Matching Items (300)
Description
The human ankle is a critical joint required for mobility and stability of the body during static and dynamic activity. The absence of necessary torque output by the ankle due to neurological disorder or near-fatal injury can severely restrict locomotion and cause an inability to perform daily tasks. Physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI) has explored the potential of controlled actuators to positively impact human joints and partly restoring the required torque and stability at the joint to perform a task. However, a trade-off between agility and stability of the control technique of these devices can reduce the complete utilization of the performance to create a desirable impact on human joints. This research focuses on two control techniques of an Active Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) namely, Variable Stiffness (VS) and Variable Damping (VD) controllers to modulate ankle during walking. The VS controller is active during the stance phase and is used to restore the ankle trajectory of healthy participants that has been altered by adding a dead-weight of 2 Kgs. The VD controller is active during the terminal stance and early-swing phase and provides augmentative force during push-off that results in increased propulsion and stabilizes the ankle based on user-intuitions. Both controllers have a positive impact on Medial Gastrocnemius (GAS) muscle and Soleus (SOL) muscle which are powerful plantar - flexors critical to propulsion and kinematic properties during walking. The VS controller has recorded an 8.18% decrease in GAS and an 9.63 % decrease in SOL muscle activity during the stance phase amongst participants while decreasing mean ankle position error by 22.28 % and peak ankle position error by 17.43%. The VD controller demonstrated a 7.59 % decrease in GAS muscle and a 10.15 % decrease in SOL muscle activity during push-off amongst the participants while increasing the range-of-motion (ROM) by 7.84 %. Comprehensively, the study has shown a positive impact on ankle trajectory and the corresponding muscle effort at respective stages of the controller activity.
ContributorsSave, Omik Milind (Author) / Lee, Hyunglae (Thesis advisor) / Marvi, Hamidreza (Committee member) / Yong, Sze (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
A novel underwater, open source, and configurable vehicle that mimics and leverages advances in quad-copter controls and dynamics, called the uDrone, was designed, built and tested. This vehicle was developed to aid coral reef researchers in collecting underwater spectroscopic data for the purpose of monitoring coral reef health. It is designed with an on-board integrated sensor system to support both automated navigation in close proximity to reefs and environmental observation. Additionally, the vehicle can serve as a testbed for future research in the realm of programming for autonomous underwater navigation and data collection, given the open-source simulation and software environment in which it was developed. This thesis presents the motivation for and design components of the new vehicle, a model governing vehicle dynamics, and the results of two proof-of-concept simulation for automated control.
ContributorsGoldman, Alex (Author) / Das, Jnaneshwar (Thesis advisor) / Asner, Greg (Committee member) / Marvi, Hamidreza (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
This creative project is a part of the work being done as a Senior Design Project in which an autonomous solar charge controller is being developed. The goal of this project is to design and build a prototype of an autonomous solar charge controller that can work independently of the power grid. This solar charge controller is being built for a community in Monument Valley, Arizona who live off grid. The controller is designed to step down power supplied by an array of solar panels to charge a 48V battery and supply power to an inverter. The charge controller can implement MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) to charge the battery and power the inverter, it also is capable of disconnecting from the battery when the battery is fully charged and reconnecting when it detects that the battery has discharged. The charge controller can also switch from supplying power to the inverter from the panel to supplying power from the battery at low sun or night. These capabilities are not found in solar charge controllers that are on the market. This project aims to achieve all these capabilities and provide a solution for the problems being faced by the current solar charge controller
ContributorsSingh, Khushi (Author) / Goryll, Michael (Thesis director) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2021-12
Description
There is an increasing demand for fully integrated point-of-load (POL) isolated DC-DC converters that can provide an isolation barrier between the primary and the secondary side, while delivering a low ripple, low noise regulated voltage at their isolated sides to a high dynamic range, sensitive mixed signal devices, such as sensors, current-shunt-monitors and ADCs. For these applications, smaller system size and integration level is important because the whole system may need to fit to limited space. Traditional methods for providing isolated power are discrete solutions using bulky transformers. Miniaturization of isolated POL regulators is becoming highly desirable for low power applications.
A fully integrated, low noise isolated point-of-load DC-DC converter for supply regulation of high dynamic range analog and mixed signal sensor signal-chains is presented. The isolated DC-DC converter utilizes an integrated planar air-core micro-transformer as a coupled resonator and isolation barrier and enables direct connection of low-voltage mixed signal circuits to higher supply rails. The air core transformer is driven at its primary resonant frequency of 100 MHz to achieve maximum power transfer. A mixed-signal perturb-and-observe based frequency search algorithm is developed to improve maximum power transfer efficiency by 60% across the isolation barrier compared to fixed driving frequency method. The isolated converter’s output ripple is reduced by utilizing spread spectrum clocking in the driver. An isolated PMOS LDO in the secondary side is used to suppress switching noise and ripple by 21dB. Conducted and radiated EMI distribution on the IC is measured by a set of integrated ring oscillator based noise sensors with -68dBm noise sensitivity. The proposed isolated converter achieves highest level of integration with respect to earlier reported integrated isolated converters, while providing 50V on-chip junction isolation without the need for extra silicon post-processing steps.
