Electrical and Electronics Commons^™

Detection Of Subsurface, Nanometer-Scale Crystallographic Defects By Nonlinear Light Scattering And Localization, Farbod Shafiei, Tommaso Orzali, Alexey Vert, Mohammad-Ali Miri, Pui Yee Hung, Man Hoi Wong, Andrea Alù, Gennadi Bersuker, Michael C. Downer

Advanced Science Research Center

Heteroepitaxial crystalline films underlie many electronic and optical technologies but are prone to forming defects at their heterointerfaces. Atomic-scale defects such as threading dislocations that propagate into a film impede the flow of charge carriers and light degrading electrical/optical performance of devices. Diagnosis of subsurface defects traditionally requires time-consuming invasive techniques such as cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. Using III–V films grown on Si, noninvasive, bench-top diagnosis of subsurface defects have been demonstrated by optical second-harmonic scanning probe microscope. A high-contrast pattern is observed of subwavelength “hot spots” caused by scattering and localization of fundamental light by defect scattering sites. Size …

Pilltank, Lucas Chang, Hayden Tam, Aaron Teh, Krista Round

Electrical Engineering

Imagine an elderly family member, going through their daily routine of taking their pills. They find their pill box; however, they are having trouble identifying all the pills in there. Is there a name on the tablet? Can they read what it says? Do they just trust that the medication in their box is correct? How can they properly take care of themselves if they can not even confirm that what they are taking is the right medication? To combat this issue that many face, we present PillTank.

To decrease the risk of consuming the wrong medication, PillTank identifies the …

Development Of A Low-Cost Hybrid Music Synthesizer, Spencer Rollins Drewry

Electrical Engineering

Until recently, affordable music equipment has always been seen as “budget”, providing a poor user experience. Inexpensive equipment was plagued with audible noise, signal integrity issues, and convoluted user interfaces. Companies like Teenage Engineering have proven that this does not have to be the case, in 2019 introducing their "Pocket Operator” series for $89. Due to the modern availability of low cost, high quality, consumer off the shelf [COTS] analog and digital components as well as creative engineering, the quality of inexpensive audio equipment has increased significantly. Despite these industry advances, the market is relatively small and shows a great …

Dc-Dc Buck Boost Converter Using The Lt8390 Controller And Gan High Electron Mobility Transistors, Juan Manuel Urbano Jr, Brian Thongchai Keokot

Electrical Engineering

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s ongoing Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) project creates a sustainable energy source by converting physical exercise from exercise machines into renewable electricity. Implementing energy harvesting technology into the Recreation Center’s exercise machines helps Cal Poly make progress on its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 [1]. An improvement to the system with new technology increases Cal Poly Recreation Center’s ability to save money and improve sustainability.

The focus of this project improves the design of Nicholas Serres, who used the LT8390 controller in his buck boost DC-DC converter [2]. This project improves …

Wildfire Early Detection System (Weds), Mason Mciver, Vincent Liang, Jeanreno Racines

Electrical Engineering

With climate change causing an increase in temperature over the past several decades, wildfires have been burning hotter and moving quicker leaving a trail of destruction in their path. Detecting a wildfire early allows firefighters to respond efficiently and effectively to ensure containment. With the rise of advanced computer vision and algorithms, autonomous systems can be used to monitor and report any fire activity. Having multiple devices spread out across a large area will allow first responders to map out the fire location and track the fire. By utilizing smart technologies, property damage can be minimized and residents living in …

Miniaturized Ultraviolet Imager High Voltage Power Supply, Nicholas Palmer, Jason Thomas Heil

Electrical Engineering

Sending satellites into orbit becomes exponentially more expensive with weight and size, so designing high-voltage DC-DC converters that can achieve kilovolt level outputs in a small form factor is crucial to reducing costs. The Miniaturized Ultraviolet Imager (MUVI) aims to monitor Earth’s ionosphere and report weather patterns to climate scientists within a 2U cube satellite footprint. The imaging equipment consists of a microchannel plate and phosphor screen that require 2.5kV and 5.5kV respectively at microamp level currents. This report explains the implementation of a high voltage boost cascaded flyback converter to meet all of the MUVI satellite output voltage requirements. …

