ENGINEERING

RESEARCH & DESIGN

CONFERENCE

APRIL 27, 2012

DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING

INDIANA UNIVERSITY—PURDUE UNIVERSITY FORT WAYNE

2101 EAST COLISEUM BOULEVARD

FORT WAYNE, IN 46805

Table of Contents

Modeling a Solar Collector - A. Saleh (advisor: H. Abu-Mulaweh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

An investigation of the Power Produced by Miniature Wind Turbines

D. Drahozal (advisor: J. Njock-Libii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Design of Filtration Technologies for Sustainable Drinking Water Supply T. Bourdon, Z. Estes, and E. Hauter (sponsor: IPFW, advisor: D. Chen) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Nozzle Plume Effects on Sonic Boom M. Kretschmer (sponsor: NASA Glenn Research Center) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Communication Channel Modeling and Simulation using GPUs

R. Dill (sponsor: NSF, advisors: C. Pomalaza-Ráez, E. Thompson) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Design and Development of a Fixation Instrument or System - S. Bernard,

D. Drahozal, D. Hudson, and M. Kretschmer (sponsor: DePuy, advisor: N. Younis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Design of a Universal Remotely Triggered Firing Actuator - D. Gerber, J. Janssens,

D. Murphy (sponsor: Zimmer, advisor: D. Mueller) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Design of a Concrete Canoe J. Allen, A. Bade, A. Grabill, and J. Sample (advisor: M. Alhassan) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Redesign of a Rail Bending Test Machine - C. Heckley, A. Nicolette-Baker, B. Pettit, and Z. Singh (sponsor: Steel Dynamics, advisor: Z. Bi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Fin Compression Station - T. Butts, Z. George, D. Rode, and B. Taylor (sponsor: Parker Hannifin, advisor: N. Younis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Automatic Gripper Arm Robot - I. Ackon, J. Knerr, D. McVay, and S. Strickland (sponsor: Cooper Standard, advisor: J. Njock-Libii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 UHF RFID Component Design - N. Reynolds (sponsor: NSF, advisor: A. Eroglu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Wireless Monitoring and Control of Electrical Machines A. Straub (sponsor: NSF, advisors: C. Pomalaza-Ráez, A. Eroglu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 7 Interactive Matching Network Tool for RF Applications B. Westrick (advisor: A. Eroglu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Active Self-Landmarking to Mobile Robot Navigation through Wireless Communications G. Harden (sponsor: NSF, advisor: Y.Liu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Low-Cost Autonomous Multi-Robot Network - M. DeMange, R. Tamashiro, and B. Westrick (sponsor: IEEE, advisor: Y. Liu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Semi-Autonomous Wireless Controlled Robot - M. Kadous, T. Nguyen, and J. Slonaker (sponsor: IPFW, advisor: E. Thompson, J. Isaacs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Circuit for Temperature/Pressure Sensing and Wireless Data Collection N. Bola, B. Frane, A. Izmirli, and M. Robinson (sponsor: Parker Hannifin, advisor: T. Cooklev) . . . . . . . . . 10

Software-Defined Radio Testbed: A Platform Enabling Cognitive Radio Research D. Clendenen (sponsor: NSF, advisor: T. Cooklev) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Wireless Robot Communications System J. Thorn (sponsor: NSF, advisor: E. Thompson, J. Isaacs) . . . . . . 11

Real-Time Software Defined GPS Receiver

J. Hershberger (sponsor: NSF, advisor: E. Thompson, T. Loos) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Index of Presenters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CME Abstracts

Session CME 1: Energy & Environmental Systems Moderators: D. Chen, D. Mueller

Modeling a Solar Collector - A. Saleh (advisor: H. Abu-Mulaweh)