A fully integrated, low noise isolated point-of-load DC-DC converter for supply regulation of high dynamic range analog and mixed signal sensor signal-chains is presented. The isolated DC-DC converter utilizes an integrated planar air-core micro-transformer as a coupled resonator and isolation barrier and enables direct connection of low-voltage mixed signal circuits to higher supply rails. The air core transformer is driven at its primary resonant frequency of 100 MHz to achieve maximum power transfer. A mixed-signal perturb-and-observe based frequency search algorithm is developed to improve maximum power transfer efficiency by 60% across the isolation barrier compared to fixed driving frequency method. The isolated converter’s output ripple is reduced by utilizing spread spectrum clocking in the driver. An isolated PMOS LDO in the secondary side is used to suppress switching noise and ripple by 21dB. Conducted and radiated EMI distribution on the IC is measured by a set of integrated ring oscillator based noise sensors with -68dBm noise sensitivity. The proposed isolated converter achieves highest level of integration with respect to earlier reported integrated isolated converters, while providing 50V on-chip junction isolation without the need for extra silicon post-processing steps.
ContributorsLiu, Chengxi (Author) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Thesis advisor) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Committee member) / Song, Hongjiang (Committee member) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
In this dissertation a new wideband circular HIS is proposed. The circular periodicity made it possible to illuminate the surface with a cylindrical TEMz wave and; a novel technique is utilized to make it wideband. Two models are developed to analyze the
reflection characteristics of the proposed HIS.
The circularly symmetric high impedance surface is used as a ground plane for the design of a low-profile loop and spiral radiating elements. It is shown that a HIS with circular periodicity provides a wider operational bandwidth for curvilinear radiating elements such, such as loops and spirals, compared to canonical rectangular HISs.
It is also observed that, with the aid of a circular HIS ground plane the gain of a loop and a spiral increases compared to when a perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) or rectangular HIS is used as a ground plane. The circular HIS was fabricated and the loop and spiral elements were placed individually in close proximity to it.
Also, due to the growing demand for low-radar signature (RCS) antennas for advanced airborne vehicles, curved and flexible HIS ground planes, which meet both the aerodynamic and low RCS requirements, have recently become popular candidates within the antenna and microwave technology. This encouraged us, to propose a spherical HIS where a 2-D curvature is introduced to the previously designed flat HIS.
The major problem associated with spherical HIS is the impact of the curvature on its reflection properties. After characterization of the flat circular HIS, which is addressed in the first part of this dissertation, a spherical curvature is introduced to the flat circular HIS and its impact on the reflection properties was examined when it was illuminated with the same cylindrical TEMz wave. The same technique, as for the flat HIS ground plane, is utilized to make the spherical HIS wideband. A loop and spiral element were placed in the vicinity of the curved HIS and their performanceswere investigated. The HISs were also fabricated and measurements were conducted to verify the simulations. An excellent agreement was observed.
reflection characteristics of the proposed HIS.
The circularly symmetric high impedance surface is used as a ground plane for the design of a low-profile loop and spiral radiating elements. It is shown that a HIS with circular periodicity provides a wider operational bandwidth for curvilinear radiating elements such, such as loops and spirals, compared to canonical rectangular HISs.
It is also observed that, with the aid of a circular HIS ground plane the gain of a loop and a spiral increases compared to when a perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) or rectangular HIS is used as a ground plane. The circular HIS was fabricated and the loop and spiral elements were placed individually in close proximity to it.
Also, due to the growing demand for low-radar signature (RCS) antennas for advanced airborne vehicles, curved and flexible HIS ground planes, which meet both the aerodynamic and low RCS requirements, have recently become popular candidates within the antenna and microwave technology. This encouraged us, to propose a spherical HIS where a 2-D curvature is introduced to the previously designed flat HIS.
The major problem associated with spherical HIS is the impact of the curvature on its reflection properties. After characterization of the flat circular HIS, which is addressed in the first part of this dissertation, a spherical curvature is introduced to the flat circular HIS and its impact on the reflection properties was examined when it was illuminated with the same cylindrical TEMz wave. The same technique, as for the flat HIS ground plane, is utilized to make the spherical HIS wideband. A loop and spiral element were placed in the vicinity of the curved HIS and their performanceswere investigated. The HISs were also fabricated and measurements were conducted to verify the simulations. An excellent agreement was observed.
