Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

On The Enhancement Of Penetrating Radar Target Location Accuracy With Visual-Inertial Slam, Joshua Girard

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This paper presents research concerning the use of visual-inertial Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) algorithms to aid in Continuous Wave (CW) radar target mapping. SLAM is an established field in which radarhas been used to internally contribute to the localization algorithms. Instead, the application in this case is to use SLAM outputs to localize radar data and construct three-dimensional target maps which can be viewed in augmented reality. These methods are transferable to other types of radar units and sensors, but this paper presents the research showing how the methods can be applied to calculate depth efficiently with CW radar …

Constraint-Aware And Efficiency-Aware Control Of Air-Path In Fuel Cell Vehicles, Eli Bacher-Chong

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Fuel cell technology offers the potential for clean, efficient, robust energy productionfor both stationary and mobile applications. But without fast and robust control systems, fuel cells cannot hope to maintain real-life efficiencies near enough to their theoretical potential. This work studies control and constraint management techniques to regulate a nonlinear multivariable air-path system for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The control objectives are to avoid oxygen starvation, run at the maximum net efficiency, achieve fast tracking of air flow and pressure set-points, and be easy to calibrate. To operate at maximum efficiency, a set-point map is generated for …

The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, Embodied Injustices, And Transboundary Sustainability, Sonya Ahamed

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Intersections of food, energy, and water systems (the FEW nexus) pose many sustainability and governance challenges, including risks to ecosystems, inequitable distribution of benefits and harms across populations, and reliance on distant sources for food, energy, and water. Nexus-based approaches can offer more holistic pathways for societal transitions to FEW systems that are just and sustainable, but tend to focus narrowly on inputs (e.g. water ‘for’ energy) in ways that do little to address the historical roots and structural underpinnings of current system inadequacies, thus risking their perpetuation.

This dissertation widens the FEW nexus in two contexts in which the …

Exploring Hidden Networks Yields Important Insights In Disparate Fields Of Study, Laurence Clarfeld

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Network science captures a broad range of problems related to things (nodes) and relationships between them (edges). This dissertation explores real-world network problems in disparate domain applications where exploring less obvious "hidden networks" reveals important dynamics of the original network.

The power grid is an explicit network of buses (e.g., generators) connected by branches (e.g., transmission lines). In rare cases, if k branches (a k-set) fail simultaneously, a cascading blackout may ensue; we refer to such k-sets as "defective". We calculate system risk of cascading failure due to defective 2-sets and 3-sets in synthetic test cases of the Polish and …

Utilizing Machine Learning For Respiratory Rate Detection Via Radar Sensor, Anwar Elhadad

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In this research, we investigate a data processing method to capture the respiratory rate of a person by utilizing a doppler radar to monitor their body movement during respiration. We utilize a machine learning algorithm with a radar sensor to capture the chest movement of a person while breathing and determine the respiratory rate according to that movement. We are using a Random Forest classifier to distinguish between different classes of pulses. After that, the algorithm constructs a sinusoidal signal representing the breathing rate of the sample. By applying this technique, we can detect the breathing rate accurately for different …

Reference Governors For Time-Varying Systems And Constraints, Collin Freiheit

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Control systems are often subject to constraints imposed by physical limitations or safety considerations, and require means of constraint management to ensure the stability and safety of the system. For real-time implementation, constraint management schemes must not carry a heavy computational burden; however many of the current solutions are computationally unattractive, especially those with robust formulations. Thus, the design of constraint management schemes with low computational loads is an important and practical problem for control engineers. Reference Governor (RG) is an efficient constraint management scheme that is attractive for real-time implementation due to its low computational complexity and ease of …

Modeling Electric Vehicle Energy Demand And Regional Electricity Generation Dispatch For New England And New York, Sarah E. Howerter

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The transportation sector is a largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the U.S., accounting for 28.6% of all 2016 emissions, the majority of which come from the passenger vehicle fleet [1,2]. One major technology that is being investigated by researchers, planners, and policy makers to help lower the emissions from the transportation sector is the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV). The focus of this work is to investigate and model the impacts of increased levels of PEVs on the regional electric power grid and on the net change in CO2 emissions due to the decrease tailpipe emissions and the increase in …

An Analysis Of Energy Transitions At Different Scales: Fossil Fuel Divestment In Higher Education And Individual Behavior, Elizabeth Palchak

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A sociotechnical energy transition requires both a shift to new technologies and attention to social issues like political movements, policy and human behavior. This dissertation investigates social elements of the renewable energy transition occurring at different scales. The core research questions are: How are universities creating and responding to the shifting language of fossil fuel investments? How and for whom do behavioral interventions work? And finally, do in-home displays (IHDs) change behaviors and attitudes of millennial energy users?