First Order Self-Oscillating Class-D Circuit With Triangular Wave Injection, Matthew J. Carroll

Master's Theses

An investigation into performance improvements to the modulator stage of a class-D amplifier is conducted in this thesis. Two of the standard topologies, namely class-D open-loop pulse-width modulation (PWM), and the improved self-oscillating feedback system are benchmarked against a topology which includes both a hysteretic comparator in a feedback loop and triangle wave injection. Circuit performance is analyzed by comparing how the triangle injection circuit handles known issues with open-loop and self-oscillating circuits. Using this analysis, it is shown that the triangle injection topology offers an improved power supply rejection ratio relative to open-loop PWM and reduces distortion generated by …

Design And Modeling Of A Distributed Network For The Dc House Project, Lauren N. Rotsios

Master's Theses

This thesis covers the design and simulation of a model for a distributed network of DC Houses in MATLAB Simulink. The model will allow for sharing of power between houses within the network. The developed model consists of five separate DC House branches with local power generation. Each branch consists of a PV MPPT charge controller subsystem, a resistive load, and a bidirectional buck-boost converter subsystem. The high voltage side of every bidirectional buck-boost converter is connected together through the transmission line at a single high voltage DC bus. The performance of the individual components of the model is verified …

Scalable Cognitive Radio Network Testbed In Real Time, Kevin Z. Yu

Master's Theses

Modern society places an increasingly high demand on data transmission. Much of that data transmission takes place through communication over the frequency spectrum. The channels on the spectrum are limited resources. Researchers realize that at certain times of day some channels are overloaded, while others are not being fully utilized. A spectrum management system may be beneficial to remedy this efficiency issue. One of the proposed systems, Cognitive Radio Network (CRN), has progressed over the years thanks to studies on a wide range of subjects, including geolocation, data throughput rate, and channel handoff selection algorithm, which provide fundamental support for …

Zero Voltage Switching Hybrid Voltage Divider Converter, Timothy Jeong

Master's Theses

This project proposes a new hybrid voltage divider DC-DC converter that utilizes switching capacitors and inductors to produce zero voltage switching (ZVS) at the turn on state of its switches. By achieving ZVS, the switching losses are significantly reduced; thus, increasing the overall efficiency of the converter at various loads. The goal for this thesis is to perform analysis of the operation of the converter, derive equations for sizing the main components, and demonstrate its functionality through computer simulation and hardware prototype. Results of the simulation and hardware testing show that the proposed converter produces the desired output voltage while …

Power Line Coupling Power Supply Design, Janine Gian Christii C. Darato, Jeni K. Kawate, Nicholas A. Marta

Electrical Engineering

In this project, a power supply was designed for a startup company, Perch Sensing, to detect wildfires with the use of distributed sensors across power lines. The purpose of the power supply is to provide 15W of power to a microcontroller, which controls the sensor nodes. The power supply hangs from power lines and draws energy by inductively coupling to these lines. Our design starts with a current transformer that steps down the current from the power line, which is fed into a shunting mechanism as a safety precaution when the load is absent, then to the power supply itself. …

Buck Converter With Voltage Foldback Protection, Fabian Aaron Enriquez, Pedro Rincon Rosales

Electrical Engineering

In this work, we implemented the idea of current foldback protection onto a buck converter. Current foldback protection essentially helps reduce the power dissipation which may be caused by a short circuit or overload scenario. To achieve the goal of this project, we used a combination of comparators, operational amplifiers and MOSFETs to create a current foldback sub controller. This controller would then serve as a feedback device between the output of the converter and the main controller to detect if a fault condition has occurred. Following the design, we performed simulation of the current foldback controller using PSpice and …

