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As the demand for higher computing speeds increases as modern technology develops, so must the complexity of the processors and connections within these devices. Unfortunately, modern wired connections will not be able to sustain the demands several years into the future due to the physical limitations of the connection mediums as well as the limit of space inside a processor or computer chip. Wireless connections serve as a viable alternative to wired connections due to their ability to handle parallel communications far better than wired communications and their ability to handle much higher data rates, as well as their tendency to take up little space. However, electromagnetic wave propagation inside of a closed conductive environment is difficult due to the effects of scattering and multipath, as these waves reflect off of the conductive surfaces and lead to a very cluttered signal at the receiver due to destructive interference. This project aims to solve this issue by introducing a reconfigurable metasurface in the form of a 4x4 patch antenna reflectarray. This device utilizes the resistance and capacitance of PIN Diodes to alter the resonant frequency of each of the patch antennas on the device to alter the propagation behavior of incident electromagnetic waves, allowing for a less scattered signal to reach the receiver. After designing and testing the efficiency of this device, an optimization process will be created to find the optimal PIN Diode configuration (On and Off) so that the best Channel Impulse Response (CIR) can be found, which represents the highest communication efficiency. Once this process is completed, the device can operate at the optimal configuration to perform a specific function at a specific location.
ContributorsRader, Richard (Author) / Faghih Imani, Seyedmohammadreza (Thesis director) / Trichopoulos, Georgios (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsRader, Richard (Author) / Faghih Imani, Seyedmohammadreza (Thesis director) / Trichopoulos, Georgios (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsRader, Richard (Author) / Faghih Imani, Seyedmohammadreza (Thesis director) / Trichopoulos, Georgios (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Machine learning has been increasingly integrated into several new areas, namely those related to vision processing and language learning models. These implementations of these processes in new products have demanded increasingly more expensive memory usage and computational requirements. Microcontrollers can lower this increasing cost. However, implementation of such a system on a microcontroller is difficult and has to be culled appropriately in order to find the right balance between optimization of the system and allocation of resources present in the system. A proof of concept that these algorithms can be implemented on such as system will be attempted in order to find points of contention of the construction of such a system on such limited hardware, as well as the steps taken to enable the usage of machine learning onto a limited system such as the general purpose MSP430 from Texas Instruments.
ContributorsMalcolm, Ian (Author) / Allee, David (Thesis director) / Spanias, Andreas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Engineering, and more specifically, electrical engineering can be a difficult topic to explain through spoken communication. Along with taking years of education to learn and understand necessary topics, the field is riddled with jargon and items that may take lectures to explain. However, this type of education may not be feasible for a younger or inexperienced audience. Therefore, engineers must find new ways to explain such difficult topics, especially in an attempt to garner interest in children, for example, through art.
ContributorsHedges, Madison (Author) / Aukes, Daniel (Thesis director) / Weeks, Eric (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
This research explores the potential use of microwave energy to detect various substances in water, with a focus on water quality assessment and pathogen detection applications. There are many non-thermal effects of microwaves on microorganisms and their resonant frequencies could be used to identify and possibly destroy harmful pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, without heating the water. A wide range of materials, including living organisms like Daphnia and Moina, plants, sand, plastic, and salt, were subjected to microwave measurements to assess their influence on the transmission (S21) measurements. The measurements of the living organisms did not display distinctive resonant frequencies and variations in water volume may be the source of the small measurement differences. Conversely, sand and plastic pellets affected the measurements differently, with their arrangement within the test tube emerging as a significant factor. This study also explores the impact of salinity on measurements, revealing a clear pattern that can be modeled as a series RLC resonator. Although unique resonant frequencies for the tested organisms were not identified, the presented system demonstrates the potential for detecting contaminants based on variations in measurements. Future research may extend this work to include a broader array of organisms and enhance measurement precision.
