Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Electric Water Heater Modeling For Large-Scale Distribution Power Systems Studies With Energy Storage Cta-2045 Based Vpp And Cvr, Rosemary E. Alden, Huangjie Gong, Tim Rooney, Brian Branecky, Dan M. Ionel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Research

As the smart grid involves more new technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and distributed energy resources (DERs), more attention is needed in research to general energy storage (GES) based energy management systems (EMS) that account for all possible load shifting and control strategies, specifically with major appliances that are projected to continue electrification such as the electric water heater (EWH). In this work, a methodology for a modified single-node model of a resistive EWH is proposed with improved internal tank temperature for user comfort modeling and capabilities for conservation voltage reduction (CVR) simulations as well as Energy Star and …

A Low Cost Iot-Based Arabic License Plate Recognition Model For Smart Parking Systems, Mohammad Mahmoud Abdellatif, Noura Hany Elshabasy, Ahmed Emam Elashmawy, Mohamed Abdelraheem

Electrical Engineering

License Plate Recognition is one of the significant enablers that can be utilized in wide range of applications in ITS and smart cities. The proposed design relies on three image processing stages to achieve license plate identification with high accuracy which are pre-processing, segmentation, and character recognition. The canny edge detection method with various thresholds, contour detection, and masking techniques are used to locate the car edges and license plate. In the experiment presented in this paper, 200 images were used to identify Egyptian car plates. The model successfully identified Arabic license plates with 93% accuracy. A prototype is implemented …

Emitter Selection Optimization For Passive Synthetic Aperture Radar, Mu Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Widely distributed modern communication networks provide excellent opportunities to share the spectrum for passive radar systems, of which emitter selection is a major consideration factor. This research introduces emitter selection problem space, which consists of three SAR processing domains, namely, Data Collection, Image and Mission Performance Domains. Quantitative links between these domains are critical to formulate an optimal emitter selection problem in the Data Collection Domain and/or Image Domain, which satisfies given mission requirements in Mission Performance Domain. This research examines the properties of the SAR processing domains to develop performance metrics in the Data Collection and Image Domains, whose …

Efficiency Study Of A Hybrid Ac/Dc House, Eunice Dominique Solomon Santiago

Master's Theses

With the proliferation of residential-scale renewable energy sources and DC loads, it has become attractive to use residential DC electrical system that could offer benefits over the legacy residential AC electrical system. The Hybrid AC/DC house provides a sustainable alternative to preexisting residential electrical system by having both AC and DC buses. The DC bus facilitates the connection from DC sources to DC loads, whereas the AC bus interfaces AC sources to AC loads. The study develops the equations to calculate losses based on a model consisting of four main components: Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO) converter, AC-DC converter, inverter, and DC-DC …

Design Of Class F-Based Doherty Power Amplifier For S-Band Applications, Kyle Chang

Master's Theses

Modern RF and millimeter-wave communication links call for high-efficiency front end systems with high output power and high linearity to meet minimum transmission requirements. Advanced modulation techniques, such as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) require a large power amplifier (PA) dynamic range due to the high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). This thesis provides the analysis, design, and experimental verification of a high-efficiency, high-linearity S-band Doherty power amplifier (DPA) based on the Class F PA. Traditional Class F PAs use harmonically tuned output matching networks to obtain up to 88.4% power-added efficiency (PAE) theoretically, however the amplifier experiences poor linearity performance due …

Range-Doppler Map Processing Chain For Marine Radar On Fpga Of An Rfsoc, Nickolas W. Ogilvie

Master's Theses

To improve the accuracy and resolution of the measurements, radar systems employ increasingly complex, resource-intensive signal processing, larger bandwidths, and higher carrier frequencies. However, implementing these improvements requires more expensive, complex electronics that are larger and use more power. Using RFSoC (Radio Frequency System on Chips) in radars can address these challenges. By combining processors, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and RF data converters into a single integrated circuit, RFSoCs allow for radar electronics that are physically smaller, use less power, and are simpler to design. As using RFSoCs to perform RF data conversion for radars has been already …

Neural Compression Inference Accelerator: A Cost And Energy-Effective Alternative To Conventional Machine Learning Inference Methods, Matthew Wallace

Master's Theses

Recent developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence have sparked an influx of workloads that require specialized computer hardware for cloud services. The hardware running machine learning models predominantly consists of graphics processing units (GPUs) and tensor processing units (TPUs). However, these com- ponents are expensive for cloud services to purchase, costly for customers to rent, prone to price spikes, and energy-intensive. In this research we show that both cloud services and customers would benefit from utilizing field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to alleviate the aforementioned challenges. An FPGA can be configured as a machine learning accelerator, operating similarly to …

Paired Storage Distributed Energy System Design For A Local Community Farm, Neil Albert Collison, Lily Goldman

