Electrical and Electronics Commons^™

A Pipeline Analog-To-Digital Converter For A Plasma Impedance Probe, Mohamad A. El Hamoui

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Space instrumentation technology is an essential tool for rocket and satellite research, and is expected to become popular in commercial and military operations in fields such as radar, imaging, and communications. These instruments are traditionally implemented on printed circuit boards using discrete general-purpose Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) devices and other components. A large circuit board is not convenient for use in micro-satellite deployments, where the total payload volume is limited to roughly one cubic foot. Because micro-satellites represent a fast growing trend in satellite research and development, there is motivation to explore miniaturized custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designs to reduce …

Surface Wave Propagation In A Dielectric Waveguide Loaded With An Anisotropic, Conductive, And Spatially Dispersive Substrate, Tushar Andriyas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents an analytical treatment of surface waves inside a dielectric slab loaded with a conductive and spatially dispersive semiconductor-like substrate. The work is primarily focused on the modelling of the substrate and getting the field solutions out from the Helmholtz equation. Appropriate boundary conditions have been used in order to get a unique dispersion relation. The surface wave modes are then extracted from the relation by using a root-searching algorithm, which in this work is the MATLAB Genetic Algorithm toolbox. Many different substrate configurations have been considered, starting from the very basic isotropic case to the most complex …

Student Achievement And Affective Traits In Electrical Engineering Laboratories Using Traditional And Computer-Based Instrumentation, Matthew D. Lammi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Distance education has the ability to transcend distance and time, reaching students anywhere at any time, particularly those underrepresented in engineering. Engineering is a practice-oriented profession requiring an interweaving of scientific theory and applied hands-on activities. Despite the need for distance education in engineering, few studies have systematically investigated the impact of student achievement and attitude in distance engineering laboratories. This quasi-experimental research addressed that need by studying the cognitive and affective domains of achievement in engineering laboratories while employing computer-based and traditional oscilloscopes. The students from two courses, electrical engineering for nonmajors and electronic fundamentals, were randomly assigned into …

Experiments In Distributed Multi-Robot Coordination, Larry Dale Ballard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consensus control algorithms for multi-agent systems are an area of much research. Several consensus control laws are experimentally validated on a multi-robot testbed in this thesis. A graphical user interface (GUI) is developed that simplies use of the testbed, as well as allows the execution of the testbed programs to be divided across multiple computers. This not only provides a more powerful computing environment, but a more realistic communication environment for the testbed. A method for a time varying or dynamic formation is both proposed and experimentally validated on the testbed. This research also explores a method for dynamic group …

Design Of Tunable Edge-Coupled Microstrip Bandpass Filters, Srinidhi V. Kaveri

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is a study of tunability of edge-coupled filters. Microstrip edge-coupled bandpass filters are planar structures and have advantages such as easy design procedures and simple integration into circuits.

Three tuning techniques were implemented. The first technique involved the loading of one open end of each coupled into tunable capacitors. The second technique used a tunable resonator in series with the edge-coupled blocks. The final design made use of tunable feedback sections.

A detailed mathematical analysis of each design was performed. MATLAB code based on the analyses was written. The MATLAB simulations were compared to Agilent Advanced Design System …

A C To Register Transfer Level Algorithm Using Structured Circuit Templates: A Case Study With Simulated Annealing, Jonathan D. Phillips

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A tool flow is presented for deriving simulated annealing accelerator circuits on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) from C source code by exploring architecture solutions that conform to a preset template through scheduling and mapping algorithms. A case study carried out on simulated annealing-based Autonomous Mission Planning and Scheduling (AMPS) software used for autonomous spacecraft systems is explained. The goal of the research is an automated method for the derivation of a hardware design that maximizes performance while minimizing the FPGA footprint. Results obtained are compared with a peer C to register transfer level (RTL) logic tool, a state-of-the-art …

Algorithm Development For Column Water Vapor Retrieval Using The Sun And Aureole Measurement (Sam) Sensor, Joshua Bruce Williams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

