Download Electrical Engineering Department Honors Students and Theses

Electrical Engineering Department
Honors Students and Theses
BAJAJ, TUSHAR ............................................................................................................................................. 3
BUSCHER, MICHAEL BRANDON.................................................................................................................... 6
CRAIN, STEPHEN GREGORY .......................................................................................................................... 7
ENGLAND, TROY DANIEL .............................................................................................................................. 8
FRYAUF, DAVID............................................................................................................................................. 9
GEURIN, SCOTT OSBORN............................................................................................................................ 10
GREENLEE, JORDAN DOUGLAS................................................................................................................... 11
HOYT, CHRISTOPHER GLEN ........................................................................................................................ 12
HUDA, SHAMA MEHNAZ ............................................................................................................................ 13
HURLBURT, BRADY ..................................................................................................................................... 14
JOSHI, ABHISHEK ........................................................................................................................................ 15
LIU, TING ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
LIU, XIANGYU.............................................................................................................................................. 18
MEGEE, RACHEL LAUREN ........................................................................................................................... 19
ROARK, JUSTIN ........................................................................................................................................... 20
SIECK, CALEB FREDERICK ............................................................................................................................ 21
SPARKMAN, BRETT ..................................................................................................................................... 22
TAN, HONG ................................................................................................................................................. 23
THOMAS, KACIE DANIELLE ......................................................................................................................... 24
TRAN, BINH T. ............................................................................................................................................. 25
TROWLER, DERIK WESLEY
WHITAKER, BRET
................................................................................................................... 26
................................................................................................................................ 27
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YANG, QI ..................................................................................................................................................... 28
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BAJAJ, TUSHAR
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2008
HONORS ADVISOR:
Alan Mantooth
THESIS TITLE:
DNA Comparison Chip: Circuit Design and Evaluation
ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this project was to: First, design a microchip that is capable of
comparing strings of DNA sequences. Second, evaluate the functioning of such a
microchip and how it can implemented in various real world applications.
Physically, this microchip will act as an attachment to any computer. The
computer will send two strings of DNA sequences—one library string and one
pattern string—and the chip will output the number of matches that exist
between the two strings (at a given position of the pattern string with respect to
the library string). The circuit design is based on a 600 nanometer process.
Mentor Graphic Design tools were used for making the layouts, schematics and
netlist comparisons. The circuit was successfully designed and the schematics
were used to simulate the functionality of such a circuit. The simulations
confirmed the working of the circuit as expected, in theory. This chip can be used
in several practical applications and does not require any extensive hardware to
install it. Its applications extend in areas like: forensic science, genetic
engineering, bioinformatics etc. The fundamentality of its purpose makes it a very
useful and flexible device.
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BOWMAN, TYLER CLARK
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2012
HONORS ADVISOR:
Magda El-Shenawee
THESIS TITLE:
A Linear Sampling Multiple Frequency method for Target
Detection
ABSTRACT:
In the field of inverse scattering problems of electromagnetic imaging,
there are many techniques that can be used to detect unknown objects.
Generally, these methods maintain a direct relationship between the precision of
the target shape and the amount of time required to obtain the solution.
However, it has been shown that hybridization, or a combination of techniques,
can be used to obtain the shape reconstruction that is accurate and less
expensive computationally.
Previous research in the Computational Electromagnetics Group of
Professor El-Shenawee at the University of Arkansas has looked into the use of
hybridization by combining the Level Set algorithm, a precise but slow shape
reconstruction technique, with the Linear Sampling Method (LSM), a very fast
technique. It was found that taking the result from the LSM and using it as the
initial guess of the Level Set algorithm can enhance the computational expenses.
The goal of this work is to implement a multiple frequency model of the LSM and
to test it for two-dimensional metallic targets.
The results show that a reasonably accurate reconstruction could be
attained using the multiple frequency LSM technique to detect single and multiple
targets. The results also show that some frequencies, not known a priori, can
deteriorate the detection of the target. However, averaging the detected targets
over a band of frequencies has shown a potential of more accurate results
compared to the use of a single frequency. This work focused on the microwave
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band of frequency; however, the preliminary results will be extended to the
terahertz band.
