Matching Items (7)
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
Lossy compression is a form of compression that slightly degrades a signal in ways that are ideally not detectable to the human ear. This is opposite to lossless compression, in which the sample is not degraded at all. While lossless compression may seem like the best option, lossy compression, which is used in most audio and video, reduces transmission time and results in much smaller file sizes. However, this compression can affect quality if it goes too far. The more compression there is on a waveform, the more degradation there is, and once a file is lossy compressed, this process is not reversible. This project will observe the degradation of an audio signal after the application of Singular Value Decomposition compression, a lossy compression that eliminates singular values from a signal’s matrix.
ContributorsHirte, Amanda (Author) / Kosut, Oliver (Thesis director) / Bliss, Daniel (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
A description of the robotics principles, actuators, materials, and programming used to test the durability of dendritic identifiers to be used in the produce supply chain. This includes the application of linear and rotational servo motors, PWM control of a DC motor, and hall effect sensors to create an encoder.
ContributorsRobertson, Stephen (Author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Manfredo, Mark (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The focus of this project investigates high mobility robotics by developing a fully integrated framework for a ball-balancing robot. Using Lagrangian mechanics, a model for the robot was derived and used to conduct trade studies on significant system parameters. With a broad understanding of system dynamics, controllers were designed using LQR methodology. A prototype was then built and tested to exhibit desired reference command following and disturbance attenuation.
ContributorsKapron, Mark Andrew (Author) / Rodriguez, Armando (Thesis director) / Artemiadis, Panagiotis (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The use of conventional weather radar in vulcanology leads to two problems: the radars often use wavelengths which are too long to detect the fine ash particles, and they cannot be field–adjusted to fit the wide variety of eruptions. Thus, to better study these geologic processes, a new radar must be developed that is easily reconfigurable to allow for flexibility and can operate at sufficiently short wavelengths.
This thesis investigates how to design a radar using a field–programmable gate array board to generate the radar signal, and process the returned signal to determine the distance and concentration of objects (in this case, ash). The purpose of using such a board lies in its reconfigurability—a design can (relatively easily) be adjusted, recompiled, and reuploaded to the hardware with none of the cost or time overhead required of a standard weather radar.
The design operates on the principle of frequency–modulated continuous–waves, in which the output signal frequency changes as a function of time. The difference in transmit and echo frequencies determines the distance of an object, while the magnitude of a particular difference frequency corresponds to concentration. Thus, by viewing a spectrum of frequency differences, one is able to see both the concentration and distances of ash from the radar.
The transmit signal data was created in MATLAB®, while the radar was designed with MATLAB® Simulink® using hardware IP blocks and implemented on the ROACH2 signal processing hardware, which utilizes a Xilinx® Virtex®–6 chip. The output is read from a computer linked to the hardware through Ethernet, using a Python™ script. Testing revealed minor flaws due to the usage of lower–grade components in the prototype. However, the functionality of the proposed radar design was proven, making this approach to radar a promising path for modern vulcanology.
This thesis investigates how to design a radar using a field–programmable gate array board to generate the radar signal, and process the returned signal to determine the distance and concentration of objects (in this case, ash). The purpose of using such a board lies in its reconfigurability—a design can (relatively easily) be adjusted, recompiled, and reuploaded to the hardware with none of the cost or time overhead required of a standard weather radar.
The design operates on the principle of frequency–modulated continuous–waves, in which the output signal frequency changes as a function of time. The difference in transmit and echo frequencies determines the distance of an object, while the magnitude of a particular difference frequency corresponds to concentration. Thus, by viewing a spectrum of frequency differences, one is able to see both the concentration and distances of ash from the radar.
The transmit signal data was created in MATLAB®, while the radar was designed with MATLAB® Simulink® using hardware IP blocks and implemented on the ROACH2 signal processing hardware, which utilizes a Xilinx® Virtex®–6 chip. The output is read from a computer linked to the hardware through Ethernet, using a Python™ script. Testing revealed minor flaws due to the usage of lower–grade components in the prototype. However, the functionality of the proposed radar design was proven, making this approach to radar a promising path for modern vulcanology.
