Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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- Creators: Electrical Engineering Program
- Creators: Martin, Thomas
Description
Breast microcalcifications are a potential indicator of cancerous tumors. Current visualization methods are either uncomfortable or impractical. Impedance measurement studies have been performed, but not in a clinical setting due to a low sensitivity and specificity. We are hoping to overcome this challenge with the development of a highly accurate impedance probe on a biopsy needle. With this technique, microcalcifications and the surrounding tissue could be differentiated in an efficient and comfortable manner than current techniques for biopsy procedures. We have developed and tested a functioning prototype for a biopsy needle using bioimpedance sensors to detect microcalcifications in the human body. In the final prototype a waveform generator sends a sin wave at a relatively low frequency(<1KHz) into the pre-amplifier, which both stabilizes and amplifies the signal. A modified howland bridge is then used to achieve a steady AC current through the electrodes. The voltage difference across the electrodes is then used to calculate the impedance being experienced between the electrodes. In our testing, the microcalcifications we are looking for have a noticeably higher impedance than the surrounding breast tissue, this spike in impedance is used to signal the presence of the calcifications, which are then sampled for examination by radiology.
ContributorsWen, Robert Bobby (Co-author) / Grula, Adam (Co-author) / Vergara, Marvin (Co-author) / Ramkumar, Shreya (Co-author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Ranjani, Kumaran (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Leveraging Machine Learning and Wireless Sensing for Robot Localization - Location Variance Analysis
Description
Object localization is used to determine the location of a device, an important aspect of applications ranging from autonomous driving to augmented reality. Commonly-used localization techniques include global positioning systems (GPS), simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), and positional tracking, but all of these methodologies have drawbacks, especially in high traffic indoor or urban environments. Using recent improvements in the field of machine learning, this project proposes a new method of localization using networks with several wireless transceivers and implemented without heavy computational loads or high costs. This project aims to build a proof-of-concept prototype and demonstrate that the proposed technique is feasible and accurate.
Modern communication networks heavily depend upon an estimate of the communication channel, which represents the distortions that a transmitted signal takes as it moves towards a receiver. A channel can become quite complicated due to signal reflections, delays, and other undesirable effects and, as a result, varies significantly with each different location. This localization system seeks to take advantage of this distinctness by feeding channel information into a machine learning algorithm, which will be trained to associate channels with their respective locations. A device in need of localization would then only need to calculate a channel estimate and pose it to this algorithm to obtain its location.
As an additional step, the effect of location noise is investigated in this report. Once the localization system described above demonstrates promising results, the team demonstrates that the system is robust to noise on its location labels. In doing so, the team demonstrates that this system could be implemented in a continued learning environment, in which some user agents report their estimated (noisy) location over a wireless communication network, such that the model can be implemented in an environment without extensive data collection prior to release.
Modern communication networks heavily depend upon an estimate of the communication channel, which represents the distortions that a transmitted signal takes as it moves towards a receiver. A channel can become quite complicated due to signal reflections, delays, and other undesirable effects and, as a result, varies significantly with each different location. This localization system seeks to take advantage of this distinctness by feeding channel information into a machine learning algorithm, which will be trained to associate channels with their respective locations. A device in need of localization would then only need to calculate a channel estimate and pose it to this algorithm to obtain its location.
As an additional step, the effect of location noise is investigated in this report. Once the localization system described above demonstrates promising results, the team demonstrates that the system is robust to noise on its location labels. In doing so, the team demonstrates that this system could be implemented in a continued learning environment, in which some user agents report their estimated (noisy) location over a wireless communication network, such that the model can be implemented in an environment without extensive data collection prior to release.
ContributorsChang, Roger (Co-author) / Kann, Trevor (Co-author) / Alkhateeb, Ahmed (Thesis director) / Bliss, Daniel (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
At present, the vast majority of human subjects with neurological disease are still diagnosed through in-person assessments and qualitative analysis of patient data. In this paper, we propose to use Topological Data Analysis (TDA) together with machine learning tools to automate the process of Parkinson’s disease classification and severity assessment. An automated, stable, and accurate method to evaluate Parkinson’s would be significant in streamlining diagnoses of patients and providing families more time for corrective measures. We propose a methodology which incorporates TDA into analyzing Parkinson’s disease postural shifts data through the representation of persistence images. Studying the topology of a system has proven to be invariant to small changes in data and has been shown to perform well in discrimination tasks. The contributions of the paper are twofold. We propose a method to 1) classify healthy patients from those afflicted by disease and 2) diagnose the severity of disease. We explore the use of the proposed method in an application involving a Parkinson’s disease dataset comprised of healthy-elderly, healthy-young and Parkinson’s disease patients.
