Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Design And Fabrication Of Self-Packaged, Flexible Mems Accelerometer And Aluminum Nitride Tactile Sensors, Md Sohel Mahmood

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The work presented in this dissertation describes the design, fabrication and characterization of a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) capacitive accelerometer on a flexible substrate. To facilitate the bending of the accelerometers and make them mountable on a curved surface, polyimide was used as a flexible substrate. Considering its high glass transition temperature and low thermal expansion coefficient, PI5878G was chosen as the underlying flexible substrate. Three different sizes of accelerometers were designed in CoventorWare® software which utilizes Finite Element Method (FEM) to numerically perform various analyses. Capacitance simulation under acceleration, modal analysis, stress and pull-in study were performed in …

Lithium And The Foreseeable Future, Paolo Vargas

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper aims to clarify the uncertainties regarding worldwide lithium resource availability in the years to come. Previous studies made on the subject are presented with some ambiguity and this work intends to fill the gaps. The information and data presented throughout this script with respect to global lithium resources and reserves are mostly based on data released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Lithium resource availability in the future is a point of paramount significance primarily for the automotive, portable electronics, and the power generation industry. Since, a change of supply would ultimately affect the price of lithium, …

Impact Of Antenna Mutual Coupling, Propagation, And Nonreciprocity On Propagation-Based Key Establishment, Attiya Mahmood

Theses and Dissertations

Propagation-based key establishment is a physical layer method for generating encryption keys based on two radios observing a reciprocal propagation channel. This work explores the impact of mutual coupling when communicating nodes are equipped with multiple antennas, multipath richness in the propagation environment, and practical limitations caused by the nonreciprocal nature of RF circuits on key establishment. First, network theory is used to formulate a model of a realistic communication system which incorporates transmit sources and receive loads, impedance matching networks, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), mutually coupled antenna arrays, and a passive eavesdropper. Afterwards, a detailed analysis is performed to quantify …

Application Of The Research Process For The Development Of A Microgrid Modular Design For Tribal Healthcare Facilities In The Navajo Nation: Kayenta Health Center Used As A Subject Study For Experimental Data, Samuel Vega-Cotto

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

There exist significant challenges and opportunities for improvement the power system of healthcare facilities for American Indian and Alaska natives. This Dissertation establishes plans and methodology to include the research process in the power system design utilizing Kayenta health center, which is located in the Navajo nation, as a subject study. Information about the solar irradiance on site, the PV system performance, the power quality and the power system load demand at the facility as well as observation of the related equipment is gathered. The Dissertation describes a seasonal experimental process related to a 100KW PV system case study at …

Improved Initialization For The Multi Layer Perceptron, Abhishek Vinay Mainkar

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

A Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) neural network is used for solving nonlinear functional problems like function approximation, classification, data processing etc. MLP neural networks are usually trained using back propagation, which is a non-convex optimization problem for most of the loss functions. As there are multiple local minima, non-convex optimization curves generally converge to different optimal points for different initial conditions. So it not only affects the speed of the convergence but optimality as well. Initial parameters of neural networks are as important as the network architecture and initialization has been thoroughly studied in the past. This report discusses the fusion …

Protection, Automation, And Frequency Stability Analysis Of A Laboratory Microgrid System, Christopher Eric Osborn

Master's Theses

Due to increasing changes in the power industry, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's electrical engineering department introduced a set of initiatives to adequately equip students with the skills and knowledge to interact with new technologies. Specifically, the department proposed a microgrid and power systems protection and automation laboratory to strengthen students' knowledge of microprocessor-based relays. This paper outlines a microgrid laboratory system that fulfills the initiative's goal and proposes a collection of laboratory experiments for inclusion in a new laboratory course at Cal Poly. The experiments provide students with practical experience using Schweitzer Engineering Laboratory (SEL) relays and teach fundamental …

Applying Attribute-Based Encryption In Two-Way Radio Talk Groups: A Feasibility Study, Michael Andreas Gough

