Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Magnetic Field Sensors For Detection Of Trapped Flux In Superconducting Radio Frequency Cavities, Ishwari Prasad Parajuli, Gianluigi Ciovati, Jean R. Delayen

Physics Faculty Publications

Superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities are fundamental building blocks of modern particle accelerators. They operate at liquid helium temperatures (2–4 K) to achieve very high quality factors (10¹⁰–10¹¹). Trapping of magnetic flux within the superconductor is a significant contribution to the residual RF losses, which limit the achievable quality factor. Suitable diagnostic tools are in high demand to understand the mechanisms of flux trapping in technical superconductors, and the fundamental components of such diagnostic tools are magnetic field sensors. We have studied the performance of commercially available Hall probes, anisotropic magnetoresistive sensors, and flux-gate magnetometers with …

A Novel Non-Enzymatic Glucose Biofuel Cell With Mobile Glucose Sensing, Ankit Baingane

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Herein, we report a novel non-enzymatic glucose biofuel cell with mobile glucose sensing. We characterized the power generation and biosensing capabilities in presence of glucose analyte. This system was developed using a non-enzymatic glucose biofuel cell consisting of colloidal platinum coated gold microwire (Au-co-Pt) employed as an anode and the cathode which was constructed using a Gas diffusion electrode (GDE) with a platinum catalyst. The non-enzymatic glucose biofuel cell produced a maximum open circuit voltage of 0.54 V and delivered and a maximum short circuit current density of 1.6 mA/cm2 with a peak power density of 0.226 mW/cm2 at a …

Polyone Smartphone, Joshua Zalmanowitz, Chi Nguyen, Gerome Cacho, Chris Lim

Electrical Engineering

The Poly One Smartphone is a student designed smartphone built to explore the implementation of 5G, provide a hardware solution to ensure personal information security and privacy, and provide longer battery life. The key features of this smartphone include but are not limited to a main cpu, some form of network connectivity in the form of Wi-fi or Cellular Data, calling functionality, a rechargeable battery that works with common power connection protocols, and compatibility with popular applications.

Synthesis Of Graphene Using Plasma Etching And Atmospheric Pressure Annealing: Process And Sensor Development, Andrew Robert Graves

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Having been theorized in 1947, it was not until 2004 that graphene was first isolated. In the years since its isolation, graphene has been the subject of intense, world-wide study due to its incredibly diverse array of useful properties. Even though many billions of dollars have been spent on its development, graphene has yet to break out of the laboratory and penetrate mainstream industrial applications markets. This is because graphene faces a ‘grand challenge.’ Simply put, there is currently no method of manufacturing high-quality graphene on the industrial scale. This grand challenge looms particularly large for electronic applications where the …

Portable Electrochemical System For Flexible Hybrid Electronics, Anthony Joseph Hanson

Masters Theses

This work focuses on the fabrication and design of a portable electrochemical sensing system for flexible hybrid electronic (FHE) sensors. A three-electrode chemical sensor was fabricated using copper tape on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate, using laser etching process. An electronic circuit was designed to measure the sensor response through electrochemical techniques to detect different concentrations of glucose. The device was calibrated to give the user a concentration value in 5 seconds. The system was also designed to preform tests such as cyclic voltammogram and chronoamperogram for various chemicals. A Bluetooth Low Energy module was used to wirelessly transmit the results …

Low-Cost Open Source Ultrasound-Sensing Based Navigational Support For The Visually Impaired, Aliaksei Petsiuk, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Nineteen million Americans have significant vision loss. Over 70% of these are not employed full-time, and more than a quarter live below the poverty line. Globally, there are 36 million blind people, but less than half use white canes or more costly commercial sensory substitutions. The quality of life for visually impaired people is hampered by the resultant lack of independence. To help alleviate these challenges this study reports on the development of a low-cost, open-source ultrasound-based navigational support system in the form of a wearable bracelet to allow people with the lost vision to navigate, orient themselves in their …

Tidalsim Senior Project Report, Kent Zhang, Colin Vandervoort

Computer Engineering

Throughout the course of this project, our team helped the Cal Poly Biological Sciences department refine an intertidal zone simulator. The aim of this device is to allow any marine biologist to easily simulate a vast range of tidal zones in order to test animal behaviors within these zones. Another goal of this project is to make each simulation tank independent from the others by using a single microcontroller to handle all inputs and outputs of the system as well as logging all relevant data. The current system is set up so that a separate microcontroller handles dissolved oxygen and …

