This thesis proposes hardware and software security enhancements to the robotic explorer of a capstone team, in collaboration with the NASA Psyche Mission Student Collaborations program. The NASA Psyche Mission, launching in 2022 and reaching the metallic asteroid of the same name in 2026, will explore from orbit what is hypothesized to be remnant core material of an early planet, potentially providing key insights to planet formation. Following this initial mission, it is possible there would be scientists and engineers interested in proposing a mission to land an explorer on the surface of Psyche to further document various properties of the asteroid. As a proposal for a second mission, an interdisciplinary engineering and science capstone team at Arizona State University designed and constructed a robotic explorer for the hypothesized surfaces of Psyche, capable of semi-autonomously navigating simulated surfaces to collect scientific data from onboard sensors. A critical component of this explorer is the command and data handling subsystem, and as such, the security of this system, though outside the scope of the capstone project, remains a crucial consideration. This thesis proposes the pairing of Trusted Platform Module (TPM) technology for increased hardware security and the implementation of SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) for increased software security for Earth-based testing as well as space-ready missions.

Within the pediatric hospitalization experience, fear and anxiety are two emotions commonly felt by children of all ages. Hospitalized children can greatly benefit from interventions designed to help them cope with these emotions throughout their medical experiences. This study draws on each of our clinical experiences as volunteers at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and uses a qualitative analysis of three semi-structured interviews with currently employed Child Life Specialists to understand and analyze the use of medical play, a form of play intervention with a medical theme or medical equipment. We explore the goals and benefits of medical play for hospitalized pediatric patients, the process of using medical play as an intervention, including the activity design process, the assessments and adjustments made throughout the child’s hospitalization, and the considerations and limitations to implementing medical play activities. Ultimately, we found that the element of fun that defines play can be channeled into medical play activities implemented by skilled Child Life Specialists, who are experts in their field, in clinical settings to promote several different and beneficial goals, including pediatric patient coping.

Within the pediatric hospitalization experience, fear and anxiety are two emotions commonly felt by children of all ages. Hospitalized children can greatly benefit from interventions designed to help them cope with these emotions throughout their medical experiences. This study draws on each of our clinical experiences as volunteers at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and uses a qualitative analysis of three semi-structured interviews with currently employed Child Life Specialists to understand and analyze the use of medical play, a form of play intervention with a medical theme or medical equipment. We explore the goals and benefits of medical play for hospitalized pediatric patients, the process of using medical play as an intervention, including the activity design process, the assessments and adjustments made throughout the child’s hospitalization, and the considerations and limitations to implementing medical play activities. Ultimately, we found that the element of fun that defines play can be channeled into medical play activities implemented by skilled Child Life Specialists, who are experts in their field, in clinical settings to promote several different and beneficial goals, including pediatric patient coping.

Human-environment interactions in aeolian (windblown) systems has focused research on<br/>human’s role in causing and aiding recovery from natural and anthropogenic disturbance. There<br/>is room for improvement in understanding the best methods and considerations for manual<br/>coastal foredune restoration. Furthermore, the extent to which humans play a role in changing the<br/>shape and surface textures of quartz sand grains is poorly understood. The goal of this thesis is<br/>two-fold: 1) quantify the geomorphic effectiveness of a multi-year manually rebuilt foredune and<br/>2) compare the shapes and microtextures on disturbed and undisturbed quartz sand grains. For<br/>the rebuilt foredune, uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) were used to survey the site, collecting<br/>photos to create digital surface models (DSMs). These DSMs were compared at discrete<br/>moments in time to create a sediment budget. Water levels and cross-shore modeling is also<br/>considered to predict the decadal evolution of the site. In the two years since rebuilding, the<br/>foredune has been stable, but not geomorphically resilient. Modeling shows landward foredune<br/>retreat and beach widening. For the quartz grains, t-testing of shape characteristics showed that<br/>there may be differences in the mean circularity between grains from off-highway vehicle and<br/>non-riding areas. Quartz grains from a variety of coastal and inland dunes were imaged using a<br/>scanning electron microscopy to search for evidence of anthropogenically-induced<br/>microtextures. On grains from Oceano Dunes in California, encouraging textures like parallel<br/>striations, grain fracturing, and linear conchoidal fractures provide exploratory evidence of<br/>anthropogenic microtextures. More focused research is recommended to confirm this exploratory<br/>work.