ContributorsLee, Byeong Mok (Co-author) / Xi, Andrew Jinchi (Co-author) / Groppi, Christopher (Thesis director) / Mauskopf, Philip (Committee member) / Baumann, Alicia (Committee member) / Cochran, Douglas (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The use of conventional weather radar in vulcanology leads to two problems: the radars often use wavelengths which are too long to detect the fine ash particles, and they cannot be field–adjusted to fit the wide variety of eruptions. Thus, to better study these geologic processes, a new radar must be developed that is easily reconfigurable to allow for flexibility and can operate at sufficiently short wavelengths.
This thesis investigates how to design a radar using a field–programmable gate array board to generate the radar signal, and process the returned signal to determine the distance and concentration of objects (in this case, ash). The purpose of using such a board lies in its reconfigurability—a design can (relatively easily) be adjusted, recompiled, and reuploaded to the hardware with none of the cost or time overhead required of a standard weather radar.
The design operates on the principle of frequency–modulated continuous–waves, in which the output signal frequency changes as a function of time. The difference in transmit and echo frequencies determines the distance of an object, while the magnitude of a particular difference frequency corresponds to concentration. Thus, by viewing a spectrum of frequency differences, one is able to see both the concentration and distances of ash from the radar.
The transmit signal data was created in MATLAB®, while the radar was designed with MATLAB® Simulink® using hardware IP blocks and implemented on the ROACH2 signal processing hardware, which utilizes a Xilinx® Virtex®–6 chip. The output is read from a computer linked to the hardware through Ethernet, using a Python™ script. Testing revealed minor flaws due to the usage of lower–grade components in the prototype. However, the functionality of the proposed radar design was proven, making this approach to radar a promising path for modern vulcanology.
This thesis investigates how to design a radar using a field–programmable gate array board to generate the radar signal, and process the returned signal to determine the distance and concentration of objects (in this case, ash). The purpose of using such a board lies in its reconfigurability—a design can (relatively easily) be adjusted, recompiled, and reuploaded to the hardware with none of the cost or time overhead required of a standard weather radar.
The design operates on the principle of frequency–modulated continuous–waves, in which the output signal frequency changes as a function of time. The difference in transmit and echo frequencies determines the distance of an object, while the magnitude of a particular difference frequency corresponds to concentration. Thus, by viewing a spectrum of frequency differences, one is able to see both the concentration and distances of ash from the radar.
The transmit signal data was created in MATLAB®, while the radar was designed with MATLAB® Simulink® using hardware IP blocks and implemented on the ROACH2 signal processing hardware, which utilizes a Xilinx® Virtex®–6 chip. The output is read from a computer linked to the hardware through Ethernet, using a Python™ script. Testing revealed minor flaws due to the usage of lower–grade components in the prototype. However, the functionality of the proposed radar design was proven, making this approach to radar a promising path for modern vulcanology.
ContributorsXi, Andrew Jinchi (Co-author) / Lee, Matthew Byeongmok (Co-author) / Groppi, Christopher (Thesis director) / Mauskopf, Philip (Committee member) / Cochran, Douglas (Committee member) / Baumann, Alicia (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The purpose of this project is to analyze the MIT OpenCourseWare coffee can radar design and modify it to be better suited for drone based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) applications while maintaining the low-cost aspect of the original design. The MIT coffee can radar can function as a ranged radar, a Doppler radar, or as SAR. Through simulations and research, the suggestions for how to modify the radar resulted in swapping the coffee can monopole antennas for patch antenna arrays or helical ordinary end-fire antennas, adding an Arduino for automatic recording of output pulses, and switching from a breadboard construction to a PCB to shrink form factor and keep costs and construction time low.
ContributorsRivera, Danielle (Author) / Trichopoulos, Georgios (Thesis director) / Aberle, James (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12