Tractor Hacking, Jin Huang, Kyle B. Kesler

Electrical Engineering

Tractor hacking arose from tractor owners' desire for full control over the tractors they purchase. Tractor manufacturers set strict security on the electrical components of their tractors, making it difficult for tractor owners to diagnose and monitor their tractors on their own. The UltraBlue Tractor Hacking project is a solution to this problem, allowing tractor owners to perform diagnostics and monitor the equipment they purchased without having to go through dealerships. From talking to farmers, we found that they valued a diagnostic tool that allows for clearing and resetting Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs), viewing diagnostic data pertaining to a specific …

Portable Ventilator, Bradley C. Weeks, Jack W. Brewer, Sanders Sanabria

Electrical Engineering

The current COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted the healthcare system in the United States and elsewhere. The need for patients to have access to a hospital with a ventilator along with a shortage of ventilators for recovery and at-home care as a result of minimal hospital vacancy for patients has been greatly stressed. The presented problem is both an unmet demand and supply of portable and effective ventilators. Existing ventilators have many shortcomings that should be addressed: size, weight, cost, and complexity of current ventilators confines users to stay in a medical facility whilst being monitored by professionals. This both …

Survey And Design Of Microwave Low-Noise Amplifiers, Omri Yaari, Pavin Virdee

Electrical Engineering

This project is a contest entry in the Wide In-band Receiver area of the 2020 International Microwave Symposium, 5G Low Noise Amplifier Competition [1]. The project includes RF transistor selection, single, two-stage, and cascode models, and RF parameter optimization to maximize the IMS Competition figure of merit along with a supplemental figure of merit [2]. 5G technologies (used in cellphones, IoT, etc.), first introduced in 2018, are on the rise in current society. Fifth generation hardware requires extended capabilities in comparison to 4G (5-20MHz bandwidth EU: 0.6-2.6GHz), including the newly allocated sub 6GHz frequency bands (EU: 3.4-3.8GHz) and wider bandwidth …

Led-Based Solar Simulator, Jonathan E. Honrada

Electrical Engineering

Solar simulators are great laboratory tools that help users conduct tests with solar cells indoors. Conventional solar simulators typically use xenon arc bulbs as a light source, which can have considerable disadvantages. Recent projects have sought to design and implement LED-based solar simulators, as they are more power-efficient, inexpensive, and durable.

Based on these advantages, the goal of this project is to create an LED-based solar simulator that can replicate the characteristics of solar light, but also be tunable with controls. This broadens the testing capabilities of the device, allowing users to conduct tests with more narrow spectrums of light …

Design And Characterization Of Standard Cell Library Using Finfets, Phanindra Datta Sadhu

Master's Theses

The processors and digital circuits designed today contain billions of transistors on a small piece of silicon. As devices are becoming smaller, slimmer, faster, and more efficient, the transistors also have to keep up with the demands and needs of the daily user. Unfortunately, the CMOS technology has reached its limit and cannot be used to scale down due to the transistor's breakdown caused by short channel effects. An alternative solution to this is the FinFET transistor technology, where the gate of the transistor is a three dimensional fin that surrounds the transistor and prevents the breakdown caused by scaling …

Development Of A Portable Low-Moisture Food Pasteurization Device Using Rf Heating, Eric Jason Ohata

Master's Theses

Bacterial presence in low-moisture foods such as flour, cereals, baby formula, and spices, have become a concern due to sanitizing challenges. The food industry currently focuses on wet food sanitation as opposed to low-moisture foods because of bacteria’s inability to reproduce in low water activity media. Traditionally, food processing RF heating pasteurizes in mass quantities while an equivalent consumer device does not exist the market today. A consumer product would help eliminate food waste by providing an easy way to sanitize food and extend shelf life. The Portable Food Pasteurization (PFP) project is an interdisciplinary project involving the Electrical Engineering, …