ContributorsRahman, Farhan Nadir (Co-author) / Nawar, Afra (Co-author) / Turaga, Pavan (Thesis director) / Krishnamurthi, Narayanan (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Buck converters are a class of switched-mode power converters often used to step down DC input voltages to a lower DC output voltage. These converters naturally produce a current and voltage ripple at their output due to their switching action. Traditional methods of reducing this ripple have involved adding large discrete inductors and capacitors to filter the ripple, but large discrete components cannot be integrated onto chips. As an alternative to using passive filtering components, this project investigates the use of active ripple cancellation to reduce the peak output ripple. Hysteretic controlled buck converters were chosen for their simplicity of design and fast transient response. The proposed cancellation circuits sense the output ripple of the buck converter and inject an equal ripple exactly out of phase with the sensed ripple. Both current-mode and voltage-mode feedback loops are simulated, and the effectiveness of each cancellation circuit is examined. Results show that integrated active ripple cancellation circuits offer a promising substitute for large discrete filters.
ContributorsWang, Ziyan (Author) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Thesis director) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
This creative project thesis involves electronic music composition and production, and it uses some elements of algorithmic music composition (through recurrent neural networks). Algorithmic composition techniques are used here as a tool in composing the pieces, but are not the main focus. Thematically, this project explores the analogy between artificial neural networks and neural activity in the brain. This project consists of three short pieces, each exploring these concept in different ways.
ContributorsKarpur, Ajay (Author) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Thesis director) / Ingalls, Todd (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
There are problems in the breeding practices of miniature horses. This study seeks to determine the source of these detrimental outcomes based on an evaluation of primary attributes selected for by breeders and the lack of genetic information and understanding of these attributes. In order to do this a program model was created to test the effects of selection criteria on breeder behavior and the resultant foals of these crosses. Moving forwards this program will evolve into a database of the equine genome for different horses. This will allow breeders to input their horses and do faux crosses in order to decrease the incidence of negative and detrimental outcomes.
ContributorsDavis, Marissa Lynn (Author) / Oberle, Eric (Thesis director) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The 1878 Treaty of Berlin sought to address the issue of minority rights in order to stabilize the interests of the Great Powers and the international order; however, in their formulation of a treaty intended to save the imperial component of the system, the European imperial powers not only gave one of their official acknowledgments to nationalist principles, but articulated a critique of the existing notion of state protection for ethnic minorities. This tentative but landmark modification of the imperial model of legitimacy suggested Europe or the world could consist of a host of sovereign nations. In so doing, it recognized the political, and ideological changes that nationalism demanded, changes that would reshape how national groups organize politically, culturally, and militarily. The logic of nationalism demanded that new boundaries, conceived on national lines be drawn, and they were drawn, both within the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. The Treaty of Berlin led to the formation of Greater Bulgaria and Albania, and these new nationalities formed a initial answer to the European question of minority groups. The Treaty of Berlin is useful to examine in relation to its better-known and much more radical offspring, the Treaty of Versailles. Differences in the approach of either treaty provide a study in the lasting effects of soft power to resolve international conflict. The Great Powers met in Berlin to address a developing crisis in an attempt to avoid a destabilizing regional conflict through diplomatic and legal means, whereas the Paris Peace Conference met at Versailles to develop new order across Europe in the wake of the Great War. The Treaty of Versailles, sharply chiding the Central Powers as it promulgated a victor's peace, hoped to prevent future war by placing economic burdens on Germany. While the conference at Paris acknowledged the minority position, the overwhelming legal focus went to addressing developing nations and nationalisms in a way that was consistent with the beliefs of old imperial rule. The earlier Treaty of Berlin's relative emphasis on minority questions as logically antecedent to the disposition of nationalism becomes of highest significance in retrospect. It is this focused approach to addressing developing nationalism that makes the Treaty of Berlin an important point of discussion. It provides a precedent for how questions of minority rights should be addressed, and where it falls short of an answer on how conflict might be prevented, it explores how the tensions within the international system can exacerbate one another, as they did in the breakdown of diplomacy and law that to the First World War . This thesis aims to address how the triumph of nationalism as a model of state legitimacy almost immediately gave rise to the question of legal protection of minorities. The minority question only became more urgent as nationalists developed policies that practiced first passive, and then active exclusion of minority groups. While nationalism's relation to democratic rule seemed to solve the problems of representative government, it quickly forced the question of how legitimate representation was determined. Shifting notions of political legitimacy, unworkable empires, and heightened international rivalry formed a widening spiral of crisis that eclipsed the minority question, but this thesis supports the belief that the centrifugal force of conflict came out of the avoidance of addressing minority rights completely. Attempts were made through the twentieth century to mitigate conflict between people groups, but many failed to produce fully developed solutions, while many others favored the status quo, seemingly hoping that the question would answer itself. A study of the early history of the minority rights question helps us understand the national question in the old-new light of the international order and questions of international law. Given the conflicts that have arisen out of the relations between nations and the question of minority rights, the minority question is present in much of today's thinking about human rights and the maintenance of international order. Understanding the origins of minority rights and the factors considered in the early negotiations set to address the problem helps develop a deeper understanding of the of the interactions between nations and people today.
