Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Selected Works

2013

Articles 1 - 30 of 33

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Openorbiter Ground Station Software, Alexander Lewis, Jacob Huhn, Jeremy Straub, Travis Desell, Scott Kerlin Dec 2013

Openorbiter Ground Station Software, Alexander Lewis, Jacob Huhn, Jeremy Straub, Travis Desell, Scott Kerlin

Jeremy Straub

OpenOrbiter is a student project at the University of North Dakota to design and build a low cost1 and open-hardware / open-source software CubeSat2. The Ground Station is the user interface for operators of the satellite. The ground station software must manage spacecraft communications, track its orbital location , manage task assignment, provide security and retrieve the data from the spacecraft. This will be presented via a graphical user interface that allows a user to easily perform these tasks.


Probabilistic Verification Of Coordinated Multi-Robot Missions, Sagar J. Chaki, Joseph A. Giampapa Nov 2013

Probabilistic Verification Of Coordinated Multi-Robot Missions, Sagar J. Chaki, Joseph A. Giampapa

Joseph Andrew Giampapa

Robots are increasingly used to perform a wide variety of tasks, especially those involving dangerous or inaccessible locations. As the complexity of such tasks grow, robots are being deployed in teams, with complex coordination schemes aimed at maximizing the chance of mission success. Such teams operate under inherently uncertain conditions -- the robots themselves fail, and have to continuously adapt to changing environmental conditions. A key challenge facing robotic mission designers is therefore to construct a mission -- i.e., specify number and type of robots, number and size of teams, coordination and planning mechanisms etc. -- so as to maximize …


Joint User Grouping And Linear Virtual Beamforming: Complexity, Algorithms And Approximation Bounds, Mingyi Hong, Zi Xu, Meisam Razaviyayn, Zhi-Quan Luo Oct 2013

Joint User Grouping And Linear Virtual Beamforming: Complexity, Algorithms And Approximation Bounds, Mingyi Hong, Zi Xu, Meisam Razaviyayn, Zhi-Quan Luo

Mingyi Hong

In a wireless system with a large number of distributed nodes, the quality of communication can be greatly improved by pooling the nodes to perform joint transmission/reception. In this paper, we consider the problem of optimally selecting a subset of nodes from potentially a large number of candidates to form a virtual multi-antenna system, while at the same time designing their joint linear transmission strategies. We focus on two specific application scenarios: 1) multiple single antenna transmitters cooperatively transmit to a receiver; 2) a single transmitter transmits to a receiver with the help of a number of cooperative relays. We …


Making Sense Of Software Development And Personality Types, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed Dr. Jul 2013

Making Sense Of Software Development And Personality Types, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed Dr.

Luiz Fernando Capretz

No abstract provided.


Personality Types In Software Engineering, Luiz Capretz Jul 2013

Personality Types In Software Engineering, Luiz Capretz

Luiz Fernando Capretz

No abstract provided.


Airborne Dual-Polarization Observations Of The Sea-Surface Nrcs At C-Band In High Winds, Joseph W. Sapp, Stephen J. Frasier, Jason Dvorsky, Paul S. Chang, Zorana Jelenak Jun 2013

Airborne Dual-Polarization Observations Of The Sea-Surface Nrcs At C-Band In High Winds, Joseph W. Sapp, Stephen J. Frasier, Jason Dvorsky, Paul S. Chang, Zorana Jelenak

Joseph W Sapp

Airborne dual-polarization observations of sea-surface normalized radar cross-section (NRCS) were conducted over the North Atlantic during Jan–Feb 2011. Observations were made using the University of Massachusetts’ Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (IWRAP) radar system installed on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) WP-3D research aircraft during several winter storm events to determine the high-wind response of the sea-surface NRCS for both horizontal and vertical polarizations. During the flights, the aircraft performed several constant-roll circle maneuvers to allow collection of NRCS over a range of incidence angles. We find consistency with prior reports in the polarization ratio observed at …