ContributorsChild, Carson (Author) / Aberle, James (Thesis director) / Blain Christen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2023-12
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
The world of a hearing impaired person is much different than that of somebody capable of discerning different frequencies and magnitudes of sound waves via their ears. This is especially true when hearing impaired people play video games. In most video games, surround sound is fed through some sort of digital output to headphones or speakers. Based on this information, the gamer can discern where a particular stimulus is coming from and whether or not that is a threat to their wellbeing within the virtual world. People with reliable hearing have a distinct advantage over hearing impaired people in the fact that they can gather information not just from what is in front of them, but from every angle relative to the way they're facing. The purpose of this project was to find a way to even the playing field, so that a person hard of hearing could also receive the sensory feedback that any other person would get while playing video games To do this, visual surround sound was created. This is a system that takes a surround sound input, and illuminates LEDs around the periphery of glasses based on the direction, frequency and amplitude of the audio wave. This provides the user with crucial information on the whereabouts of different elements within the game. In this paper, the research and development of Visual Surround Sound is discussed along with its viability in regards to a deaf person's ability to learn the technology, and decipher the visual cues.
ContributorsKadi, Danyal (Co-author) / Burrell, Nathaneal (Co-author) / Butler, Kristi (Co-author) / Wright, Gavin (Co-author) / Kosut, Oliver (Thesis director) / Bliss, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of the solar powered quadcopter is to join together the growing technologies of photovoltaics and quadcopters, creating a single unified device where the technologies harmonize to produce a new product with abilities beyond those of a traditional battery powered drone. Specifically, the goal is to take the battery-only flight time of a quadcopter loaded with a solar array and increase that flight time by 33% with additional power provided by solar cells. The major concepts explored throughout this project are quadcopter functionality and capability and solar cell power production. In order to combine these technologies, the solar power and quadcopter components were developed and analyzed individually before connecting the solar array to the quadcopter circuit and testing the design as a whole. Several solar copter models were initially developed, resulting in multiple unique quadcopter and solar cell array designs which underwent preliminary testing before settling on a finalized design which proved to be the most effective and underwent final timed flight tests. Results of these tests are showing that the technologies complement each other as anticipated and highlight promising results for future development in this area, in particular the development of a drone running on solar power alone. Applications for a product such as this are very promising in many fields, including the industries of power, defense, consumer goods and services, entertainment, marketing, and medical. Also, becoming a more popular device for UAV hobbyists, such developments would be very appealing for leisure flying and personal photography purposes as well.
ContributorsMartin, Heather Catrina (Author) / Bowden, Stuart (Thesis director) / Aberle, James (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
Every engineer is responsible for completing a capstone project as a culmination of accredited university learning to demonstrate technical knowledge and enhance interpersonal skills, like teamwork, communication, time management, and problem solving. This project, with three or four engineers working together in a group, emphasizes not only the importance of technical skills acquired through laboratory procedures and coursework, but the significance of soft skills as one transitions from a university to a professional workplace; it also enhances the understanding of an engineer's obligation to ethically improve society by harnessing technical knowledge to bring about change. The CC2541 Smart SensorTag is a device manufactured by Texas Instruments that focuses on the use of wireless sensors to create low energy applications, or apps; it is equipped with Bluetooth Smart, which enables it to communicate wirelessly with similar devices like smart phones and computers, assisting greatly in app development. The device contains six built-in sensors, which can be utilized to track and log personal data in real-time; these sensors include a gyroscope, accelerometer, humidifier, thermometer, barometer, and magnetometer. By combining the data obtained through the sensors with the ability to communicate wirelessly, the SensorTag can be used to develop apps in multiple fields, including fitness, recreation, health, safety, and more. Team SensorTag chose to focus on health and safety issues to complete its capstone project, creating applications intended for use by senior citizens who live alone or in assisted care homes. Using the SensorTag's ability to track multiple local variables, the team worked to collect data that verified the accuracy and quality of the sensors through repeated experimental trials. Once the sensors were tested, the team developed applications accessible via smart phones or computers to trigger an alarm and send an alert via vibration, e-mail, or Tweet if the SensorTag detects a fall. The fall detection service utilizes the accelerometer and gyroscope sensors with the hope that such a system will prevent severe injuries among the elderly, allow them to function more independently, and improve their quality of life, which is the obligation of engineers to better through their work.
ContributorsMartin, Katherine Julia (Author) / Thornton, Trevor (Thesis director) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12