Solar energy is becoming an alternative for the limited fossil fuel resources. One of the simplest and most direct applications of this energy is the conversion of solar radiation into heat, which can be used in water heating systems. One of the most commonly used solar collectors is the flat-plate. This study presents a one-dimensional mathematical model for simulating the transient processes which occur in liquid flat-plate solar collectors. The proposed model simulates the complete solar collector system including the flat-plate and the storage tank. The model considers time-dependent thermo-physical properties and heat transfer coefficients and is based on solving equations which describe the energy conservation for the glass cover, air gap between cover and absorber, absorber, working fluid, insulation, and the storage tank. The differential equations system was solved using the implicit finite-difference method in an iterative scheme and executed using MATLAB software. In order to verify the proposed method, an experiment was designed and conducted for many different days with variable ambient conditions and flow rates. The comparison between the computed and measured results of the transient fluid temperature at the collector outlet showed a satisfactory agreement. The proposed method is an appropriate for the verification of the absorber and glass cover effectiveness, and in order to calculate the overall efficiency of the system along with the overall heat loss factor.

An investigation of the Power Produced by Miniature Wind Turbines - D. Drahozal

(advisor: J. Njock-Libii)

The goal of this project is to answer the following question: can one use miniature wind turbines to learn, understand, and predict how full-scale wind turbines work? The use of renewable sources of clean energy is growing at a very fast pace all over the world. Wind turbines are among them. Indeed, they have been used for centuries as a means of generating power or doing work. Wind turbines operate without any fuel and release no chemical byproducts into the environment. These qualities make them very environmentally friendly. Wind farms are being developed for economic and environmental reasons in Indiana and all over the USA as a growing source of renewable energy. For this reason, wind energy needs to be integrated into engineering education and research. However, full-sized wind turbines are very expensive to build, to buy, and to maintain. That is why, for purposes of education and research in university laboratories, miniature wind turbines are very cost effective. In this project, students design and build miniature wind turbines; collect appropriate data from them; and use such data to determine the effect of selected variables (such as air speed, flow patterns, the shape, the size, and the orientation of the turbine blades) on the amount of power a wind turbine is able to produce. Ultimately, one wishes to use the Buckingham Pi-theorem and the laws of similitude to compare the data collected from miniature turbines to those from full-sized turbines.

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CME Abstracts

Session CME 1: Energy & Environmental Systems Moderators: D. Chen, D. Mueller

Design of Filtration Technologies for Sustainable Drinking Water Supply - T. Bourdon, Z. Estes, and E. Hauter (sponsor: IPFW, advisor: D. Chen) Pollution of surface waters directly threatens the safety of drinking water supply and public health. Recent studies on riverbank filtration (RBF) systems have shown an apparent removal of harmful contaminants including microorganisms in raw surface waters through complicated physical, chemical and microbiological processes. These contaminants could otherwise pass through the conventional drinking water treatment processes and consequently bring adverse health effects. As a result, RBF provides treatment benefits and is a sustainable alternative to surface water supplies. In addition, RBF systems are primarily located underground which reduces land requirements, expensive costs of construction, and are capable of avoiding costly treatment processes. Following RBF, membrane filtration technologies are viable options compared to conventional drinking water treatment processes. The problems of conventional drinking water treatment processes include low purification efficiency and large footprint. As a result, membrane technologies are receiving more and more acceptance in modern water and wastewater treatment practices. Depending on the pore size of the membranes, membrane processes can remove various contaminants such as heavy metals, pharmaceutical compounds, viruses, bacteria, etc. to produce highly pure water. Although one of the major complications of membrane filtration technologies is membrane fouling, which happens when the membrane becomes dirty and clogged over time by organic substances and particulates; RBF as the pretreatment stage could alleviate membrane fouling and improve the productivity of the membranes. In this project, RBF followed by membrane filtration technologies are investigated to supply non-potable and potable water to IPFW campus. The water after RBF could provide non-potable irrigation water campus wide. The water further polished by membrane filtration and disinfection may supply potable water to select campus buildings. The feasibility, productivity and purification efficiency of RBF and membrane filtration systems will be evaluated by on-site investigation, building and testing bench models of the designs in the upcoming semester. Testing of the influent and effluent waters after each stage will be performed in lab to evaluate if the system meets primary safe drinking water standards set forth in the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Nozzle Plume Effects on Sonic Boom - M. Kretschmer (sponsor: NASA Glenn Research Center) The FAA currently restricts commercial supersonic flight over land due to the impact of sonic boom on the community. Much research has been done on exploring the causes of the boom phenomenon and determining ways of reducing it to an acceptable level. The present research focuses on how the shape of the exhaust plumes of a supersonic aircraft affect the overall boom generated by the vehicle. Utilizing 3D modeling software and computational fluid dynamics codes, several nozzle designs producing different plume shapes were examined. The location of the engines with relation to the airframe was also examined. It was found that by modifying the nozzle section of the engine nacelle and the plume shape, the strength of the boom generated by the aircraft can be reduced substantially. These concepts will provide valuable support in the effort of reducing the sonic boom of aircraft and pave the way for the age of supersonic continental flights.

