Matching Items (16)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: engineering
- Creators: Electrical Engineering Program
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
Current technology does not allow for the full amount of power produced by solar arrays (PV) on spacecraft to be utilized. The arrays are designed with non-reconfigurable architectures and sent on fifteen to twenty year long missions. They cannot be changed once they are in space, so the arrays are designed for the end of life. Throughout their lifetime, solar arrays can degrade in power producing capabilities anywhere from 20% to 50%. Because there is such a drastic difference in the beginning and end of life power production, and because they cannot be reconfigured, a new design has been found necessary in order to increase power production. Reconfiguration allows the solar arrays to achieve maximum power producing capabilities at both the beginning and end of their lives. With the potential to increase power production by 50%, the reconfiguration design consists of a switching network to be able to utilize any combination of cells. The design for reconfiguration must meet the power requirements of the solar array. This thesis will explore different designs for reconfiguration, as well as possible switches for implementation. It will also review other methods to increase power production, as well as discuss future work in this field.
ContributorsJohnson, Everett Hope (Author) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Ozev, Sule (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In this paper, we propose an autonomous throwing and catching system to be developed as a preliminary step towards the refinement of a robotic arm capable of improving strength and motor function in the limb. This will be accomplished by first autonomizing simpler movements, such as throwing a ball. In this system, an autonomous thrower will detect a desired target through the use of image processing. The launch angle and direction necessary to hit the target will then be calculated, followed by the launching of the ball. The smart catcher will then detect the ball as it is in the air, calculate its expected landing location based on its initial trajectory, and adjust its position so that the ball lands in the center of the target. The thrower will then proceed to compare the actual landing position with the position where it expected the ball to land, and adjust its calculations accordingly for the next throw. By utilizing this method of feedback, the throwing arm will be able to automatically correct itself. This means that the thrower will ideally be able to hit the target exactly in the center within a few throws, regardless of any additional uncertainty in the system. This project will focus of the controller and image processing components necessary for the autonomous throwing arm to be able to detect the position of the target at which it will be aiming, and for the smart catcher to be able to detect the position of the projectile and estimate its final landing position by tracking its current trajectory.
ContributorsLundberg, Kathie Joy (Co-author) / Thart, Amanda (Co-author) / Rodriguez, Armando (Thesis director) / Berman, Spring (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This project examines the science of electric field sensing and completes experiments, gathering data to support its utility for various applications. The basic system consists of a transmitter, receiver, and lock-in amplifier. The primary goal of the study was to determine if such a system could detect a human disturbance, due to the capacitance of a human body, and such a thesis was supported. Much different results were obtained when a person disturbed the electric field transmitted by the system than when other types of objects, such as chairs and electronic devices, were placed in the field. In fact, there was a distinct difference between persons of varied sizes as well. This thesis goes through the basic design of the system and the process of experimental design for determining the capabilities of such an electric field sensing system.
ContributorsBranham, Breana Michelle (Author) / Allee, David (Thesis director) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Phillips, Stephen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
A hybrid PV/T module was built, consisting of a thermal liquid heating system and a photovoltaic module system that combine in a hybrid format. This report will discuss the work on the project from Fall 2012 to Spring 2013 and the extended section on the economics for the Honors Thesis. Three stages of experiments were completed. Stage 1 showed our project was functional as we were able to verify our panel produced electricity and increased the temperature of water flowing in the system by 0.65°C. Stage 2 testing included “gluing” the flow system to the back of the panel resulting in an average increase of 4.76°C in the temperature of the water in the system. Stage 3 testing included adding insulating foam to the module which resulted in increasing the average temperature of the water in our flow system by 6.95°C. The economic calculations show the expected energy cost savings for Arizona residents.