Theses and Dissertations

In two-way radio systems, talk groups are used to organize communication. Some situations may call for creating a temporary talk group, but there are no straightforward ways to do this. Making a new talk group requires programming radios off-line. Temporary groups can be created, but this requires inputting radio IDs which is tedious on a radio's limited controls. By describing group members using attributes, ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) can be used to quickly create sub-groups of a talk group. This scheme requires fewer button presses and messages sent in the new talk group are kept secret. CP-ABE can be used …

Development Of A Digital Rain-Sensing Irrigation Pump Controller And An Android Enabled Bluetooth Paddlewheel Flowmeter, Jayendra Mishra

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For better irrigation efficiency, it is recommended that farmers track their water consumption to avoid over-irrigating. However, it is difficult to implement this as it is labor intensive to supervise pumps manually and available technologies require high investment. Therefore, a rain sensing pump controller for 3-phase electric irrigation pumps and a stand-alone portable Android enabled paddlewheel flowmeter has been developed to test their feasibility.

The pump timer is a retrofit device for irrigation pump panels. The controller allows an irrigator to start and stop the pump with less supervision. An infrared rain sensor is integrated with the controller to measure …

Development Of A ‘Smart’ Resistance Exercise Band To Assess Strength, Emily V. Wechsler, John A. Batsis, David F. Kotz, Ryan J. Halter

Wetterhahn Science Symposium Posters 2018

No abstract provided.

The Response Of Fuzzy Electronics To Ionizing Radiation, Simar Singh

Honors Theses

Small satellites such as CubeSats operate under environmental constraints that are outside of typical commercial specifications. Such constraints include the ability to operate over an extended temperature range and during exposure to ionizing radiation. Nevertheless, commercial technologies are being implemented in CubeSat spacecraft because of the low-cost, low-power, and space savings requirements often achievable with advanced microelectronics [1]. Due to flexibility and the ability to handle uncertainty, fuzzy logic is viable for satellite control while meeting the strict design requirements of a CubeSat. This work evaluates the response of fuzzy control logic to ionizing radiation and compares the response to …

Development Of The Codebase For Ece Design: Smartwatch Device And App For Continuous Glucose Monitoring, Keelin J. Becker-Wheeler

Honors Scholar Theses

This honors thesis describes the development of the codebase for the 2018 University of Connecticut ECE Senior Design project titled "Smartwatch Device and App for Continuous Glucose Monitoring''. The goal for the senior design project is to remove the dependencies imposed by a previously-designed prototype of a glucose-monitoring smartwatch, by creating a new custom device without those dependencies. Development of the new codebase involves splitting the tasks of an Arduino codebase into a number of logical components that are then implemented in C. This new codebase makes substantial improvements to the overall program structure and organization, as well as numerous …

Security Analysis Of The Uconn Husky One Card, Trevor Phillips

Honors Scholar Theses

The “Husky One Card” is the name given to student IDs at the University of Connecticut. It can identify students, faculty, and staff in a variety of situations. The One Card is used for meal plans, Husky Bucks (an equivalent of money, but valid only in the Storrs area), residence hall/ university facility access, and student health services. The current Husky One Card consists of a picture identification on the front and a standard 1-dimensional barcode and 3-track magnetic strip on the back.

The goal of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of cloning Husky One Cards, the ease …

New Broadband Common-Mode Filtering Structures Embedded In Differential Coplanar Waveguides For Dc To 40 Ghz Signal Transmission, Yujie He

Graduate Theses - Electrical and Computer Engineering

Coplanar waveguides (CPWs) provide effective transmission with low dispersion into the millimeter-wave frequencies. For high-speed signaling, differential transmission lines display an enhanced immunity to outside interference and are less likely to interfere with other signals, when compared to single-ended transmission lines. Common-mode (CM) conversion from the differential-mode (DM) signal energy can produce unintentional radiation as well as degraded board-level electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and signal integrity SI environments. Due to the negative effects of CM signals, filtering structures are often used to suppress the propagation of these signals. The filtering structures introduced in this project all implement the same CM filter …