ContributorsGobble, Tyler Scott (Author) / Oberle, Eric (Thesis director) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / Aviation Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
It goes without saying that marriage, and the concept of two people staying together for the rest of their lives, is not easy. In today's society, divorce is something that is becoming more and more prominent among people. However, despite the divorce phenomenon there are still success stories of couples who last and manage to stick together despite the odds. It is difficult to measure the "successfulness" of any marriage due to the fact that so many different elements comprise them. However, there are endless assessments available to be used as tools for attempting measurement of success. A majority of them are related to measuring relationship quality in terms of individual satisfaction by focusing on each individual's happiness within the relationship. Obviously, every marriage is different and there are many things that can impact a couple's' likeliness to stay together such as the general circumstances surrounding their union and each partner's willingness to persevere. For instance, there are a variety of different factors that influence the overall success of marriages within and surrounding the United States Military. Such as physical proximity, frequency of communication, and a mutual desire to make the relationship work. Cultivating a relationship in which one partner is a service member and one partner is a civilian is stressful for both people involved. Specifically, the intense stress couples experience associated with deployment can often cause severe problems such as depression and anxiety that may lead to divorce or mental health problems later on down the road. Stressors specifically related to the deployment cycle can contribute to depression among both service members and their spouses. Most of these families face unique stressors through the course of military service and deployments, including frequent relocations and recon�gurations of the family system, ambiguous loss and fear for a loved one's safety, and high levels of stress and/or dysfunction among family members (Flake, Davis, Johnson, & Middleton, 2009; Huebner, Mancini, Wilcox, Grass, & Grass, 2007) Separation , unpredictable duty hours, and single parenting (parenting while the veteran is away either being deployed or on training courses) are just a few of the stressors that face partners of veterans on a regular basis (Padden, Connors & Agazio, 2011). Dr. John Gottman, the executive director of the Relationship Research Institute. has conducted extensive research regarding marital stability and divorce prediction on thousands of couples over the last forty years of his career. Using video cameras, heart monitors, and other biofeedback equipment, he and his colleagues have screened interviewed and tracked what couples experience during moments of conflict and closeness. Over the span of the last forty years, Dr. Gottman has created a theory he calls "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse". In the New Testament, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are a metaphor marking the beginning of end times. Dr. Gottman's Four Horsemen on the other hand, are a metaphor marking the beginning of the demise of a marriage. The horsemen include criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. They are communication styles among couples that Dr. Gottman says can predict the end of a relationship. This notion holds true especially in the implication of military relationships. Focusing on the predictors of divorce, and inspecting the elements of these relationships in which the military is a condition of the union, discoveries can be made as to what makes these military relationships more difficult. An examination through the lens of Dr. Gottman's horsemen of the circumstances surrounding these unions in which deployment physically separates the two partners demonstrates how deployment in and of itself can cause couples to encompass each of the horsemen and eventually push them towards divorce. Throughout the course of this paper, the different elements that embody each of the four horsemen will be examined and analyzed as they pertain to the deployment process. Upon completion of the examination of these different factors, it can be suggested that deployment in its nature becomes the harbinger of the apocalypse. By encompassing all the different aspects of the first four original horsemen, and pushing military couples towards the behaviors that lead in the direction of divorce, deployment in and of itself can be thought of as predecessor, or harbinger of the apocalypse.
ContributorsSerdy, Taylor B (Author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Mowzoon, Nura (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The Phoenix CubeSat is a 3U Earth imaging CubeSat which will take infrared (IR) photos of cities in the United Stated to study the Urban Heat Island Effect, (UHI) from low earth orbit (LEO). It has many different components that need to be powered during the life of its mission. The only power source during the mission will be its solar panels. It is difficult to calculate power generation from solar panels by hand because of the different orientations the satellite will be positioned in during orbit; therefore, simulation will be used to produce power generation data. Knowing how much power is generated is integral to balancing the power budget, confirming whether there is enough power for all the components, and knowing whether there will be enough power in the batteries during eclipse. This data will be used to create an optimal design for the Phoenix CubeSat to accomplish its mission.
ContributorsBarakat, Raymond John (Author) / White, Daniel (Thesis director) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
In competitive Taekwondo, Electronic Body Protectors (EBPs) are used to register hits made by players during sparring. EBPs are comprised of three main components: chest guard, foot sock, and headgear. This equipment interacts with each other through the use of magnets, electric sensors, transmitters, and a receiver. The receiver is connected to a computer programmed with software to process signals from the transmitter and determine whether or not a competitor scored a point. The current design of EBPs, however, have numerous shortcomings, including sensing false positives, failing to register hits, costing too much, and relying on human judgment. This thesis will thoroughly delineate the operation of the current EBPs used and discuss research performed in order to eliminate these weaknesses.
ContributorsSpell, Valerie Anne (Author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05