking, Husam Sweidan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

There are various challenges that face a wireless sensor network (WSN) that mainly originate from the limited resources a sensor node usually has. A sensor node often relies on a battery as a power supply which, due to its limited capacity, tends to shorten the life-time of the node and the network as a whole. Other challenges arise from the limited capabilities of the sensors/actuators a node is equipped with, leading to complication like a poor coverage of the event, or limited mobility in the environment. This dissertation deals with the coverage problem as well as the limited power and …

Video Frame Reduction In Autonomous Vehicles, Gaurav R. Bagwe

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Camera sensors are emerging in many applications such as Smart Buildings and autonomous driving. The Data generated by multiple cameras in a smart building and autonomous driving applications is usually transmitted through an edge box to a cloud terminal. This transmitted information requires a considerable channel bandwidth, which is not available through current communication standards. The report proposes a Camera Sensor Frame Reduction method to decrease the required channel bandwidth for applications such as autonomous driving.

Here, we propose a method that incorporates cross frame similarity measurement method to reduce the redundant frames and decrease the data rate of each …

Design And Optimization Of An Electromagnetic Railgun, Nihar S. Brahmbhatt

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Railgun is a future weapon for shooting long-range targets with high accuracy. Railgun is an economical weapon as it does not use any kind of propellant for shooting a projectile. It uses high impulsive current to generate the necessary force required to hit the target. The US Navy has been planning to implement railgun system on ships as their long-range shooting weapon. Railgun needs to be charged up to a certain voltage level to generate the necessary force to shoot the projectile to achieve the specified target location. It is very important that minimal voltage is required for shooting the …

Development Of Open Source Software And Hardware Tool-Chains For Novel Electronics, Shane Oberloier

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

3-D printing technologies have become widely adopted and have spurred innovation and efficiency across many markets. A large contributor to the success of 3-D printing are open source, low cost electronics. On-site circuit manufacturing, however, has not become as widely utilized as 3-D printing. This project attempts to address this problem by proposing and demonstrating an open source circuit board milling machine which is inexpensive, easily manufactured, and accurate. In three interdependent sub-projects, this thesis defines a standard method for designing open source hardware, the design of the bespoke circuit mill, and explores an application of the mill for novel …