National Infrastructure Protection Priorities For Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (Emp) And Solar Storm Geomagnetic Disturbance Catastrophes, George H. Baker Iii Jun 2013

National Infrastructure Protection Priorities For Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (Emp) And Solar Storm Geomagnetic Disturbance Catastrophes, George H. Baker Iii

George H Baker

The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack has provided a compelling case for protecting civilian infrastructure against the effects of EMP and geomagnetic disturbances (GMD) caused by severe solar storms. Similar to protecting critical infrastructure against any hazard, it will be important to take a risk-based priority approach for these two electromagnetic threats, recognizing that it will be fiscally impracticable to protect everything. In this regard, EMP and GMD are particularly challenging in that they interfere with electrical and electronic data, control, transmission, and communication systems organic to nearly all critical infrastructures, simultaneously, …


Enabling Interplanetary Small Spacecraft Science Missions With Model Based Data Analysis, Jeremy Straub Jun 2013

Enabling Interplanetary Small Spacecraft Science Missions With Model Based Data Analysis, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

Small spacecraft operating outside of Earth orbit are significantly constrained by the communica- tions link available to them. This is particularly true for stand-alone craft that must rely on their own antenna and transmission systems (for which gain and available power generation are limited by form factor); it is also applicable to ‘hitchhiker’-style missions which may be able to utilize (quite likely very limited amounts of) time on the primary spacecraft’s communications equip- ment for long-haul transmission.

This poster presents the adaptation of the Model-Based Transmission Reduction (MBTR) frame- work’s Model-Based Data Analysis (MBDA) component for use on an interplanetary …


Distortion Management In Slow-Light Pulse Delay, Michael D. Stenner, Mark A. Neifeld, Zhaoming Zhu, Andrew M.C. Dawes, Daniel J. Gauthier May 2013

Distortion Management In Slow-Light Pulse Delay, Michael D. Stenner, Mark A. Neifeld, Zhaoming Zhu, Andrew M.C. Dawes, Daniel J. Gauthier

Andrew M C Dawes

We describe a methodology to maximize slow-light pulse delay subject to a constraint on the allowable pulse distortion. We show that optimizing over a larger number of physical variables can increase the distortion-constrained delay. We demonstrate these concepts by comparing the optimum slow-light pulse delay achievable using a single Lorentzian gain line with that achievable using a pair of closely-spaced gain lines. We predict that distortion management using a gain doublet can provide approximately a factor of 2 increase in slow-light pulse delay as compared with the optimum single-line delay. Experimental results employing Brillouin gain in optical fiber confirm our …


Spatial Computing In An Orbital Environment: An Exploration Of The Unique Constraints Of This Special Case To Other Spatial Computing Environments, Jeremy Straub May 2013

Spatial Computing In An Orbital Environment: An Exploration Of The Unique Constraints Of This Special Case To Other Spatial Computing Environments, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

The creation of an orbital services model (where spacecraft expose their capabilities for use by other spacecraft as part of a service-for-hire or barter system) requires effective determination of how to best transmit information between the two collaborating spacecraft. Existing approaches developed for ad hoc networking (e.g., wireless networks with users entering and departing in a pseudo-random fashion) exist; however, these fail to generate optimal solutions as they ignore a critical piece of available information. This additional piece of information is the orbital characteristics of the spacecraft. A spacecraft’s orbit is nearly deterministic if the magnitude and direction of its …


Wireless Transmission Network : A Imagine, Radhey Shyam Meena Engineer, Neeraj Kumar Garg Asst.Prof Apr 2013

Wireless Transmission Network : A Imagine, Radhey Shyam Meena Engineer, Neeraj Kumar Garg Asst.Prof

Radhey Shyam Meena

World cannot be imagined without electrical power. Generally the power is transmitted through transmission networks. This paper describes an original idea to eradicate the hazardous usage of electrical wires which involve lot of confusion in particularly organizing them. Imagine a future in which wireless power transfer is feasible: cell phones, household robots, mp3 players, laptop computers and other portable electronic devices capable of charging themselves without ever being plugged in freeing us from that final ubiquitous power wire. This paper includes the techniques of transmitting power without using wires with an efficiency of about 95% with non-radioactivemethods. In this paper …