Half-Mode Cavity-Based Planar Filtering Antenna With Controllable Transmission Zeroes, Kirti Dhwaj, Joshua M. Kovitz, Haozhan Tian, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Tatsuo Itoh

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Atwo-pole half-mode substrate integrated waveguide (HMSIW) cavity-based filtering antenna is presented. The HMSIW cavity is used as a radiating resonator with a conventional substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity functioning as a high- Q resonator of the filter, leading to its compact size. The concept of source-load coupling is introduced for filtering antennas, which allows for the presence of two controllable transmission zeroes (TZs) in the frequency response of proposed design. This is accomplished by using electric coupling between two resonator cavities and a combination of microstrip/coaxial line to feed the antenna. The single-layer printed circuit board structure provides a broadside …

Nanopore Biosensors For Molecular Detection And Analysis, Muhammad Usman Raza

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Nanoscale fabrication techniques have led the march towards a new class of biosensors that were not possible to build in the past due to technological limitations. These molecular nanosensors can have biochemical, electromagnetic, acoustic, optical or electrophoretic detection modalities. One of these nanosensors, is solid state nanopores which use resistive pulse sensing in nanometer apertures in thin dielectric membranes. Solid state nanopores have been fabricated using cutting edge fabrication techniques to detect and analyze nanoscale biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, miRNA, viruses etc. These biosensors can be used as electronic sensors for biomarkers of certain diseases such as cancer and …

Microgrids: Resilience, Reliability, And Market Structure, Saeed Dehghan Manshadi

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses several challenges corresponding to the operation and planning of microgrids in distribution networks including the formation, energy supply resilience, the contribution of microgrids in the short-term and mid-term operation of bulk power networks and the computational challenges in operation of interdependent infrastructure systems.

An approach to transforming the active distribution network with distributed energy resources into multiple autonomous microgrids is presented in the first section. The distribution network consists of several generation resources and demand entities that could be clustered into autonomous microgrids. Eigen decomposition in the graph spectra of the distribution network is leveraged to determine …

Evaluation Of Terahertz Imaging For Breast Cancer Detection Using Image Morphing, Tanny Andrea Chavez Esparza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes the use of a mesh morphing algorithm for the quantitative evaluation of terahertz (THz) images. This work differs from traditional evaluation methods based on qualitative evaluation because it provides a fair and quantitative measurement of the THz imaging system's performance. The objective of the algorithm is to match the alignment, shape, and resolution of the THz and reference pathology images. Therefore, the proposed morphing method provides a pathology reference for a pixel-by-pixel evaluation of the region classification in the THz image. To achieve this, the morphing algorithm aligns the images using the Pearson's correlation coefficient and reshapes …

An Advanced Context Aware Operator Support System (Caoss) For Chemical Plant Operation, Sujin Babu Alfred Retna Dhason

Theses and Dissertations

Analyzing potential causes for recent industrial accidents and production losses highlights that the majority of these incidents are due to human factor failure: operator error, poor decision-making and violations (Dźwiarek, 2004). In the meantime, the process equipment design, fabrication, metallurgy and control system has improved significantly to combat these unpredictable failures. This research focus on the errors due to human-machine interaction (HMI) in chemical plant. This paper presents an advanced support system for operators in chemical plants, to perform safe and reliable plant operation and maintenance (O&M). In chemical industry, almost every tasks involving human interaction with the machines are …

Glucose Level Estimation Based On Invasive Electrochemical, And Non-Invasive Optical Sensing Methods, Sanghamitra Mandal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to design and fabricate sensors for glucose detection using inexpensive approaches. My first research approach is the fabrication of an amperometric electrochemical glucose sensor, by exploiting the optical properties of semiconductors and structural properties of nanostructures, to enhance the sensor sensitivity and response time. Enzymatic electrochemical sensors are fabricated using two different mechanisms: (1) the low-temperature hydrothermal synthesis of zinc oxide nanorods, and (2) the rapid metal-assisted chemical etching of silicon (Si) to synthesize Si nanowires. The concept of gold nano-electrode ensembles is then employed to the sensors in order to boost the current …