ContributorsAmiri, Mikal Askarian (Author) / Balanis, Constantine A (Thesis advisor) / Aberle, James T (Committee member) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Trichopoulos, Georgios C (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
A Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bio-inspired carbon-neutral, renewable electrochemical converter to extract electricity from catabolic reaction of micro-organisms. It is a promising technology capable of directly converting the abundant biomass on the planet into electricity and potentially alleviate the emerging global warming and energy crisis. The current and power density of MFCs are low compared with conventional energy conversion techniques. Since its debut in 2002, many studies have been performed by adopting a variety of new configurations and structures to improve the power density. The reported maximum areal and volumetric power densities range from 19 mW/m2 to 1.57 W/m2 and from 6.3 W/m3 to 392 W/m3, respectively, which are still low compared with conventional energy conversion techniques. In this dissertation, the impact of scaling effect on the performance of MFCs are investigated, and it is found that by scaling down the characteristic length of MFCs, the surface area to volume ratio increases and the current and power density improves. As a result, a miniaturized MFC fabricated by Micro-Electro-Mechanical System(MEMS) technology with gold anode is presented in this dissertation, which demonstrate a high power density of 3300 W/m3. The performance of the MEMS MFC is further improved by adopting anodes with higher surface area to volume ratio, such as carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene based anodes, and the maximum power density is further improved to a record high power density of 11220 W/m3. A novel supercapacitor by regulating the respiration of the bacteria is also presented, and a high power density of 531.2 A/m2 (1,060,000 A/m3) and 197.5 W/m2 (395,000 W/m3), respectively, are marked, which are one to two orders of magnitude higher than any previously reported microbial electrochemical techniques.
ContributorsRen, Hao (Author) / Chae, Junseok (Thesis advisor) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Phillips, Stephen (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This thesis aims to investigate the impacts of foreign banks’ management model on their degree of localization and operating efficiency. I decompose their management model into five major factors, including two formative factors and three reflective factors. The two formative factors are (1) strategic orientation and (2) target customers, and the three reflective factors are (1) top management team composition, (2) organizational structure, and (3) managerial authority and incentives. I propose that the formative factors influence foreign banks’ degree of localization, as demonstrated by the reflective factors, which subsequently influence foreign banks’ operating efficiency in China.
To test the above proposition, I conduct the empirical analysis in three steps. In the first step, I investigate foreign banks’ management model by surveying 13 major foreign banks locally incorporated in Mainland China. The results suggest that these 13 foreign banks can be categorized into three distinct groups based on their management model: intergrators, customer-followers, and parent-followers. The results also indicate that intergrators have the highest level of localization while parent-followers have the lowest level of localization.
In the second step, I conduct DEA (Data Envelope Analysis) and CAMEL (Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity Analysis) to assess the operating efficiency of these 13 foreign banks. The assessment is conducted in two ways: 1) the inter-group comparison between foreign banks and local Chinese banks; 2) the intra-group comparison between the three distinct groups of foreign banks identified in the first step. The results indicates that the principal factor driving the operating efficiency of both local Chinese banks and foreign banks is the comprehensive technical efficiency, which includes both the quality of management and the quality of technical elements. I also find the uptrend of technical efficiency of the integrators is more stable than that of the other two groups of foreign banks.
Finally, I integrate the results from step one and step two to assess the relevance between foreign banks’ localization level and operating efficiency. I find that foreign banks that score higher in localization tend to have a higher level of operating efficiency. Although this finding is not conclusive about the causal relationship between localization and operating efficiency, it nevertheless suggests that the management model of the higher performing integrators can serve as references for the other foreign banks attempting to enhance their localization and operating efficiency. I also discuss the future trends of development in the banking industry in China and what foreign banks can learn from local Chinese banks to improve their market positions.
To test the above proposition, I conduct the empirical analysis in three steps. In the first step, I investigate foreign banks’ management model by surveying 13 major foreign banks locally incorporated in Mainland China. The results suggest that these 13 foreign banks can be categorized into three distinct groups based on their management model: intergrators, customer-followers, and parent-followers. The results also indicate that intergrators have the highest level of localization while parent-followers have the lowest level of localization.
In the second step, I conduct DEA (Data Envelope Analysis) and CAMEL (Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity Analysis) to assess the operating efficiency of these 13 foreign banks. The assessment is conducted in two ways: 1) the inter-group comparison between foreign banks and local Chinese banks; 2) the intra-group comparison between the three distinct groups of foreign banks identified in the first step. The results indicates that the principal factor driving the operating efficiency of both local Chinese banks and foreign banks is the comprehensive technical efficiency, which includes both the quality of management and the quality of technical elements. I also find the uptrend of technical efficiency of the integrators is more stable than that of the other two groups of foreign banks.