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CME Abstracts

Session CME 2: Modeling & Simulation Moderators: Z. Bi, S. Ashur

Communication Channel Modeling and Simulation using GPUs - R. Dill (sponsor: NSF,

advisors: C. Pomalaza-Ráez, E. Thompson)

Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology has been increasingly gaining more attention in the past few years. Before UWB can be implemented in real applications it must first be modeled and simulated to fully understand its’ workings. Traditionally communication channel modeling and simulations have been performed on Central Processing Units (CPU’s) and can take a vast amount of time to compute all of the computations required to model the channel. The problem with conventional CPUs is that it takes a relatively long computation time, thus restraining the amount of detail obtainable. Fortunately in recent years low price Graphical Processors Units (GPUs) have extended their capabilities beyond regular graphic processing and stepped into the world of high level computing. Now that the GPUs are capable of doing high level computations the capabilities of channel modeling and simulations have increased greatly, this is known as General Purpose computing GPU (GPGPU). The GPU has been stated to produce computations up to fifty times faster than a CPU making it possible to add more complex and realistic scenarios in a channel. With the capabilities of the GPU UWB can now be modeled using more realistic scenarios in a reasonable amount of time, giving better results and hope for the future of the UWB technology.

Design and Development of a Fixation Instrument or System - S. Bernard, D. Drahozal,

D. Hudson, and M. Kretschmer (sponsor: DePuy, advisor: N. Younis)

DePuy Orthopaedics has requested the design of a Cable Tensioning Instrument. The instrument may be used as a cerclage fixation device in general orthopaedic repair. To achieve this, the instrument must improve upon the current tensioning instrument that is offered. The cable tensioning instrument must have a footprint less than 7 cm, the size of the footprint in the current instrument. The tool must also be able to fit into a given instrumentation case with dimensions of 60 cm x 24 cm x 10 cm and weigh less than the existing instrument which weighs 710 grams. The instrument must be able to place the cable in tension between 0-150 lbs by a single person without any assistance. It must provide the operator with a method of measuring the amount of tension in the cable. A feature that temporarily holds the cable in tension that allows for adjustments to be made before the cable is permanently fixed in place is desired. The instrument design must follow all sterilization and material requirements outlined by the microbiology lab at DePuy.