The Development Of Payload Software For A Small Spacecraft, Kyle Goehner, Christoffer Korvald, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh Apr 2013

The Development Of Payload Software For A Small Spacecraft, Kyle Goehner, Christoffer Korvald, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

The OpenOrbiter project is a multi-department effort to design and build a small spacecraft which will demonstrate the feasibility of the Open Prototype for Educational NanoSats (OPEN) framework. This framework will reduce cost of small spacecraft creation by providing design plans for free. The focus of the payload software group is to design and implement an onboard task processing and image processing service. Currently the project is in the development phase and most large design decisions have been made. This poster presents the major design decisions that have been made for the payload software and how they will affect the …


Sugarmap: Location-Less Coverage For Micro-Aerial Sensing Swarms, Aveek Purohit, Zheng Sun, Pei Zhang Apr 2013

Sugarmap: Location-Less Coverage For Micro-Aerial Sensing Swarms, Aveek Purohit, Zheng Sun, Pei Zhang

Zheng Sun

No abstract provided.


Battery Energy Storage System In Solar Power Generation, Radhey Shyam Meena Er., Deepa Sharma Mar 2013

Battery Energy Storage System In Solar Power Generation, Radhey Shyam Meena Er., Deepa Sharma

Radhey Shyam Meena

Grid-connected solar PV dramatically changes the load profile of an electric utility customer. The expected widespread adoption of solar generation by customers on the distribution system poses significant challenges to system operators both in transient and steady state operation, from issues including voltage swings, sudden weather-induced changes in generation, and legacy protective devices designed with one-way power flow in mind


Cfp: Handbook Of Research On Technological Applications And Innovation For Economic Development, Deogratias Harorimana Mr Mar 2013

Cfp: Handbook Of Research On Technological Applications And Innovation For Economic Development, Deogratias Harorimana Mr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

The innovation in the 21st century goes significantly beyond the high-tech picture driven by small or large industry clusters in a specific region-typically Silicon Valley and M4Corridor. The future of innovation will lie within knowledge management and seamless technological applications. These will be supported by planned funding strategies, possibly with clients as drivers of the innovation. This view seems to be supported by the UK government “Technology and Innovation Futures” (2011); the USA government (2011), study into which leading scholars concede that the future innovation and technological applications for economic growth will include products and processes, improvements in areas such …


A Human Proximity Operations System Test Case Validation Approach, Justin Huber, Jeremy Straub Mar 2013

A Human Proximity Operations System Test Case Validation Approach, Justin Huber, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

A Human Proximity Operations System (HPOS) poses numerous risks in a real world environment. These risks range from mundane tasks such as avoiding walls and fixed obstacles to the critical need to keep people and processes safe in the context of the HPOS’s situation-specific decision making. Validating the performance of an HPOS, which must operate in a real-world environment, is an ill posed problem due to the complexity that is introduced by erratic (non-computer) actors. In order to prove the HPOS’s usefulness, test cases must be generated to simulate possible actions of these actors, so the HPOS can be shown …


Exposing Multiple User-Specific Data Denominated Products From A Single Small Satellite Data Stream, Atif F. Mohammad,, Emanuel Grant, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh, Scott Kerlin Mar 2013

Exposing Multiple User-Specific Data Denominated Products From A Single Small Satellite Data Stream, Atif F. Mohammad,, Emanuel Grant, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh, Scott Kerlin

Jeremy Straub

This paper presents a research work on small satellite data stream and related distribution to associated stakeholders, which is a field that needs to get explored in more detail. The algorithm that is presented to extract USDDP (User-Specific Data Denominated Products) is a self managing body, which will be within as Open Space Box environment or OSBE as a novel idea. It contains an individual stream transmitted by the small satellite, which later is to be converted into USDDP. The context defined here deals with area in detail. Contexts are vitally important because they control, influence and affect everything within …