Bibliometric Review On Iot Based System For Remote Downloading On Microcontroller, Arundhati Bandopadhyaya Ms., Diya Dodwad Ms., Diviyanshi Gupta Ms., Surya Koyyana Mr., Parag Narkhede Mr., Shripad Deshpande Mr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Working with sensors has become an area of expertise within the domain of electronic engineering. On a day to day basis, thousands of sensors are put to use around us, for instance, in smoke alarms, speedometers, motors, computers, radiators etc. to accumulate sensor data, cables that connect the sensors to the bottom station after which the information is worked on. But cabling is often expensive especially when handling large scale industrial applications ^[5]. For an equivalent reason, low-cost wireless networks came into the picture recently and are in high demand. A research paper we found during our review of …

Feasibility Study Of Radio Frequency Microelectromechanical Filters For Space Operation, Karanvir Singh

Theses and Dissertations

Piezoelectric contour mode resonator technology has the unique advantage of combining low motional resistance with the ability to define multiple frequencies on the same substrate. Contour mode resonators can be mechanically coupled together to form robust band-pass filters for the next generation of GPS satellites with extreme size reduction compared to electrically coupled filters. Piezoelectric zinc oxide (ZnO) contour mode resonators have the potential for monolithic integration with current ZnO transistor further reducing size, power consumption, and cost of filter modules. Barium strontium titanate (BST) contour mode resonators have incredible frequency tunability due to the fundamental nature of the thin …

Optical Engineering Of Iii-Nitride Nanowire Light-Emitting Diodes And Applications, Ha Quoc Thang Bui

Dissertations

Applications of III-nitride nanowires are intensively explored in different emerging technologies including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes, photodiodes, biosensors, and solar cells. The synthesis of the III-nitride nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is investigated with significant achievements. III-nitride nanowires can be grown on dissimilar substrates i.e., silicon with nearly dislocation free due to the effective strain relaxation. III-nitride nanowires, therefore, are perfectly suited for high performance light emitters for cost-effective fabrication of the advanced photonic-electronic integrated platforms. This dissertation addresses the design, fabrication, and characterization of III-nitride nanowire full-color micro-LED (µLED) on silicon substrates for µLED display technologies, high-efficient …

Selective Neural Stimulation By Leveraging Electrophysiological Diversity And Using Alternative Stimulus Waveforms, Bemin Ghobreal

Dissertations

Efforts on finding the principle mechanism for selective neural stimulation have concentrated on segregating the neurons based on their size and other geometric factors. However, neuronal subtypes found in different parts of the nervous system also differ in their electrophysiological properties. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of selective activation of neurons by leveraging the diversity seen in passive and active membrane properties.

Using both a local membrane model and an axon model based on the CRRSS, the diversity of electrophysiological properties is simulated by varying four model parameters (membrane leakage-Gleak and capacitance-Cm, temperature coefficient-Ktemp, …

Intelligent And Secure Fog-Aided Internet Of Drones, Jingjing Yao

Dissertations

Internet of drones (IoD), which utilize drones as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, deploys several drones in the air to collect ground information and send them to the IoD gateway for further processing. Computing tasks are usually offloaded to the cloud data center for intensive processing. However, many IoD applications require real-time processing and event response (e.g., disaster response and virtual reality applications). Hence, data processing by the remote cloud may not satisfy the strict latency requirement. Fog computing attaches fog nodes, which are equipped with computing, storage and networking resources, to IoD gateways to assume a substantial amount of …

Modeling And Analysis Of Intracellular Signaling Networks And Cellular Decisions, Mustafa Ozen

Dissertations

Developing molecular network analysis methods is important due to their applications on complex biological systems such as target discovery, development of drugs, discovering drug effects, and finding treatments for many complex diseases, e.g., cancer, autoimmune, and mental disorders. An example of analysis techniques is the fault diagnosis analysis, in which the purpose is to quantify how much vulnerable the entire network is to dysfunction of one or multiple molecules. Such analysis can be done after proper network models are implemented, trained, and tested against the experimental data. In this dissertation, a Boolean modeling framework is implemented and methods to train …