Design Of A Multidirectional Wear Testing Device For Simulating Wear Of Biocompatible Materials Used In Joint Implants, Carlos A. Rodriguez Betancourth

Theses and Dissertations

In the present work, a novel multidirectional pin-on-disc wear testing device designated CNC-POD (computer-numerical-control pin-on-disc) capable of replicating the cross-shear motions experienced by a prosthesis in vivo was designed and developed in the UTRGV in order to evaluate the wear resistance of new biomaterials. The CNC-POD consists of six temperature-controlled pin-on-disc stations mounted on a two-axis CNC table (X-Y). Each pin-on-disc station is load-programmable up to 510 Newtons (115 pounds). The CNC table allows the machine to reproduce a wide range of 2D patterns in millimeter scale on the six stations under a specific load. Friction force is measured during …

Vertical Gallium Nitride Schottky Diodes For Power Switching Applications., Sowmya Kolli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gallium nitride (GaN) has enormous potential for use in devices operating at high power, frequency and temperature. Its wide band gap, high critical electric field and favourable carrier properties lead to lower switching losses and conduction losses in power electronic devices. However, most GaN rectifiers reported to date exhibit an ON-resistance (Ron) versus breakdown voltage much below theoretical predictions. Heteroepitaxial growth of GaN on substrates such as SiC, Si, and sapphire suffer from a high density of threading dislocations defects due to the mismatch in lattice constants and thermal expansion coefficients. Vertical devices, in which a bulk GaN substrate is …

Challenges In Flexible Microsystem Manufacturing : Fabrication, Robotic Assembly, Control, And Packaging., Danming Wei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microsystems have been investigated with renewed interest for the last three decades because of the emerging development of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology and the advancement of nanotechnology. The applications of microrobots and distributed sensors have the potential to revolutionize micro and nano manufacturing and have other important health applications for drug delivery and minimal invasive surgery. A class of microrobots studied in this thesis, such as the Solid Articulated Four Axis Microrobot (sAFAM) are driven by MEMS actuators, transmissions, and end-effectors realized by 3-Dimensional MEMS assembly. Another class of microrobots studied here, like those competing in the annual IEEE Mobile …

Segmentation, Tracking, And Kinematics Of Lung Parenchyma And Lung Tumors From 4d Ct With Application To Radiation Treatment Planning., Jungwon Cha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is concerned with development of techniques for efficient computerized analysis of 4-D CT data. The goal is to have a highly automated approach to segmentation of the lung boundary and lung nodules inside the lung. The determination of exact lung tumor location over space and time by image segmentation is an essential step to track thoracic malignancies. Accurate image segmentation helps clinical experts examine the anatomy and structure and determine the disease progress. Since 4-D CT provides structural and anatomical information during tidal breathing, we use the same data to also measure mechanical properties related to deformation of …

Longitudinal Tracking Of Physiological State With Electromyographic Signals., Robert Warren Stallard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electrophysiological measurements have been used in recent history to classify instantaneous physiological configurations, e.g., hand gestures. This work investigates the feasibility of working with changes in physiological configurations over time (i.e., longitudinally) using a variety of algorithms from the machine learning domain. We demonstrate a high degree of classification accuracy for a binary classification problem derived from electromyography measurements before and after a 35-day bedrest. The problem difficulty is increased with a more dynamic experiment testing for changes in astronaut sensorimotor performance by taking electromyography and force plate measurements before, during, and after a jump from a small platform. A …

Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems Based On Nonlinear Control., Pablo R. Rivera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays, due to the high-scale penetration of photovoltaic systems, reliable and efficient grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems utilizing the advances of power electronics and control system technology are desirable. Thus, single-stage grid-connected photovoltaic systems, have gained attention, especially in low voltage applications. However, PV systems exhibit nonlinear behavior that could negatively affect the performance of the system if they are not adequately compensated for. In this dissertation, using the general structure for the synchronous dq0 frame, a single-stage three-phase grid-connected photovoltaic system, and a single-stage single-phase grid-connected PV system, both with a nonlinear control strategy, are developed to track the maximum …

Statistical Analysis And Comparison Of Optical Classification Of Atmospheric Aerosol Lidar Data, Kwasi Gyening Afrifa

Electrical & Computer Engineering Projects for D. Eng. Degree

This dissertation presents a new study for the analysis and classification of atmospheric aerosols in remote sensing LIDAR data. Information on particle size and associated properties are extracted from these remote sensing atmospheric data which are collected by a ground-based LIDAR system. This study first considers optical LIDAR parameter-based classification methods for clustering and classification of different types of harmful aerosol particles in the atmosphere. Since accurate methods for aerosol prediction behaviors are based upon observed data, computational approaches must overcome design limitations, and also consider appropriate calibration and estimation accuracy. Consequently, two statistical methods based on generalized linear models …

Design Of A Low-Cost Capillary Electrophoresis Laser-Induced Fluorescence System: Lessons Learned When Trying To Build The Lowest Possible Cost System, Steven James Perry

Theses and Dissertations

Capillary electrophoresis laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF) is widely used to detect both the presence and concentration of fluorescently labeled biomolecules. In CE-LIF, a plug of sample fluid is electrophoretically driven down a microchannel using a high voltage applied between the opposite ends of the microchannel. Molecules of different sizes and charge states travel at different velocities down the channel. Laser light with a wavelength in the excitation band of the fluorophores is focused near the end of the channel. As each species of molecule passes through the laser spot, the fluorophores emit a fluorescence signal which is measured with an optical …

Analytical Evaluation Of Partial Elements Using A Retarded Taylor Series Expansion Of The Green's Function, Luigi Lombardi, Giulio Antonini, Albert E. Ruehli

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The computation of the fundamental magnetic and electric field coupling terms for the full-wave partial element equivalent circuit method is time consuming for large problems. Extensive numerical integration is required for the computation of four-to-six-fold integration of the partial element coefficients. In this paper, we present new full-wave analytical formulas for their computation, which are based on several different Taylor series expansion approaches for the case of rectangular elementary volumes and surfaces.

A Uniform Strain Transfer Scheme For Accurate Distributed Optical Fiber Strain Measurements In Civil Structures, Yang Du, Yizheng Chen, Yiyang Zhuang, Chen Zhu, Rex E. Gerald Ii, Jie Huang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We report a screw-like package design for an embeddable distributed optical fiber strain sensor for civil engineering applications. The screw-like structure is the exterior support for an optical fiber sensor. The bare optical fiber is embedded and secured in a longitudinal groove of the screw-like package using a rigid adhesive. Our packaging scheme prevents damage to the bare optical fiber and ensures that the packaged sensor is accurately and optimally sensing strain fields in civil structures. Moreover, our screw-like design has an equal area in a cross-section perpendicular to and along the screw axis, so strain field distributions are metered …

Phase Unwrapping Of 4d-Flow Mri Data With Graph Cuts., Andrew Justice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A common issue when measuring velocity utilizing 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is aliasing that occurs because of a low velocity encoding parameter (VENC). Aliasing can be avoided if the velocity encoding parameter is set above the largest velocity quantity. However, when this is done the velocity to noise ratio is lowered less detail is acquired in the image. Thusly, it is sometimes desirable to have a below the maximum velocity to acquire higher quality data.

Consequently, an efficient and robust algorithm is needed to unwrap the aliased data. This paper proposes an iterative graph cuts algorithm to perform …