Model-Based Software Engineering For An Imaging Cubesat And Its Extrapolation To Other Missions, Atif Mohammad, Jeremy Straub, Christoffer Korvald, Emanuel Grant Mar 2013

Model-Based Software Engineering For An Imaging Cubesat And Its Extrapolation To Other Missions, Atif Mohammad, Jeremy Straub, Christoffer Korvald, Emanuel Grant

Jeremy Straub

Small satellites with their limited computational capabilities require that software engineering techniques promote efficient use of spacecraft resources. A model-driven approach to software engineering is an excellent solution to this resource maximization challenge as it facilitates visualization of the key solution processes and data elements.

The software engineering process utilized for the OpenOrbiter spacecraft, which is a remote sensing technology demonstrator, is presented. Key challenges presented by the Open Orbiter project included concurrent operation and tasking of five computer-on-module (COM) units and a flight computer and the associated data marshaling between local and general storage. The payload processing system (consisting …


Measurements Of Nh3 Linestrengths And Collisional Broadening Coefficients In N2, O2, Co2, And H2o Near 1103.46 Cm−1, Kyle Owen, Et-Touhami Es-Sebbar, Aamir Farooq Feb 2013

Measurements Of Nh3 Linestrengths And Collisional Broadening Coefficients In N2, O2, Co2, And H2o Near 1103.46 Cm−1, Kyle Owen, Et-Touhami Es-Sebbar, Aamir Farooq

Dr. Et-touhami Es-sebbar

Laser-based ammonia gas sensors have useful applications in many fields including combustion, atmospheric monitoring, and medical diagnostics. Calibration-free trace gas sensors require the spectroscopic parameters including linestrengths and collisional broadening coefficients to be known. Ammonia's strong ν2 vibrational band between View the MathML source has the high absorption strength needed for sensing small concentrations. Within this band, the 1103.46 cm−1 feature is one of the strongest and has minimal interference from CO2 and H2O. However, the six rotational transitions that make up this feature have not been studied previously with absorption spectroscopy due to their small line spacing ranging from …


A Study Of Mexican Free-Tailed Bat Chirp Syllables: Bayesian Functional Mixed Modeling Of Nonstationary Time Series Data With Time-Dependent Spectra, Josue G. Martinez, Kirsten M. Bohn, Raymond J. Carroll, Jeffrey S. Morris Feb 2013

A Study Of Mexican Free-Tailed Bat Chirp Syllables: Bayesian Functional Mixed Modeling Of Nonstationary Time Series Data With Time-Dependent Spectra, Josue G. Martinez, Kirsten M. Bohn, Raymond J. Carroll, Jeffrey S. Morris

Jeffrey S. Morris

We describe a new approach to analyze chirp syllables of free-tailed bats from two regions of Texas in which they are predominant: Austin and College Station. Our goal is to characterize any systematic regional differences in the mating chirps and assess whether individual bats have signature chirps. The data are analyzed by modeling spectrograms of the chirps as responses in a Bayesian functional mixed model. Given the variable chirp lengths, we compute the spectrograms on a relative time scale interpretable as the relative chirp position, using a variable window overlap based on chirp length. We use 2D wavelet transforms to …


Describing Radio Hardware And Software Using Owl For Over-The-Air Software Download, Todor Cooklev, Stanchev, David Clendenen Feb 2013

Describing Radio Hardware And Software Using Owl For Over-The-Air Software Download, Todor Cooklev, Stanchev, David Clendenen

Todor Cooklev

Recently, several researchers have discovered the need for radios to use description techniques. Previous research describes information such as the current frequency band, waveform, and so on. However, this information is presented at a level that is not sufficient to determine software/hardware compatibility for over-the-air software download. For example, a device should not attempt to download a wideband waveform if its radio front-end is only narrowband, or if its baseband hardware cannot provide the required MIPS for the new waveform. Over-the-air software download is one of the most interesting features of software-defined radios. The compatibility between software and hardware prior …