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CME Abstracts

Session CME 2: Modeling & Simulation Moderators: Z. Bi, S. Ashur

Design of a Universal Remotely Triggered Firing Actuator - D. Gerber, J. Janssens,

D. Murphy (sponsor: Zimmer, advisor: D. Mueller)

The purpose of this project is to outline the design process and the solution developed for a surgical hand piece triggering system. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a universal system for securing and triggering a surgical hand piece to aid in the prototype development testing of surgical hand pieces. The system will replace the requirement for manual operation during hand piece durability and fatigue experimentation. The mechanism will also remove the operator from potential safety hazards associated with unproven hand piece prototype designs. Some of the key quantifiable requirements include; the system must be capable of delivering a triggering force between 2-20 pound-force through a maximum stroke length of 1.0 inch; and maintain stability of the hand piece within 0.020 inch of translation and 1 degree of rotation. The final design is engineered to accommodate a wide array of surgical hand pieces independent of grip design with a rail guided clamping system, and uses a miniature linear actuator to operate a lever system to simulate the trigger pull. Additionally, the system is designed allowing the capability for incorporation with a data acquisition system for remote operation should Zimmer choose to fully automate the system.

Session CME 2: Modeling & Simulation Moderators: Z. Bi, S. Ashur

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CME Abstracts

Session CME 3: Materials/Mechanics/Structures Moderators: S. Ashur, J. Njock-Libii

Design of a Concrete Canoe - J. Allen, A. Bade, A. Grabill, and J. Sample (advisor: M. Alhassan)

As the Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) student chapter of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) continues to grow, so does the desire to participate in civil engineering conferences. This year, the IPFW ASCE student chapter proposed that the senior civil engineering students design, test, and build a concrete canoe for the Concrete Canoe competition at the Regional ASCE Student Chapter Conference. This conference allows the civil engineering students at IPFW to be recognized for their engineering abilities compared to the other engineering schools around the nation. The 2012 concrete canoe was chosen as a senior design project to establish a strong foundation for future civil engineering students to design, build, and compete successfully in ASCE competitions. The first semester of the year (fall 2011) was dedicated to the analysis and design of the concrete canoe, and establishing the schedule and budget to create a successful canoe in the time required. The spring semester (spring 2012) was devoted to executing the canoe design to produce the final product to compete in the ASCE Student Chapter Conference. To create the final product, various steps were involved: building the wood interior and exterior mold, casting the canoe, finishing, establishing a transportation plan, and preparing for all the competition requirements. The canoe competition involved a final product display, racing the canoe, a design paper, and an oral presentation. IPFW competed successfully on April 20, 2012 against other engineering schools in the Midwest area and achieved impressive results in all of the canoe competitions.

Redesign of a Rail Bending Test Machine - C. Heckley, A. Nicolette-Baker, B. Pettit, and Z. Singh (sponsor: Steel Dynamics, advisor: Z. Bi)

Redesign of a Rail Bending Test Machine In this presentation, our work for SD-II on the “Redesign of a rail bending test machine” will be reported; the sponsor company for this project is Steel Dynamics Inc (SDI). This project focuses on the implementation of the modification and fabrication of the machine frame and the calibration of load-cell under the specified maximized load. The work has been conducted to meet SDI’s new requirements that a new calibration has to be established before the custom hydraulic cylinder with a larger bore size can be installed, which was our design recommendation in SD-I. Because the adaption of a new cylinder to the OEM machine would void any calibration done by the manufacturer; a new process needed put in place so SDI could verify the force produced by the hydraulic cylinder. A problem statement for our senior design project has been revised significantly to address the new requirements, brand new design activities have been conducted, and the result was a modified machine frame that withstood the direct force of 484,000 lbf, and proved the calibration method.

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CME Abstracts

Session CME 3: Materials/Mechanics/Structures Moderators: S. Ashur, J. Njock-Libii