Wearable Biomedical Sensors, Wenyuan Shi

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Focusing on current major research interests about the wearable biomedical sensors, numerous achievements contributed by researchers and engineers are reviewed in chapter 1. Development and research trends, as well as challenges of the wearable technologies are discussed. In chapter 2, a new double-resonance sensor was presented for monitoring body dehydration with two resonant frequencies. Using the waveguide method and the finite-element simulations, the sensor was designed with optimal parameters. Electromagnetic field distributions, Q factors, and sensitivities of the sensor are analyzed. The sensor’s equivalent circuit was deduced. The finite-element model and the equivalent circuit model were simulated for identifying various …

Passively-Coded Embedded Microwave Sensors For Materials Characterization And Structural Health Monitoring (Shm), Katelyn Rose Brinker

Masters Theses

"Monitoring and maintaining civil, space, and aerospace infrastructure is an ongoing critical problem facing our nation. As new complex materials and structures, such as multilayer composites and inflatable habitats, become ubiquitous, performing inspection of their structural integrity becomes even more challenging. Thus, novel nondestructive testing (NDT) methods are needed. Chipless RFID is a relatively new technology that has the potential to address these needs. Chipless RFID tags have the advantage of being wireless and passive, meaning that they do not require a power source or an electronic chip. They can also be used in a variety of sensing applications including …

Motorcycle Eyes, Patrick Nie, Alexander Ray

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

As technology continues to advance the safety factor has increased for vehicles on the roads. However, not much has been done to help improve the safety of motorcyclist. To help to solve this problem a wireless blind spot indicator for a motorcycle helmet will be designed. It will be powered off the motorcycle and have indication zones for the left, right, and rear blind spots. The system will alert the rider if a vehicle is within 7 meters of the back of the motorcycle in any of the mentioned blind spots. The radar sensors will detect the vehicle and send …

Devices To Study Cancer Cell Behavior, Mohammad G. Abdallah

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Cancer is a major health concern that effects millions of people worldwide. The main contributing factor to the deadliness of the disease is cancer metastasis, where the cancer cells break away from the primary tumor site, transmigrate through the endothelium, and form secondary tumors in distant areas. Many studies have identified links between the mechanical properties of the cellular microenvironment and the behavior of cancer cells. Also, nanobiotechnology and bioMEMS have had a tremendous impact on biosensing in the areas of cancer cell detection and therapeutics, disease diagnostics, and DNA analysis. Most current technologies enable observation of only the population-level …

The Eco-Smart Can V2.0, Darack B. Nanto

Appalachian Student Research Forum

I noticed that the workers had the same itinerary when emptying trashcans, meanwhile trashcans needed urgently to be emptied. Traditionally, ETSU maintenance operate on daily routes to pick trash on designated time, regardless the level of the containers. This leads to overflown trashcan in busy areas or during rush hours in certain areas. This overflown trashcan result in an unclean environment for the community and an unpleasant look of our beautiful campus. The time, resources and labor invested in collecting the trash could be saved. Therefore, I decided to use the Internet of Things (IoT) to create a device that …

Microdisk Resonator With Negative Thermal Optical Coefficient Polymer For Refractive Index Sensing With Thermal Stability, Tao Ma, Jinhui Yuan, Feng Li, Lei Sun, Zhe Kang, Binbin Yan, Qiang Wu, Xinzhu Sang, Heng Liu, Fang Wang, Bo Wu, Chongxiu Yu, Gerald Farrell

Articles

In this paper, we propose a microdisk resonator with negative thermal optical coefficient (TOC) polymer for refractive index (RI) sensing with thermal stability. The transmission characteristics and sensing performances by using quasi-TE01 and quasi-TM01 modes are simulated by a three-dimensional finite element method. The influences of the TOC, RI, and thickness of the polymer on the sensing performances are also investigated. The simulation results show that the RI sensitivity Sn and temperature sensitivity ST with different polymers are in the ranges of 25.1-26 nm/RIU and 67.3-75.2 pm/K for the quasi-TE01 mode, and 94.5-110.6 nm/RIU and 1.2-51.3 pm/K for the quasi-TM01 …

Designing And Testing 3-D Printed Wafer-Box With Embedded Pzt Sensors To Identify The Shape Effect On Energy Harvesting, Ahmad Jami Safayet

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Piezoelectric energy has been recently paid attention in the field of alternative energy. Day by day the traditional energy sources including Coal tar and oils are becoming scarce. People are heading to an alternative energy source to meet the future energy demand. Piezoelectric energy is one of the competitive energy sources compared to the conventional renewable energy sources including solar, wind, and geothermal power and so on. This energy production method bears enormous research potential because it can be used as the roadway for a new method of power generation. This research project aimed to identify which shaped wafer-box produced …

Label-Free Refractive Index Sensing With Free-Space Coupled Photonic Crystal Slabs, Yonghao Liu