Bibliometric Analysis On Dynamic Target Tracking By Mobile Robot, Gaurav Atha Mr., Siddhant Chaturvedi Mr., Atishraj Desai Mr., Dhrumil Desai Mr., Shripad V. Deshpande Mr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The survey and bibliometric research on dynamic target tracking by a mobile robot are discussed in this paper. The primary goal of this bibliometric analysis is to comprehend and analyze the scope of the literature in the field of mobile robots for obstacle avoidance, path planning and target tracking using Robot Operating System (ROS). The ROS contains various tools for data analysis, incorporates multiple robots and their sensors, and supports devices interaction for target seeking and localization in mobile robots. This detailed review was performed on various research publications about the mapping of the unknown field/environment by the ROS based …

Boot-Loading Microcontroller Through Serial Port, Siddharth Sameer, Jayshree Ashok Pande

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Modern-day automobiles have several Electronic Control Units (ECUs) integrated into them so naturally, compared to the older cars, their complexity is too high, and this trend of increasing complexity in the cars of the future will continue to increase. Consequently, with the increase in the software part in the vehicles, there is always the risk of a potential bug. Whenever a software bug is found, a recall process is required to update the software. The modern ECU update technology is achieved through the interaction of information between the remote server and the end equipment of the vehicle. Therefore, due to …

An Lpc Pole Processing Method For Enhancing The Identification Of Dominant Spectral Features, Jin Xu, Mark Davis, Ruairí De Fréin

Articles

This paper proposes a new time-resolved spectral analysis method based on a modification to the linear predictive coding (LPC) method for enhancing the identification of the dominant frequencies of a signal. The method described here is based on a z-plane analysis of the LPC poles. These poles are used to produce a series of reduced order filter transfer functions which can accurately identify and estimate the frequency of the dominant spectral features. The standard LPC method has been shown to suffer from a sensitivity to noise and its performance is dependent on the filter order. The proposed method can …

Fault Modeling And Test Vector Generation For Asic Devices Exposed To Space Single Event Environment, Ahmed Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

This work aims at providing a concise automated flow to predict the effect of Single Event Transients (SETs) on ASIC chips by developing a method to characterize the circuit susceptibility to SET pulses propagation and then generation of the required input vectors that sensitize the victim paths. A new enhanced method for SET electrical propagation modeling is proposed and compared to a previously published analytical model. The method was applied on different standard cells libraries built over XFAB Xh018 technology and verified for accuracy against simulations. The new method showed enhancement in accuracy compared with previous work in literature. Industrial …

Efficient And Scalable Computing For Resource-Constrained Cyber-Physical Systems: A Layered Approach, An Zou

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

With the evolution of computing and communication technology, cyber-physical systems such as self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and mobile cognitive robots are achieving increasing levels of multifunctionality and miniaturization, enabling them to execute versatile tasks in a resource-constrained environment. Therefore, the computing systems that power these resource-constrained cyber-physical systems (RCCPSs) have to achieve high efficiency and scalability. First of all, given a fixed amount of onboard energy, these computing systems should not only be power-efficient but also exhibit sufficiently high performance to gracefully handle complex algorithms for learning-based perception and AI-driven decision-making. Meanwhile, scalability requires that the current computing system …

Aerosol Vapor Synthesis Of Organic Processable Pedot Particles And Measuring Electric Conductivity Using A 3d Printed Probe Station, Yang Lu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Conducting polymers are organic semiconductors characterized by conjugated backbones (alternating single-double bonds) that enable mixed ionic-electronic conductivity. Their polymeric nature, tunable band structure and reversible redox capability have demonstrated fundamental advances in the fields ranging from electrochemical energy storage, sensing, to electro/photo catalysis and neuromorphic engineering. Conjugated backbones, the origin of all the unique physical and chemical properties associated with conducting polymers, prevent their solubility due to high lattice energy which hinders processing. Current solution utilizes a long-chain polymer (PSS) as dopants to render conducting polymer water dispersible (PEDOT:PSS). Nonetheless, PSS is highly acidic and hydrophilic limiting applicability with acid-incompatible …