Fin Compression Station - T. Butts, Z. George, D. Rode, and B. Taylor (sponsor: Parker Hannifin, advisor: N. Younis) Parker Hannifin has requested the design of a Fin Compression Station to increase the manufacturability of cold plate heat exchangers. The manual compression station that is currently in use will be replaced by a semi-automatic operation. The station has to be able to compress any fin size, with maximum uncompressed dimensions of 6.5” by 4.5” with a thickness of .120”. The fin must be compressed to a minimum width of .500”. All final fins should be within the tolerances specified by Parker Hannifin. The operation should be ergonomic and safe. The fins should be flat and evenly compressed with a maximum cycle time of 10 seconds. For changeovers that require a nest change, the maximum allowable changeover time is 5 minutes. A user interface should allow the compression widths to be changed within 10 seconds. The second semester of this senior design project has been devoted to design refinements, assembly, and testing of the machine. Included here are the final design modifications, the different types of manufacturing processes required in the design, the assembly process, testing requirements and testing results. Further, recommendations based on the testing results are presented. This will only include the design, assembly and testing of the mechanical components; the controls portion of the project is outside of the scope for our team and was completed at Adatptek, Inc.

Automatic Gripper Arm Robot - I. Ackon, J. Knerr, D. McVay, and S. Strickland (sponsor: Cooper Standard, advisor: J. Njock-Libii)

The IPFW/Cooper Standard Automotive (CSA) senior design team was requested to improve a gripping assembly used in the Auburn plant’s rubber sheet curing process. The automatic gripping arm transports pre-cured rubber from hanging on a festoon bar to being dropped onto a take away conveyor belt. Because this gripping assembly fails on 10% of its cycles, CSA approached IPFW with the idea to assign this project as a senior engineering project, providing a real life design experience for the students. The newest design incorporates a wider jaw, with more numerous teeth, and an asymmetric profile to hold the rubber and keep its alignment, alignment forks and bushings were added to improve the precision and reliability of the design, and additional small improvements were made to the materials, geometry and components to decrease the magnitudes of stresses at points of stress concentration.

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ECE Abstracts

Session ECE 1: RF/Microwave Moderators: A. Eroglu, C. Pomalaza-Ráez

UHF RFID Component Design - N. Reynolds (sponsor: NSF, advisor: A. Eroglu)

There is an ever-increasing demand for radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that are passive, long range, and mountable on multiple surfaces. Currently, RFID technology is utilized in numerous applications such as supply chain management, access control, and public transportation. With the combination of sensory systems in recent years, the applications of RFID technology have been extended beyond tracking and identifying. This extension includes applications such as environmental monitoring and healthcare applications. The available sensory systems usually operate in the medium or high frequency bands and have a low read range. However, the range limitations of these systems are being overcome by the development of RFID sensors focused on utilizing tags in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) band. Generally, RFID tags have to be mounted to the object that is being identified. Often the objects requiring identification are metallic. The inherent properties of metallic objects have substantial effects on nearby electromagnetic radiation; therefore, the operation of the tag antenna is affected when mounted on a metallic surface. This outlines one of the most challenging problems for RFID systems today: the optimization of tag antenna performance in a complex environment. In this research, a novel UHF RFID tag antenna, which has a low profile, long range, and is mountable on metallic surfaces, is designed analytically and simulated using a 3-D electromagnetic simulator, ANSYS HFSS. A microstrip patch antenna is selected as the antenna struc-ture, as patch antennas are low profile and suitable for mounting on metallic surfaces. Matching and theoretical models of the microstrip patch antenna are investigated. Once matching and theory of a microstrip patch antenna is thoroughly understood, a unique design technique using electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures is explored. This research shows that the utilization of an EBG structure in the patch antenna design yields an improvement in gain, or range, and in the ability to be mounted on multiple metallic surfaces.

Wireless Monitoring and Control of Electrical Machines - A. Straub (sponsor: NSF, advisors: C. Pomalaza-Ráez, A. Eroglu) In this research, a cost effective and efficient method to monitor, control and diagnose critical parameters related to electric machine in enclosure and its environment with diagnostic techniques will be developed and implemented. RF signals will be used to communicate with the electric machine remotely. Through this communication link one can monitor, control and diagnose the machine based on several critical parameters such as environment temperature outside the enclosure, air flow and air filter condition inside the enclosure. Ideally, the final system can be used to control motor parameters such torque, and speed. Methods including RFID technology, long range ISM RF receiver and transmitter systems, novel long-range high gain antenna for RF transceivers, and other simpler solutions will be investigated for feasibility, development and implementation.