Open Space Box Model: Service Oriented Architecture Framework For Small Spacecraft Collaboration And Control, Atif F. Mohammad, Jeremy Straub Feb 2013

Open Space Box Model: Service Oriented Architecture Framework For Small Spacecraft Collaboration And Control, Atif F. Mohammad, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

A Cubesat is a small satellite with very less competence to compute, it requires software engineering techniques, which can enhance the computational power for this small box. A model-driven approach of software engineering, which is called OSBM or Open Space Box Modeling technique, is an excellent solution to this re-source maximization challenge. OSBM facilitates apparition of the key solution pro-cesses computation and satellite related data elements using Service Oriented Ar-chitecture 3.0 (SOA 3.0) as base to work on to design services. The key challenges that can be handled by utilizing OSBM include concurrent operation and tasking of few as five …


Multi-Focus And Multi-Window Techniques For Interactive Network Exploration, Priya K. Sundararajan, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker Jan 2013

Multi-Focus And Multi-Window Techniques For Interactive Network Exploration, Priya K. Sundararajan, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker

Ole J Mengshoel

Networks analysts often need to compare nodes in different parts of a network. When zoomed to fit a computer screen, the detailed structure and node labels of even a moderately-sized network (say, with 500 nodes) can become invisible or difficult to read. Still, the coarse network structure typically remains visible, and helps orient an analyst’s zooming, scrolling, and panning operations. These operations are very useful when studying details and reading node labels, but in the process of zooming in on one network region, an analyst may lose track of details elsewhere. To address such problems, we present in this paper …


Multi-Focus And Multi-Level Techniques For Visualization And Analysis Of Networks With Thematic Data, Michele Cossalter, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker Jan 2013

Multi-Focus And Multi-Level Techniques For Visualization And Analysis Of Networks With Thematic Data, Michele Cossalter, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker

Ole J Mengshoel

Information-rich data sets bring several challenges in the areas of visualization and analysis, even when associated with node-link network visualizations. This paper presents an integration of multi-focus and multi-level techniques that enable interactive, multi-step comparisons in node-link networks. We describe NetEx, a visualization tool that enables users to simultaneously explore different parts of a network and its thematic data, such as time series or conditional probability tables. NetEx, implemented as a Cytoscape plug-in, has been applied to the analysis of electrical power networks, Bayesian networks, and the Enron e-mail repository. In this paper we briefly discuss visualization and analysis of …


Effects Of N2o And O2 Addition To Nitrogen Townsend Dielectric Barrier Discharges At Atmospheric Pressure On The Absolute Ground-State Atomic Nitrogen Density, Et. Es-Sebbar, N. Gherardi, F. Massines Jan 2013

Effects Of N2o And O2 Addition To Nitrogen Townsend Dielectric Barrier Discharges At Atmospheric Pressure On The Absolute Ground-State Atomic Nitrogen Density, Et. Es-Sebbar, N. Gherardi, F. Massines

Dr. Et-touhami Es-sebbar

Absolute ground-state density of nitrogen atoms N (2p3 4S3/2) in non-equilibrium Townsend dielectric barrier discharges (TDBDs) at atmospheric pressure sustained in N2/N2O and N2/O2 gas mixtures has been measured using Two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TALIF) spectroscopy. The quantitative measurements have been obtained by TALIF calibration using krypton as a reference gas. We previously reported that the maximum of N (2p3 4S3/2) atom density is around 3 × 1014 cm−3 in pure nitrogen TDBD, and that this maximum depends strongly on the mean energy dissipated in the gas. In the two gas mixtures studied here, results show that the absolute N …


Battery Energy Storage System In Solar Power Generation, Radhey Shyam Meena Er. Jan 2013

Battery Energy Storage System In Solar Power Generation, Radhey Shyam Meena Er.