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Label-free optical resonance sensors can detect small changes of refractive index (RI), which could be used for biochemical molecular detection, drug screening or gas detection. One of the most critical parameters in these sensors is the sensor detection limit (DL). Reducing DL can be achieved by increasing the resonance quality factors (Q) and the spectral sensitivity (S). Another critical research challenge in these sensors is the sensing specificity. In this thesis, based on Fano resonance principle in two-dimensional photonic crystal slabs (PCS) and the integration with gas separation columns, we investigated various free-space coupled on-chip optical resonance sensors for both …

Chiral Metamaterial-Based Microwave Sensors, Nantakan Wongkasem, Amornthep Sonsilphong, Mario Gonzalez

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A significant resonance shift is found in both reflection and transmission coefficients from both parallel and perpendicular excitations in a helical structure. The responses from the perpendicular excitation show better sensitivity than those from the parallel excitation at 480 MHz-560 MHz for 0.2 circumference difference. Additional electromagnetic properties of a helical structure, such as chirality, optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism can also further combine to enhance the sensing performance.

Sensor Characterization And Signal Fusion For Instanteye, Wyman T. Smith

Honors Theses and Capstones

The practicality and effectiveness of using a TerraRanger Duo—a parallel sonar and infrared time-of-flight distance sensor—payload for obstacle detection is investigated for use with Physical Science Inc.’s InstantEye drone. A Python program was developed to interface with the serial data output before comparing the sensor’s empirical performance against its data sheet. The two signals from the distinct sensor modules, each with their characterized strengths and weaknesses, were then fused with a Kalman filter. This was further refined by imposing conditional weighting based on the known sensor characteristics. The filter output, with conditional corrections, was able to accurately track a single …

Silicon Carbide Based Surface Plasmon Resonance Waveguide Sensor With A Bimetallic Layer For Improved Sensitivity, Wei Du, Feng Zhao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this letter, silicon carbide (SiC) waveguide-based surface plasmon resonance optical sensor with an Ag-Au bilayer metal configuration was studied. The wide bandgap energy of SiC allows the sensor to operate in visible and near-infrared range. The spectrum of resonant wavelength with refractive index shows improved sensitivity and sensing resolution in the Au-Ag bilayer configuration than in the single Au layer configuration. A sensitivity of 2581 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) indicated by the shift of resonant wavelength with refractive index was observed from a refractive index range of n=1.34–1.36, showing that the sensor is desirable for sensing in a series …

Smart Fitness Machine, Tyler M. Masters

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper details the design of a smart fitness machine that, by the use of sensors and a central micro controller, tracks an individual users exercise performance data and provides a platform for the data to be easily accessed either by the trainer or user.

A Wireless, Passive Sensor For Measuring Temperature At Orthopedic Implant Sites For Early Diagnosis Of Infections, Salil Sidharthan Karipott

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Sensorized implants with embedded wireless, passive temperature sensors were developed for early detection of implant-associated infections. The operation principle of the sensor is based on the hypothesis that infections can lead to an increase in local temperature prior to the rise of body temperature. The sensor was an inductive capacitive (LC) circuit that has been used for monitoring of different parameters wirelessly, often in difficult to access environments. The sensor was fabricated on to an interference screw, which is used for tendon and ligament reconstruction surgeries. In this project, a sensorized interference screw was designed and fabricated by accommodating an …

Ultra-Thin Aluminum Nitride Thin Films For Flexible Mems Sensors, Md Sajeeb Rayhan

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors using ultrathin aluminum nitride (AlN) film were developed and fabricated using conventional photolithography techniques in the class 100 clean room with a view to integrate them in flexible substrates along with flexible electronics. The MEMS sensors were designed, analytically modeled, fabricated and characterized. Some of the MEMS sensors were only designed and simulated using finite element method (FEM) for the scope of the dissertation. These MEMS sensors can be applied to many applications such as automobile, robotics, biomedical, biometrics, health condition monitoring, GPS tracking devices, smartphones and aircrafts. MEMS pressure sensors using AlN based piezoelectric film …

Laser Direct Written Silicon Nanowires For Electronic And Sensing Applications, Woongsik Nam

Open Access Dissertations

Silicon nanowires are promising building blocks for high-performance electronics and chemical/biological sensing devices due to their ultra-small body and high surface-to-volume ratios. However, the lack of the ability to assemble and position nanowires in a highly controlled manner still remains an obstacle to fully exploiting the substantial potential of nanowires. Here we demonstrate a one-step method to synthesize intrinsic and doped silicon nanowires for device applications. Sub-diffraction limited nanowires as thin as 60 nm are synthesized using laser direct writing in combination with chemical vapor deposition, which has the advantages of in-situ doping, catalyst-free growth, and precise control of position, …

Design And Implementation Of A Compact Avionics Instrument For Light Aviation, Mustafa Emre Aydemi̇r