Electrical Engineering

This project considers the design of a renewable energy microgrid for a 19-acre community farm in San Luis Obispo, CA as the farm seeks to increase the magnitude of its electrical loads, and gain back-up electrical capability. The microgrid design will enable lower carbon emissions, reduce demand on the utility grid while saving on energy costs, and provide improved reliability and resiliency to the operator of the community farm. The eventual implementation of the design by a professional engineering entity will allow the community farm to expand its education program to include renewable energy as well as gain notoriety in …

Energy Storage And Communication System, Noah R. Johnson, Marc Wong

Electrical Engineering

The Industrial Power and Controls Lab in Engineering East is welcoming the addition of a new lab course, EE 435. Schneider Electric sponsors this course, which seeks to teach students how to use the Modicon M580 Program Logic Controller (PLC) in various industry use cases. This project is a continuation of previous senior projects and focuses on developing a lab experiment to teach students how to utilize the M580 in an energy storage use case. More specifically, it focuses on the battery management system that oversees the units and exposes students to the various situations this system may encounter during …

Cubicom: Noisy Office Environment Communication Device, Nicholas Alan Maley, Joshua Michael Heeren, Alejandro Peña

Electrical Engineering

The CubiCom is a system that enables secure and clear communication between users in a noisy office space. It can function in any small cubicle within a 12 foot radius. The system consists of a series of wireless headsets for 6 users to transmit and receive audio, and a communication box that facilitates this process. These headsets are noise-dampening, preventing ambient sounds from interrupting conversation and making sure that all parties can hear each other clearly. Line-of-sight (L.O.S.) with each headset is required to have proper communication between users. This feature ensures no one outside of the room can eavesdrop, …

Power Thyristor Controller For Speed Control Of Dc Motor, Alejandra Zapata, Morgan Erich Boehme, Abdullah Mohammed Awidah, Payton Robert Chalstrom

Electrical Engineering

In this work, a Power Thyristor Controller for Speed Control of DC Motor has been developed with the purpose of replacing an existing simulation experiment, aiming to effectively implement the principle of learning by doing. The primary objective of the experiment setup is to illustrate the fundamental principles and operational mechanisms underlying the firing angle and controlled bridge rectifier. The new experiment is taking advantage of the existing FCRO4100 Single Phase Firing Board that was donated to the University by ENERPRO. The pre-programmed microcontroller is connected to the thyristor bridge rectifier that’s powered by 24VAC. Additionally, a DC motor will …

Audio Research Codec, Charlie Sutro

Electrical Engineering

Active Noise and Vibration Control (ANVC) systems are of increasing relevance as urban areas get more densely populated with people and their noise sources. Community noise is of great importance to many forms of transit that aim to bring mobility to a region with minimal subsequent noise pollution. Active Vibration Control (AVC) is an emerging field of research which can be employed to further mitigated unwanted harshness in an acoustic environment by extending the principals of Active Noise Control (ANC)to solid mediums using surface transducers and piezoelectric actuators.

The Audio Research Codec (ARC) is a compact, cost-effective system designed for …

Poster: Integrated Dc Microgrid Testbed For Quality Of Service Evaluation, Yasin Emir Kutlu, Ruairí De Fréin, Malabika Basu, Ali Malik

Conference papers

This study demonstrates a testbed for evaluating the effects of background network traffic on the Round-Trip Times (RTTs) of community-based integrated Direct Current (DC) Microgrid (MG) testbed using real hardware and different networking topologies.

The effects of difference levels of background traffic on the RTT of control packets are demonstrated.

Participation Of Electric Vehicle Aggregators In Wholesale Electricity Markets: Recent Works And Future Directions, Saeed Salimi Amiri, Fazlur Rahman Bin Karim, Pedro Cesar Lopes Gerum

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Electric Vehicles are key to reducing carbon emissions while bringing a revolution to the transportation sector. With the massive increase of EVs in road networks and the growing demand for charging services, the electric power grid faces enormous system reliability and operation stability challenges. Demand and supply disparities create inconsistency in the smooth delivery of electrical power. As a potential solution, EVs and their charging infrastructure can be aggregated to prevent the unwanted effects on power systems and also facilitate ancillary services to the power grid. When not need for transportation purposes, EVs can leverage their batteries for power grid …

Co-Simulation Of Electric Power Distribution Systems And Buildings Including Ultra-Fast Hvac Models And Optimal Der Control, Evan S. Jones, Rosemary E. Alden, Huangjie Gong, Dan M. Ionel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Research

Smart homes and virtual power plant (VPP) controls are growing fields of research with potential for improved electric power grid operation. A novel testbed for co-simulation of electric power distribution systems and distributed energy resources (DERs), is employed to evaluate VPP scenarios and propose an optimization procedure. DERs of specific interest include behind-the-meter (BTM) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems as well as heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. Simulation of HVAC systems is enabled by a machine learning procedure that produces ultra-fast models for electric power and indoor temperature of associated buildings that are up to 133 times faster than typical …