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ECE Abstracts

Session ECE 1: RF/Microwave Moderators: A. Eroglu, C. Pomalaza-Ráez

Interactive Matching Network Tool for RF Applications - B. Westrick (advisor: A. Eroglu) A demonstration of interactive design tools for creating RF microstrip filters and matching networks. We use an object oriented approach to design a Matlab toolkit for network parameters and use this to design microstrip filters and matching networks. As a test case, we design a low pass microstrip filter and test the design in Sonnet. We then verify the results by creating the filter board and testing it on the network analyzer. The concept is then expanded to an online interactive tool using C# and Silverlight. This tool allows users to enter parameters and adjust them to see changes in real-time to the microstrip design. The design can then be output as a Sonnet file for further testing and analysis.

Session ECE 2: Controls & Robotics Moderators: C. Pomalaza-Ráez, Y. Liu

Active Self-Landmarking to Mobile Robot Navigation through Wireless Communications - G. Harden (sponsor: NSF, advisor: Y.Liu) This research attempts to use robot-mounted active landmarks and cameras, as well as wireless communication, to dynamically create landmarks for other robots in the network and perform camera calibration. One of the first and most important issues with mobile robotic platforms is self-localization. Robotic platforms need to be able to identify where they are in relation to everything else in the environment, such as walls, desks, other obstacles, and even other robotic platforms. Cameras have been playing an important role in self-localization. Before any image processing techniques are implemented, the camera must be calibrated. One primary method of calibration is to use landmarks. Here, a new type of landmarking called active landmarking is proposed to be implemented in a wireless mobile robotic network. It is also decided to use the robots themselves as landmarks for each other in order to facilitate outdoor applications. Since the robots have communication capabilities, they can schedule when the landmarks can be turned on and off to match the periods when the cameras are capturing images for image differencing. Then a blob finding algorithm will be implemented to detect and determine the location of the landmarks, which are the locations of the robots as well. Many landmark positions will be acquired, and the data will be compiled and processed in a camera calibration algorithm to produce horizontal and vertical scaling factors for the image, as well as the location of the center point on the image.

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ECE Abstracts

Session ECE 2: Controls & Robotics Moderators: C. Pomalaza-Ráez, Y. Liu

Low-Cost Autonomous Multi-Robot Network - M. DeMange, R. Tamashiro, and B. Westrick (sponsor: IEEE, advisor: Y. Liu) The goal of the Low-Cost Autonomous Multi-Robot Network project is to create two robots that can communicate wirelessly with each other, that can avoid obstacles, and be built for less than $1000 dollars each. The robots are to use various sensors for obstacle avoidance and communication. All programs will be written in the same high level language, which has been chosen to be C, to maintain a cohesive language set across all aspects of each robot. Each robot must utilize a visual sensor, which has been selected as the CMUcam3, which is used in communicating the existence of another robot in the network. Even though the CMUcam3 was selected for this project, it was discontinued and unavailable for the build phase of the project, so the uCAM-TTL will be used instead. This camera is a serial JPEG camera module which uses a serial TTL interface for communication. The mechanical frames of the robots are built from commercially available kits. Another part of the project is to make the robot network easily expandable for use in other projects. This aspect led to developing a modularly built robot. Modularity allows for easy exchanging of core components and sensors. It also allows for easy upgrades to the robots for future use.