Finally, I integrate the results from step one and step two to assess the relevance between foreign banks’ localization level and operating efficiency. I find that foreign banks that score higher in localization tend to have a higher level of operating efficiency. Although this finding is not conclusive about the causal relationship between localization and operating efficiency, it nevertheless suggests that the management model of the higher performing integrators can serve as references for the other foreign banks attempting to enhance their localization and operating efficiency. I also discuss the future trends of development in the banking industry in China and what foreign banks can learn from local Chinese banks to improve their market positions.
ContributorsSun, Minjie (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Qian, Jun (Thesis advisor) / Pei, Ker-Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Unmanned aerial vehicles have received increased attention in the last decade due to their versatility, as well as the availability of inexpensive sensors (e.g. GPS, IMU) for their navigation and control. Multirotor vehicles, specifically quadrotors, have formed a fast growing field in robotics, with the range of applications spanning from surveil- lance and reconnaissance to agriculture and large area mapping. Although in most applications single quadrotors are used, there is an increasing interest in architectures controlling multiple quadrotors executing a collaborative task. This thesis introduces a new concept of control involving more than one quadrotors, according to which two quadrotors can be physically coupled in mid-flight. This concept equips the quadro- tors with new capabilities, e.g. increased payload or pursuit and capturing of other quadrotors. A comprehensive simulation of the approach is built to simulate coupled quadrotors. The dynamics and modeling of the coupled system is presented together with a discussion regarding the coupling mechanism, impact modeling and additional considerations that have been investigated. Simulation results are presented for cases of static coupling as well as enemy quadrotor pursuit and capture, together with an analysis of control methodology and gain tuning. Practical implementations are introduced as results show the feasibility of this design.
ContributorsLarsson, Daniel (Author) / Artemiadis, Panagiotis (Thesis advisor) / Marvi, Hamidreza (Committee member) / Berman, Spring (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
High-efficiency DC-DC converters make up one of the important blocks of state-of-the-art power supplies. The trend toward high level of transistor integration has caused load current demands to grow significantly. Supplying high output current and minimizing output current ripple has been a driving force behind the evolution of Multi-phase topologies. Ability to supply large output current with improved efficiency, reduction in the size of filter components, improved transient response make multi-phase topologies a preferred choice for low voltage-high current applications.
Current sensing capability inside a system is much sought after for applications which include Peak-current mode control, Current limiting, Overload protection. Current sensing is extremely important for current sharing in Multi-phase topologies. Existing approaches such as Series resistor, SenseFET, inductor DCR based current sensing are simple but their drawbacks such low efficiency, low accuracy, limited bandwidth demand a novel current sensing scheme.
This research presents a systematic design procedure of a 5V - 1.8V, 8A 4-Phase Buck regulator with a novel current sensing scheme based on replication of the inductor current. The proposed solution consists of detailed system modeling in PLECS which includes modification of the peak current mode model to accommodate the new current sensing element, derivation of power-stage and Plant transfer functions, Controller design. The proposed model has been verified through PLECS simulations and compared with a transistor-level implementation of the system. The time-domain parameters such as overshoot and settling-time simulated through transistor-level
implementation is in close agreement with the results obtained from the PLECS model.
Current sensing capability inside a system is much sought after for applications which include Peak-current mode control, Current limiting, Overload protection. Current sensing is extremely important for current sharing in Multi-phase topologies. Existing approaches such as Series resistor, SenseFET, inductor DCR based current sensing are simple but their drawbacks such low efficiency, low accuracy, limited bandwidth demand a novel current sensing scheme.
This research presents a systematic design procedure of a 5V - 1.8V, 8A 4-Phase Buck regulator with a novel current sensing scheme based on replication of the inductor current. The proposed solution consists of detailed system modeling in PLECS which includes modification of the peak current mode model to accommodate the new current sensing element, derivation of power-stage and Plant transfer functions, Controller design. The proposed model has been verified through PLECS simulations and compared with a transistor-level implementation of the system. The time-domain parameters such as overshoot and settling-time simulated through transistor-level
implementation is in close agreement with the results obtained from the PLECS model.
ContributorsBurli, Venkatesh (Author) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Thesis advisor) / Garrity, Douglas (Committee member) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The current study combines field study, survey study, and public financial reports, and conducts an in-depths comprehensive study of the cost of the global tire industry. By comparing the price and the total cost structure of standardized tire products, we investigate Chinese tire industry’s global competitiveness, especially in light of China’s fast increasing labor cost. By constructing a comprehensive cost index (CCI), this dissertation estimates the evolution and forecasts the trend of global tire industry’s cost structure. Based on our empirical analysis, we provide various recommendations for Chinese tire manufacturers, other manufacturing industries, and foreign trade policy makers.
ContributorsZhang, Ning (Author) / Zhu, Ning (Thesis advisor) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Hong (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015