Time-Domain Shielding Effectiveness Analysis Based On Dgtd Method Accelerated By Local Time-Stepping And Parallel Techniques, Zheng Lang Jia, Huan Huan Zhang, Da Zhi Ding, Lei Zhao, Qiang Ren, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The discontinuous Galerkin time-domain (DGTD) method accelerated by local time-stepping (LTS) and parallel techniques is employed to analyze the time-domain shielding effectiveness (TDSE) of metallic enclosures. The detailed formulations and implementation procedures of the DGTD method and LTS and parallel techniques are introduced. Numerical results validate the correctness of the proposed method. Moreover, the influence of various design parameters of the metallic enclosure, including aperture dimensions, wall thickness, spacing of aperture arrays, etc., on the TDSE are analyzed by the proposed method. Some rules are given for the design of the enclosure with rectangular apertures from the perspective of TDSE. …

Analog Circuits For Computing, Nicole Christine Pickett, Lauren Cathy Sueko Chun, Dillon Ryan Nguyen

Electrical Engineering

This project entails designing, simulating, and verifying analog circuits that can perform essential computing functions for power systems applications. The project aims to remedy critical challenges associated with handling calculations digitally, namely, time and power. This project's scope includes creating a library of circuits in SPICE that can be used to model and simulate complex mathematical equations. From these SPICE models, the circuit can be constructed physically, where the solution can be generated in less time using less power than doing the computation digitally. The performance and efficiency of analog computing will be measured and compared to conventional digital methods.

Detecting Alzheimer's Disease Using Artificial Neural Networks, Sally Lee, Mia Keegan

Electrical Engineering

This project aims to use artificial neural networks (ANN) in order to detect Alzheimer’s disease. More specifically, convolutional neural networks (CNN) will be utilized as this is the most common ANN and has been used in many different image processing applications. The purpose of using artificial neural networks as a detect method is so that an intelligent way for image and signal analysis can be used. A software that implements CNN will be developed so that users in medical settings can utilize this software to detect Alzheimer’s in patients. The input for this software will be the patient’s MRI scans. …

Low-Cost Portable Laser Communication Device, Tom Elkayam, Basile Louis Scoffie

Electrical Engineering

The portable laser communication device (PLCD), is a low cost system used to set up networks in data isolated regions via an optical line-of-sight communications protocol. In this manner the PLCD transmits at 9600 baud using UART protocol over the visible light band at 635nm. The device is intended to operate in indoor conditions and be semi-permanent until redeployed. The PLCD is built as a transmitter, receiver pair and when installed, utilizes tracking to find each other and automatically set up communication within a window of 30° laterally and 10° vertically. Each side of the system is less than 15 …

Variable Frequency Motor Drive Application, Jason G. Milne, Nick Mark

Electrical Engineering

This project entails the development of an electrical engineering undergraduate lab module focusing on utilizing a variable frequency drive (VFD) controlled with a programmable logic controller (PLC) — the Modicon M580. The variable frequency drive is a device that is able to automatically change the frequency of an object through automation without having to physically change the device that is being controlled (ex: fans, pumps, motors, etc.). This project will guide students to understand the software for programming and controlling the PLC within a 3 hour laboratory experiment. Throughout the lab, the students will learn how to implement the PLC …

Vr Force Feedback Gloves, Mark Wu, Claire Chen

Electrical Engineering

The goal of this project is to produce a manufacturing plan for a consumer VR glove. The total addressable market of VR is over 170 million global users as of 2022 (Kolmar , 2022) with a serviceable available market of 300,000 users on Meta’s own social platform (Heath, 2022). The targeted Quest 2 platform utilizes handheld controllers, which causes a lack of immersivity in social settings and gaming scenarios. One common use of the platform involves social platforms such as “Horizons” where users meet in a virtual world to interact; handheld controllers don’t allow users to shake hands, make finger …

Development Of Cal Poly’S Hybrid Ac/Dc House, Eduardo Andres Muñoz, Giovanni Ramirez Angel

Electrical Engineering

The Hybrid House provides an example for what sustainable housing solutions could look like. It also functions as a potential solution to the current rural electrification issues many developing countries face. The use of a DC-DC MISO converter allows for combining multiple power sources into a single DC bus. The Hybrid House integrates the DC bus by employing the use of DC-DC converters for home use. This system may potentially improve the overall system efficiency by avoiding the losses associated with AC-DC converters. The use of the DC bus further leverages the Solar Panel renewable energy solution to become a …