Semi-Autonomous Wireless Controlled Robot - M. Kadous, T. Nguyen, and J. Slonaker (sponsor: IPFW, advisor: E. Thompson, J. Isaacs) Our project is a GPS enabled robot working over a wireless link. It has two modes, user controlled and autonomous. The autonomous mode works by sending a set of GPS position coordinates over the wireless connection. The robot reads in these coordinates, then moves to each subsequently. It first calculates the bearing angle it needs to reach and then turns to that direction by using the on-board compass. The distance is then calculated and the robot moves until it reaches the designated point. Once it arrives, it continues this process through the array until it reaches the final position. The robot makes use of two ultra sonic range sensors to determine if an object is in its path. If an object is detected, it turns away from the obstacle, then moves forward. Once this process is completed, it readjusts its heading based on the compass data. The Xbox controller is used to send commands wirelessly to the robot. The robot is equipped with a network camera which is attached to two servos. Using the Xbox controller, the user is able to control the camera’s position using the right analog stick.

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ECE Abstracts

Session ECE 3: Wireless Technology Moderators: T. Cooklev, E. Thompson

Circuit for Temperature/Pressure Sensing and Wireless Data Collection - N. Bola, B. Frane, A. Izmirli, and M. Robinson (sponsor: Parker Hannifin, advisor: T. Cooklev)

The purpose of this project was to create a network of sensors and software that would let the consumer monitor the product that was purchased from Parker Hannifin. This information was to be wirelessly transmitted to a computer that a technician would carry around and download to view the performance of the system that the network of sensors was built for. The telemetry module would be sufficiently flexible to handle the expansion of various types of telemetry inputs without large additional investment in telemetry collection hardware. The module controller would store, process and transmit the data to a remote station wirelessly over a certain amount of distance. The wireless telemetry system is composed of the following components: pressure sensors, thermistor, thermocouples, motor speed sensor, data acquisition system, microprocessor, internal flash memory, wireless transmitter, wireless receiver, computer and a custom program that will decipher the information downloaded from the remote station. These components were researched, analyzed, modeled and selected to achieve specific performance criteria that will be covered in more detail later in this report. The sensors were wired to the microprocessor board. Then to test the board information was from the sensors, which are analog values, to the development board. The data would go through an analog-digital-converter in ordered to be stored in the memory on the board. Once the information was processed and converted to its corresponding digital value. The wireless system has been developed that is based on the industry standard IEEE 802.15.4, which is the leading technology for short-range wireless connectivity. The use of an industry standard ensures modularity and interoperability. The computer would be able to take the digital values from all the sensors and display the information in a graph. The technician would be able to see how the temperature and pressure acts with the speed of the motor. The computer would also point out if any of the sensors fell out of the desired range.

Software-Defined Radio Testbed: A Platform Enabling Cognitive Radio Research - D. Clendenen (sponsor: NSF, advisor: T. Cooklev)

The number of wireless devices in use is rapidly increasing. As a result there is an ever growing demand placed on the spectrum. The conventional method of static spectrum allocation, where the spectrum regulatory bodies give exclusive rights to licensed users, has led to spectrum scarcity and inefficiency. Dynamic spectrum access (DSA) shows promise to increase spectral efficiency. DSA aims at dynamically sharing spectrum that is licensed to primary users (PUs) with non-licensed secondary users (SUs). In order to effectively share spectrum the SUs must be sure to access the spectrum only when the PUs are not utilizing it otherwise the SUs could cause interference to the PUs. One method to determine when a PU is accessing the spectrum is for a SU to identify if the spectrum is occupied or not. Spectrum probing is a key component in spectrum sensing and defines the policy for when the SU will perform a channel scan of the spectrum to collect spectral data to be used for spectrum sensing. This work describes the development of a software defined radio (SDR) testbed based on the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) for research in DSA with a focus in spectrum probing methods. Spectrum probing methodology is an often overlooked component of spectrum sensing.