Radhey Shyam Meena

As solar photovoltaic power generation becomes more commonplace, the inherent intermittency of the solar resource poses one of the great challenges to those who would design and implement the next generation smart grid. Specifically, grid-tied solar power generation is a distributed resource whose output can change extremely rapidly, resulting in many issues for the distribution system operator with a large quantity of installed photovoltaic devices. Battery energy storage systems are increasingly being used to help integrate solar power into the grid. These systems are capable of absorbing and delivering both real and reactive power with sub-second response times. With these …


Determining Planck's Constant Using Leds, Zechariah Thurman Jan 2013

Determining Planck's Constant Using Leds, Zechariah Thurman

Zechariah Thurman

In this paper a value for Planck's constant is measured. The value found with this experiment is within two sigma of the accepted value, this constitutes reasonable agreement with theory for the purposes of this experiment.


Microfabricated Nanotopological Surfaces For Study Of Adhesion-Dependent Cell Mechanosensitivity, Weiqiang Chen, Yubing Sun, Jianping Fu Jan 2013

Microfabricated Nanotopological Surfaces For Study Of Adhesion-Dependent Cell Mechanosensitivity, Weiqiang Chen, Yubing Sun, Jianping Fu

Weiqiang Chen

Cells exhibit high sensitivity and diverse responses to the intrinsic nanotopography of the extracellular matrix through their nanoscale cellular sensing machinery. A simple microfabrication method for precise control and spatial patterning of the local nanoroughness on glass surfaces by using photolithography and reactive ion etching is reported. It is demonstrated that local nanoroughness as a biophysical cue could regulate a diverse array of NIH/3T3 fi broblast behaviors, including cell morphology, adhesion, proliferation, migration, and cytoskeleton contractility. The capability to control and further predict cellular responses to nanoroughness might suggest novel methods for developing biomaterials mimicking nanotopographic structures in vivo for …


Surface-Micromachined Microfiltration Membranes For Efficient Isolation And Functional Immunophenotyping Of Subpopulations Of Immune Cells, Weiqiang Chen, Nien-Tsu Huang, Boram Oh, Raymond H. W. Lam, Rong Fan, Timothy T. Cornell, Thomas P. Shanley, Katsuo Kurabayashi, Jianping Fu Jan 2013

Surface-Micromachined Microfiltration Membranes For Efficient Isolation And Functional Immunophenotyping Of Subpopulations Of Immune Cells, Weiqiang Chen, Nien-Tsu Huang, Boram Oh, Raymond H. W. Lam, Rong Fan, Timothy T. Cornell, Thomas P. Shanley, Katsuo Kurabayashi, Jianping Fu

Weiqiang Chen

An accurate measurement of the immune status in patients with immune system disorders is critical in evaluating the stage of diseases and tailoring drug treatments. The functional cellular immunity test is a promising method to establish the diagnosis of immune dysfunctions. The conventional functional cellular immunity test involves measurements of the capacity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines when stimulated ex vivo. However, this “bulk” assay measures the overall reactivity of a population of lymphocytes and monocytes, making it difficult to pinpoint the phenotype or real identity of the reactive immune cells involved. In this research, we …


Derivative Estimation With Local Polynomial Fitting, Kris De Brabanter, Jos De Brabanter, Bart De Moor, Irene Gijbels Jan 2013

Derivative Estimation With Local Polynomial Fitting, Kris De Brabanter, Jos De Brabanter, Bart De Moor, Irene Gijbels

Kris De Brabanter

We present a fully automated framework to estimate derivatives nonparametrically without estimating the regression function. Derivative estimation plays an important role in the exploration of structures in curves (jump detection and discontinuities), comparison of regression curves, analysis of human growth data, etc. Hence, the study of estimating derivatives is equally important as regression estimation itself. Via empirical derivatives we approximate the qth order derivative and create a new data set which can be smoothed by any nonparametric regression estimator. We derive L1 and L2 rates and establish consistency of the estimator. The new data sets created by this technique are …