Motor learning is the process of improving task execution according to some measure of performance. This can be divided into skill learning, a model-free process, and adaptation, a model-based process. Prior studies have indicated that adaptation results from two complementary learning systems with parallel organization. This report attempted to answer the question of whether a similar interaction leads to savings, a model-free process that is described as faster relearning when experiencing something familiar. This was tested in a two-week reaching task conducted on a robotic arm capable of perturbing movements. The task was designed so that the two sessions differed in their history of errors. By measuring the change in the learning rate, the savings was determined at various points. The results showed that the history of errors successfully modulated savings. Thus, this supports the notion that the two complementary systems interact to develop savings. Additionally, this report was part of a larger study that will explore the organizational structure of the complementary systems as well as the neural basis of this motor learning.

Edge computing is a new and growing market that Company X has an opportunity to expand their presence. Within this paper, we compare many external research studies to better quantify the Total Addressable Market of the Edge Computing space. Furthermore, we highlight which Segments within Edge Computing have the most opportunities for growth, along with identify a specific market strategy that Company X could do to capture market share within the most opportunistic segment.

Over the years, advances in research have continued to decrease the size of computers from the size of<br/>a room to a small device that could fit in one’s palm. However, if an application does not require extensive<br/>computation power nor accessories such as a screen, the corresponding machine could be microscopic,<br/>only a few nanometers big. Researchers at MIT have successfully created Syncells, which are micro-<br/>scale robots with limited computation power and memory that can communicate locally to achieve<br/>complex collective tasks. In order to control these Syncells for a desired outcome, they must each run a<br/>simple distributed algorithm. As they are only capable of local communication, Syncells cannot receive<br/>commands from a control center, so their algorithms cannot be centralized. In this work, we created a<br/>distributed algorithm that each Syncell can execute so that the system of Syncells is able to find and<br/>converge to a specific target within the environment. The most direct applications of this problem are in<br/>medicine. Such a system could be used as a safer alternative to invasive surgery or could be used to treat<br/>internal bleeding or tumors. We tested and analyzed our algorithm through simulation and visualization<br/>in Python. Overall, our algorithm successfully caused the system of particles to converge on a specific<br/>target present within the environment.

This thesis project is part of a larger collaboration documenting the history of the ASU Biodesign Clinical Testing Laboratory (ABCTL). There are many different aspects that need to be considered when transforming to a clinical testing laboratory. This includes the different types of tests performed in the laboratory. In addition to the diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that is performed detecting the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), antibody testing is also performed in clinical laboratories. Antibody testing is used to detect a previous infection. Antibodies are produced as part of the immune response against SARS-CoV-2. There are many different forms of antibody tests and their sensitives and specificities have been examined and reviewed in the literature. Antibody testing can be used to determine the seroprevalence of the disease which can inform policy decisions regarding public health strategies. The results from antibody testing can also be used for creating new therapeutics like vaccines. The ABCTL recognizes the shifting need of the community to begin testing for previous infections of SARS-CoV-2 and is developing new forms of antibody testing that can meet them.

In this project, I examined the relationship between lockdowns implemented by COVID-19 and the activity of animals in urban areas. I hypothesized that animals became more active in urban areas during COVID-19 quarantine than they were before and I wanted to see if my hypothesis could be researched through Twitter crowdsourcing. I began by collecting tweets using python code, but upon examining all data output from code-based searches, I concluded that it is quicker and more efficient to use the advanced search on Twitter website. Based on my research, I can neither confirm nor deny if the appearance of wild animals is due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. However, I was able to discover a correlational relationship between these two factors in some research cases. Although my findings are mixed with regard to my original hypothesis, the impact that this phenomenon had on society cannot be denied.

Radiation hardening of electronic devices is generally necessary when designing for the space environment. Non-volatile memory technologies are of particular concern when designing for the mitigation of radiation effects. Among other radiation effects, single-event upsets can create bit flips in non-volatile memories, leading to data corruption. In this paper, a Verilog implementation of a Reed-Solomon error-correcting code is considered for its ability to mitigate the effects of single-event upsets on non-volatile memories. This implementation is compared with the simpler procedure of using triple modular redundancy.