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ECE Abstracts

Session ECE 3: Wireless Technology Moderators: T. Cooklev, E. Thompson

Software-Defined Radio Testbed: A Platform Enabling Cognitive Radio Research - D. Clendenen (sponsor: NSF, advisor: T. Cooklev) continued

Theoretical analysis and simulation results for comparing different spectrum probing methods are presented in [1]. This work expands on the simulation in [1] by using the developed SDR testbed and collecting experimental results. Different spectrum probing methods are implemented for the case of an independent SU and for the case of a cooperative network of SUs. Experimental results are compared to theoretical analysis and simulated results. The experimental findings further support the conclusions based on simulation in [1]. In particular, in the independent sensing scenario, periodic probing indeed achieves the smallest probing delay, however, in the cooperative sensing scenario randomization can drastically reduce the probing delay.

Wireless Robot Communications System - J. Thorn (sponsor: NSF, advisor: E. Thompson, J. Isaacs)

Robots are often expected to perform in harsh environments. Communication systems for robots must be resilient in the face of fading and propagation losses while also having a maximal level of data throughput performance and communication range. They are often used to transmit video, which requires wide bandwidth. The goal of this research is to build a robot communication system which is adaptable and optimized for such requirements.

Real-Time Software Defined GPS Receiver - J. Hershberger (sponsor: NSF, advisor: E. Thompson, T. Loos) Space-based global navigation systems have become a mainstay in providing navigation for aviation,

ground and maritime operations. The US based Global Positioning System (GPS) has been integrated

into many aspects of daily life. However, GPS receiver design can prove to be challenging depending

on the operating environment of the user. Some receivers must perform multipath mitigation,

whereas others must combat low signal strength. Designing specific environmental operating modes

creates application-specific hardware architectures. The goal of a Software-Defined GPS (SDGPS)

system is to create, solely through programming, a reconfigurable GPS receiver than can adapt to its

environment. Traditional SDGPS systems utilize general purpose processors (GPP) capable of

performing single instruction multiple data (SIMD) operations on previously stored data files in a

non-real-time fashion. The goal of this research is aimed at implementing a SDGPS system at or near

real-time operation.

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Index of Presenters Presenters are listed in alphabetical order followed by their session number.

I. Ackon. . . . . . . . Session CME 3 J. Janssens . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 2

J. Allen . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3 M. Kadous . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 2

A. Bade . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3 J. Knerr . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3

S. Bernard . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 2 M. Kretschmer . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 1, Session CME 2

N. Bola . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 3 D. McVay . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3

T. Bourdon . . . . . . . . . . Session CME 1 D. Murphy . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 2

T. Butts . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3 T. Nguyen . . . . . . . . . Session ECE 2

D. Clendenen. . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 3 A. Nicolette-Baker . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3

M. DeMange . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 2 B. Pettit . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3

R. Dill . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 2 N. Reynolds . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 1

D. Drahozal . . . . . . . . . . Session CME 1, Session CME 2 M. Robinson . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 3

Z. Estes . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 1 D. Rode . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3

B. Frane . . . . . . . . . . Session ECE 3 A. Saleh . . . . . . . . . Session CME 1

Z. George . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3 J. Sample . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3

D. Gerber . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 2 Z. Singh . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3

A. Grabill . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3 J. Slonaker . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 2

G. Harden . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 2 A. Straub . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 1

E. Hauter . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 1 C. Strickland . . . . . . . . . Session CME 3

C. Heckley . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3 R. Tamashiro . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 2

J. Hershberger . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 3 B. Taylor . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 3

D. Hudson . . . . . . . . . .Session CME 2 J. Thorn . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 3

A Izmirli . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 3 B. Westrick . . . . . . . . . .Session ECE 1, Session ECE 2

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Special Thanks

Josue Njock Libii Chair of the Organizing Committee

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Abdullah Eroglu Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee

Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering

Don Mueller Chair of the Engineering Department

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Carlos Pomalaza Ra ez Conference Webmaster

Professor of RF Communications

Kaye Pitcher Conference Coordinator Administrative Assistant

Debbie Magsam Conference Registrar

Administrative Assistant

Chinmayi Avasarala James Darabi Emily Hauter Brian Taylor Colton Witte Student Workers