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this study, a low-cost compact avionics instrument has been designed and implemented for light aviation vehicles such as ultralight airplanes, hang glider-trikes, and paramotors. At the moment there are a few commercial products that provide flight data and vehicle statuses such as altitude, temperature, fuel level, and engine hours meter. However, due to low production rates, customization for different air vehicles, and complex electronics and signal processing hardware, these instruments are generally far from being affordable; their cost may even be more than that of the air vehicle. This study presents a novel approach such that recent state-of-the-art hardware …

Detection And Quantification Of Aromatic Hydrocarbon Compounds In Water Using Sh-Saw Sensors And Estimation-Theory-Based Signal Processing, Karthick Sothivelr, Florian Bender, Fabien Josse, Antonio J. Ricco, Edwin E. Yaz, Rachel E. Mohler, Ravi Kolhatkar

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This work investigates a sensor system for direct groundwater monitoring, capable of aqueous-phase measurement of aromatic hydrocarbons at low concentrations (about 100 parts per billion (ppb)). The system is designed to speciate and quantify benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene/xylenes (BTEX) in the presence of potential interferents. The system makes use of polymer-coated shear-horizontal surface acoustic wave devices and a signal processing method based on estimation theory, specifically a bank of extended Kalman filters (EKFs). This approach permits estimation of BTEX concentrations even from noisy data, well before the sensor response reaches equilibrium. To utilize estimation theory, an analytical model for the …

Development, Testing And Characterization Of Electronic Skins For Robots, Ritvij Sahasrabuddhe

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The main purpose of this thesis is to test and characterize newly developed pressure sensors integrated into robot skin and understand their behavior for different testing parameters such as sensor and skin materials and geometry. Flexible electronic skin is meant to behave similar to human skin acting as a tactile interface with the robot environment. Before placing electronic skin onto robots, it is important to test and characterize such structures. Since the behavior of our pressure sensors embedded in robot skin was still unknown, an experimental setup has been developed in order to test and characterize the sensors and collect …

Tapered Optical Microfibre Based Structures For Sensing Applications, Lin Bo

Doctoral

There has been an increasing demand in recent years from a wide variety of industries for sensors which combine high sensitivity, fast response, compact size and low power consumption. Tapered optical microfibres can generate easily accessible evanescent fields with a large intensity and short decay distance which make microfibres very suitable candidates as the basis of sensors to suit a variety of application areas. In this thesis, experimental research is presented concerning the development of sensors using structures based on tapered optical microfibres, with a particular emphasis on biochemical sensing applications. Light propagation along an optical microfibre depends on its …

Swelling-Etching Characterization Of Copper (I) Oxide - Pdms For The Development Of Micro/Nano - Particles Composite Mems Corrosion Sensor, Abdoul Kader Maiga

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective for this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the oxide removal process for a corrosion sensing device. The goal for designing such a device is for monitoring corrosion on metallic structures. The sensing material (6.35mm x 1mm discs) of the device is composed of copper (I) oxide particles mixed in some polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The PDMS, “housing,” is meant for controlling the oxidation rate through the sensing material. A solvent was used to facilitate the etchant diffusion through the PDMS matrix. Toluene and acetic acid were the ideal solvent and etchant, respectively, for carrying out the …

Wirelessly Connected Sensor Acquisition System For Remote Nursing Applications, Yuhua Hu

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects

Taking advantage of the equipment used in the "Remote Nursing" project, nurses can watch patients' status remotely. The equipment, which is installed in the patient's ward or home, can monitor them and their environment. This project demonstrates this using a microcontroller system that interfaces to a video camera and temperature and humidity sensors in the room. Also a servomotor is installed to control the position of the camera. The microcontroller communicates wirelessly with a PC.

This project is focused on hardware rather than software. It is to test the video camera and sensors being used over the microcontroller through the …

On-Die Sensors For Transient Events, Mihir Vimal Suchak

Masters Theses

"Failures caused by transient electromagnetic events like Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) are a major concern for embedded systems. The component often failing is an integrated circuit (IC). Determining which IC is affected in a multi-device system is a challenging task. Debugging errors often requires sophisticated lab setups which require intentionally disturbing and probing various parts of the system which might not be easily accessible. Opening the system and adding probes may change its response to the transient event, which further compounds the problem.

On-die transient event sensors were developed that require relatively little area on die, making them inexpensive, they consume …

Contactless Measurement Of Angular Velocity Using Circularly Polarized Antennas, Vit Sipal, Adam Narbudowicz, Max Ammann

Articles

An innovative method to measure the angular velocity using circularly polarized antennas is proposed. Due to the properties of circular polarization, the angular velocity is frequency modulated (FM) on a wireless carrier. This enables a low-cost precise continuous measurement of angular velocity using a standard FM demodulator. The hardware can be easily adapted for both high and low angular velocity values. The precise alignment angle between the antennas can be determined if the initial antenna orientation is known. The angular error is shown to be