ContributorsHaines, Brent Robert (Author) / Roedel, Ronald (Thesis director) / Aberle, James (Committee member) / Rauch, Dawson (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
In many systems, it is difficult or impossible to measure the phase of a signal. Direct recovery from magnitude is an ill-posed problem. Nevertheless, with a sufficiently large set of magnitude measurements, it is often possible to reconstruct the original signal using algorithms that implicitly impose regularization conditions on this ill-posed problem. Two such algorithms were examined: alternating projections, utilizing iterative Fourier transforms with manipulations performed in each domain on every iteration, and phase lifting, converting the problem to that of trace minimization, allowing for the use of convex optimization algorithms to perform the signal recovery. These recovery algorithms were compared on a basis of robustness as a function of signal-to-noise ratio. A second problem examined was that of unimodular polyphase radar waveform design. Under a finite signal energy constraint, the maximal energy return of a scene operator is obtained by transmitting the eigenvector of the scene Gramian associated with the largest eigenvalue. It is shown that if instead the problem is considered under a power constraint, a unimodular signal can be constructed starting from such an eigenvector that will have a greater return.
ContributorsJones, Scott Robert (Author) / Cochran, Douglas (Thesis director) / Diaz, Rodolfo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
With the progression of different industries moving away from employing secretaries for business professionals and professors, there exists a void in the area of personal assistance. This problem has existing solutions readily available to replace this service, i.e. secretary or personal assistant, tend to range from expensive and useful to inexpensive and not efficient. This leaves a low cost niche into the market of a virtual office assistant or manager to display messages and to help direct people in obtaining contact information. The development of a low cost solution revolves around the software needed to solve the various problems an accessible and user friendly Virtual Interface in which the owner of the Virtual Office Manager/Assistant can communicate to colleagues who are at standby outside of the owner's office and vice versa. This interface will be allowing the owner to describe the status pertaining to their absence or any other message sent to the interface. For example, the status of the owner's work commute can be described with a simple "Running Late" phrase or a message like "Busy come back in 10 minutes". In addition, any individual with an interest to these entries will have the opportunity to respond back because the device will provide contact information. When idle, the device will show supplemental information such as the owner's calendar and name. The scope of this will be the development and testing of solutions to achieve these goals.
ContributorsOffenberger, Spencer Eliot (Author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
This document introduces the need for the Rest Egg system and defines an accessible method of smartphone integration. Excessive noise can prevent recovering patients and special needs persons from resting correctly. The Rest Egg was designed for these people- people who are in critical need of quality rest but are often unable to eliminate stressors themselves. This system ensures their environment is calm by alerting caretakers' smartphones if noise reaches abrasive levels. Smartphones were the preferred device due to the wide spread of such devices in today's market. After making open sourcing a goal, something ubiquitous and affordable \u2014 yet usable and dependable \u2014 was necessary for the alert system. These requirements lead to the election an online alert service: Pushover, a trademark and product of Superblock, LLC.
ContributorsJennings, Tyler Blake (Author) / Goryll, Michael (Thesis director) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This paper analyzes existing literature regarding how excessive aggravating stimuli in a hospital environment can reduce the quality and quantity of sleep. The sick and injured are most sensitive to aggravating stimuli and the most vulnerable to poor sleep conditions. For individuals with anxiety, stress, hypersensitivity, or conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as additional stress during rest periods could seriously harm development and overall well-being. While solutions have been proposed and tested, there is no one solution to the problem. One possible solution is to design a device that monitors a patient's room and alerts a nurse or parent of aggravating stimuli so that it can be removed.
ContributorsKhan, Zarah Noor (Author) / Goryll, Michael (Thesis director) / Adams, James B. (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This creative project is an extension of the work being done as part of Senior Design in<br/>developing the See-Through Car Pillar, a system designed to render the forward car pillars in a car<br/>invisible to the driver so they can have an unobstructed view utilizing displays, sensors, and a<br/>computer. The first half of the paper provides the motivation, design and progress of the project, <br/>while the latter half provides a literature survey on current automobile trends, the viability of the<br/>See-Through Car Pillar as a product in the market through case studies, and alternative designs and <br/>technologies that also might address the problem statement.
ContributorsRoy, Delwyn J (Author) / Thornton, Trevor (Thesis director) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05