To understand and model the energetics of the Sun-Earth connection, measurements of specific atmospheric molecules are beneficial. The objective is to formulate an algorithm to derive temporally varying atmospheric water vapor concentrations as functions of altitude, latitude, and longitude from solar irradiance absorption measurements. The Visidyne SAM (Sun and Aureole Measurement) instrument, which studies the size and distribution of cloud particles, was used to obtain the experimental data. By introducing a spectrometer to the SAM instrument, column water vapor is produced as part of the data product. A new model optimized algorithm is developed and tested versus existing algorithms. Through …

A Ladar-Based Pose Estimation Algorithm For Determining Relative Motion Of A Spacecraft For Autonomous Rendezvous And Dock, Ronald Christopher Fenton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Future autonomous space missions will require autonomous rendezvous and docking operations. The servicing spacecraft must be able to determine the relative 6 degree-of-freedom (6 DOF) motion between the vehicle and the target spacecraft. One method to determine the relative 6 DOF position and attitude is with 3D ladar imaging. Ladar sensor systems can capture close-proximity range images of the target spacecraft, producing 3D point cloud data sets. These sequentially collected point-cloud data sets were then registered with one another using a point correspondence-less variant of the Iterative Closest Points (ICP) algorithm to determine the relative 6 DOF displacements. Simulation experiments …

Algorithm Development Of The Aglite-Lidar Instrument, Christian Marchant

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Particulate emissions from agricultural operations are increasingly receiving attention from regulatory bodies as a potential source of air pollution. The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) has developed the Aglite system, a suite of instruments including a lidar that is capable of measuring particulate emission levels from agricultural facilities. This system provides a novel method of measuring particulate mass (PM) pollution, allowing measurements to be taken of diverse types of facilities with high temporal and spatial resolution. This high resolution allows for the measurement of emission levels generated by specific activities, fostering the development and determination of best management practices.

The Aglite …

A Field Programmable Gate Array Based Finite-Domain Constraint Solver, Prasad Subramanian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Constraint satisfaction and optimization techniques are commonly employed in scheduling, industrial manufacturing, and automation processes where concepts from Operations Research (OR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are applied. In embedded systems, Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) finds use in design, synthesis, and optimization. However, most application areas of CSP employ offline solving techniques where design requirements and constraints are captured before the system is deployed online. There is a significant amount of pre-planning and human intervention required.

In embedded systems, online constraint solving techniques are primarily used as onboard control software in order to enable a system that can dynamically adapt to …

The Numerical Modeling Of An Antenna In Plasma, Jeffrey D. Ward

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation presents a full-wave, self-consistent numerical model that enables a greater understanding of how an antenna interacts with warm, collisional, magnetized, multi-species plasma. The model focuses primarily on the frequency region around the critical electron resonances for ionospheric plasma conditions. At these resonances, the dielectric representation of the plasma can become complex or negative, and the current distribution strongly deviates from free space. These effects are difficult to model analytically, necessitating the use of numerical techniques. This dissertation develops a Finite Difference Time Domain model that includes the plasma fluid equations along with Maxwell's equations, and incorporates boundary conditions …

An Adaptive "Natural Law" Fuzzy Controller, Sandeep D. Sequeira

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fuzzy control has met with a tremendous interest in applications over the past few years. Despite its application potential, a broader industrial exploitation of fuzzy control has been hindered by the lack of standard design methods for fuzzy control systems. Fuzzy controllers have had to be designed on a case-by-case basis employing heuristics and reflecting the designer's limited insight into the control object's behavior. A number of fuzzy theorists have investigated the fuzzy system theoretic problems and results reported in the literature have been encouraging.

This thesis research has explored the notion that fuzzy control, despite being a rule-based control …

The University, Electrical Engineering And Space Travel, Doran Baker

Faculty Honor Lectures

In this paper, my purpose is three-fold: First, to tell some of the story of the development of the Engineering College at Utah State University; second, to present selected concepts and applications in the evolution of electrical engineering; third, to relate these concepts and developments to our space venture and to the twenty-first century_ My perspective is that of a school teacher, engineer, scientist and historian; superimposed upon this is my imbedment in the system as an administrator of teachers and researchers. I intend to strike a balance between generality and depth, between technology and philosophy, and between perception and …