The three studies covered here occurred within higher education and reflect the importance of colleges and universities as dynamic players in energy …

Consumer Engagement With Efficient And Renewable Energy Technology: Case Studies On Smart Meter Utilization And Support For A Community Anaerobic Biodigester System In Vermont, Samantha Whitney Lewandowski

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Residential electricity consumption in the United States has many adverse impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, dependence on fossil fuels, and costs. Efficient and renewable energy technologies have the potential to help mitigate some of these impacts, but appear to be under-utilized in the United States. One major barrier to expanding the deployment of these kinds of technologies and maximizing the benefits they can provide is a lack of consumer engagement. The overall purpose of this thesis is to better understand the extent to which efficient and renewable energy technologies are being engaged with and what factors may influence such …

Microwave Bessel-Beam Propagation Through Spatially Inhomogeneous Media, Ryan Francis Grecco

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Long range wireless power transmission (WPT) is a critical technology for the development of remote power systems for air and space vehicles as well as for point-to-point transmission on Earth. This can be achieved using either a laser for transmission in the infrared to optical frequency domain or by using microwaves. The objective of this research is to study the application of microwave power transmission (MPT) through the use of a so-called Bessel-beam whose unique propagation properties include a self-healing ability as well as non-diffractive properties. These two unique properties lead to an increase in the efficiency of microwave power …

An Alternative Sensor Fusion Method For Object Orientation Using Low-Cost Mems Inertial Sensors, Joshua Lee Bouffard

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This thesis develops an alternative sensor fusion approach for object orientation using low-cost MEMS inertial sensors. The alternative approach focuses on the unique challenges of small UAVs. Such challenges include the vibrational induced noise onto the accelerometer and bias offset errors of the rate gyroscope. To overcome these challenges, a sensor fusion algorithm combines the measured data from the accelerometer and rate gyroscope to achieve a single output free from vibrational noise and bias offset errors.

One of the most prevalent sensor fusion algorithms used for orientation estimation is the Extended Kalman filter (EKF). The EKF filter performs the fusion …

Renewable Energy Transition: Dynamic Systems Analysis, Policy Scenarios, And Trade-Offs For The State Of Vermont, Christopher Ernest Clement

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

There is broad consensus that a transition to renewable energy and a low-carbon economy is crucial for future development and prosperity, yet there are differing perspectives on how such a transition should be achieved. The overarching goal of this dissertation, which is comprised of three interrelated studies, is to analyze and compare energy futures scenarios to achieve a renewable energy transition and low-carbon economy in the State of Vermont. In the first study, an analysis is presented of the role of energy pricing regimes and economic policy in the context of pursuing a renewable energy transition in the State of …

Reviewing Power Outage Trends, Electric Reliability Indices And Smart Grid Funding, Shawn Adderly

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

As our electric power distribution infrastructure has aged, considerable investment

has been applied to modernizing the electrical power grid through weatherization

and in deployment of real-time monitoring systems. A key question is whether or not

these investments are reducing the number and duration of power outages, leading to

improved reliability.

Statistical methods are applied to analyze electrical disturbance data (from the

Department of Energy, DOE) and reliability index data (from state utility public service

commission regulators) to detect signs of improvement. The number of installed

smart meters provided by several utilities is used to determine whether the number

of smart …

Local Energy Governance In Vermont: An Analysis Of Energy System Transition Strategies And Actor Capacity, Tarah Rowse

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

While global, national, and regional efforts to address climate and energy challenges remain essential, local governments and community groups are playing an increasingly stronger and vital role. As an active state in energy system policy, planning and innovation, Vermont offers a testing ground for research into energy governance at the local level. A baseline understanding of the energy planning and energy organizing activities initiated at the local level can support efforts to foster a transition to a sustainable energy system in Vermont. Following an inductive, applied and participatory approach, and grounded in the fields of sustainability transitions, energy planning, and …