Automotive Collision Warning System Retrofit, Ethan Clark Najmy

Electrical Engineering

In the early 2000s, few automakers began implementing forward collision warning systems in their cars. As technology advanced this system became available on more and more luxury cars. In recent years, this technology has spread to more affordable vehicles driven every day. However, as this technology has only recently advanced to less expensive, more economical cars, older vehicles of the same model may not have this advanced and important safety feature. This project investigates and creates a preliminary design for an affordable, easy-to-install, forward collision warning system that can be retrofitted to vehicles without the system currently installed. Using a …

Emulating The Doppler-Shift For Lora Based Low Earth Orbit Satellite Communication, Ariel Freiman, John Stephen Gharib

Electrical Engineering

This project investigates the adverse effects of the Doppler Shift on a LoRa waveform transmitted from a Low Earth Orbit Satellite or LEOSAT. This work is on behalf of Project OWL, who will use these results to justify further investment into developing a LEOSAT for their communication network. Part of the project is to design a test setup to replicate the Doppler Shift in the lab. The Doppler shift replication setup distorts the transmitted waveform, similar to how the signal gets distorted if sent from a LEOSAT. The test setup will comprise both software and hardware control, wherein software, the …

Instrumented Control Column For Optionally Piloted Aircraft, Andrew J. Klein

Electrical Engineering

Natilus, an aerospace company that is rapid-prototyping optionally piloted aircraft (OPA) for the shipping industry, needs a system that retrieves control column position data in order to manipulate flight simulator parameters in software. At present, a universally compatible system for all aircraft does not exist. Typically, established aerospace companies will sink significant time and money into developing proprietary systems for control column data retrieval as every aircraft is unique in its layout and linkage design. However, as a startup developing their first aircraft, Natilus does not have the privilege of modifying an existing sensor system to work with their HIL …

Cardio Trainer, Levi Rash, Cristian Rodriguez

Electrical Engineering

The Cardio Trainer Device is a wearable device that guides the user through a physical exercise based on the user’s heartbeat measurements. Users interface with the device via a wearable band. The band determines the heartbeat of the user in real time and, using that reading, gives the user verbal instructions to optimize their workout. These verbal instructions then serve to control the physical exertion of the user and are delivered through an audio device. Users input personal physical metrics to the Cardio Trainer Device that tailor the performance of the device in a manner of ways: rate of instruction, …

High Performance Radar System, Danny Maas

Electrical Engineering

This report covers the design, fabrication, and test of an X-band FMCW radar inspired by the radars from Cal Poly course EE 541, “Advanced Microwave Laboratory.” In this class, 2.4GHz Doppler and FMCW radars are designed and built using consumer off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Operability is the focus of this class, sacrificing performance, accuracy, and precision. this project aims to improve upon those radars by using custom-designed components instead of COTS components and shifting the operating frequency to 10GHz.. The use of custom components can improve output power and frequency stability, and higher frequency reduces component size. The FCC allows amateur …

The Design And Construction Of A Radio Telescope, Avery Elizabeth Bunting, Kira Hope Tolman

Architectural Engineering

Two architectural engineering students and an electrical engineering student worked together to design and build a radio telescope that is capable of using hydrogen line astronomy to map the galaxy. The telescope is made entirely out of aluminum, which, combined with small deflection limits, made for an iterative design process that focused primarily on constructability and supporting the desired outcomes of the electrical side.

Design, Modeling, And Testing Of A Novel Inductor For Electric Vehicles: Iron Nitride Soft Magnetic Composites, Sydney F. Fultz-Waters, Jacob Krynock

Materials Engineering

New technology for electric vehicles (EVs) must meet the requirements of higher energy usage, lower costs, and more sustainable source materials. One promising material for EV power system components is iron nitride (IN) soft magnetic composites (SMCs) because of their competitive magnetic properties and high abundance of the source materials. As part of an ongoing program at Sandia National Laboratories, this project focused on using computer modeling to optimize the prototyping process for an iron nitride SMC toroidal inductor to reach a target inductance of 600 μH. Four inductors with different combinations of wiring (26 AWG and 20 AWG) and …

Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Vernier Machine With Single-Wound Dual-Stator And Spoke Permanent Magnet Rotor For Electric Vehicle In-Wheel Traction, Ali Mohammadi, Yaser Chulaee, Aaron M. Cramer, Ion G. Boldea, Dan M. Ionel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Research

In this paper, a dual-stator axial flux permanent magnet machine with a spoke-type rotor for electric vehicle applications is investigated. The rotor PMs are positioned in a spoke-type field-concentrating arrangement, which provides high flux concentration. Two stators—one stator configuration with double-layer wound coils and another without winding—are employed. The usage of single-layer wound coils is possible in this topology, and by using this type of winding it is possible to implement advanced in-slot cooling systems. Analytical and electromagnetic finite element analysis (FEA) studies considering its geometrical and electrical properties have been performed on this machine. The performance indices for the …