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BUSCHER, MICHAEL BRANDON
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2009
HONORS ADVISOR:
Vasundara Varadan
THESIS TITLE:
A Study on the Effect of Random Placement and Orientation on
the Resonance of Multiple Split Ring Resonators
ABSTRACT:
This thesis project experimentally studies the effect of placing split-ring oscillators
(SRR) in a non-periodic arrangement with random orientation. This is contrary to
typical structures which are simulated as a single unit cell with a periodic
boundary condition to emulate an infinite array of SRR's. Samples are measured
using a near-field free-space measurement system with full Thru, Reflect, Line
(TRL) calibration and the application of time domain gating. Results, in the form
of scattering (S) parameters, are compared with pervious measurements of
periodic SRR structures in order to study the influence, if any, of periodicity in the
frequency response of a metamaterial sample. Experimental results show that
the spatial organization of SRR's have no significant effect on the resonance of the
structure.
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CRAIN, STEPHEN GREGORY
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2010
HONORS ADVISOR:
Magda El-Shenawee
THESIS TITLE:
The Modeling and Fabrication of Nano-Antennas
ABSTRACT:
The University of Arkansas, along with universities all over the world, is
researching the design, fabrication, and uses of nano-antennas. The specific
shape and material of the nano-antenna determines interaction between the
metal and a dielectric at an optical frequency. There is the possibility to use
nano-antennas for applications such as enhanced solar cells, bio-sensing, infrared
detectors, light emitters, and medical imaging. Nanostructures can also be used
for enhancing microwave imaging techniques.
To accurately measure the enhancement of the nano-antenna, an accurate model
of the nanostructure must be created. There are several techniques to
numerically digitize the target; however, it is found that the Delaunay
discretization scheme provides accurate results. The Delaunay discretization
scheme was used to accurately digitize the nanostructures.
Also, to follow up on previous work, gold dimer tori to act as nano-antennas were
fabricated at the University of Technology of Troyes in Troyes, France. The field
of nano-antennas and plasmonics was researched and various lab procedures
crucial to the construction of nano-structures were learned, such as electronbeaming lithography, spin coating, and metal deposition by evaporation.
Finally, to be able to engineer nano-antennas for specific applications, the effects
of the shape and the dimensions needed to be investigated. to quickly and
inexpensively investigate the nano-antennas, computer simulations will be run to
compute the near electric field for dimer spheres, dimer rods, dimer tori, and
bowtie nano-antennas.
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ENGLAND, TROY DANIEL
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2008
HONORS ADVISOR:
Juan Balda
THESIS TITLE:
A Timer Module for an 8051 Microcontroller
ABSTRACT:
A timer module for an 8051 Microcontroller is designed from the ground up. It
could potentially be integrated into a larger 8051 for use in lunar and Martian
missions. It follows through a synchronous digital design flow from HDL code
through layout verification. The timer shows functionality at 100MHz with some
minor glitches.
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FRYAUF, DAVID
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2011
HONORS ADVISOR:
Omar Manasreh
THESIS TITLE:
Plasmonic Effect on the Photoluminescence of INAS Quantum
Dot Nanostructures
ABSTRACT:
New materials for thin film photovoltaic applications are being explored worldwide, and
one of the most popular new implementations is the introduction of an intermediate
band gap in the semiconductor energy structure. Careful manipulation of
semiconductor lattice material can form nanostructures such as quantum dots, which
can be tuned to control specific intermediate energy levels. The introduction of an
intermediate band in photovoltaic devices has a theoretical potential sunlight-toelectricity efficiency of roughly 63%. However, a specific material challenge of these
thin film devices is limited absorption of long wavelengths of light. To increase
absorption of the sun’s visible spectrum, plasmonic nanostructures may also be
incorporated into the semiconductor structure. By scattering light horizontally and by
matching incident wavevectors with waveguide modes within the absorbing layer, these
plasmonic nanostructures can enhance the thin film absorption and increase device
efficiency.
To study this effect, a colloidal solution of gold nanoparticles was applied to the surface
of a GaAs substrate with InAs quantum dots grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy.
Measurements of photoluminescence were performed on the semiconductor sample
before and after nanoparticle deposition using various power settings for the excitation
laser. Plasmonic enhancement due to light scattering is observed, and the
enhancement factor is found to be inversely proportional to the excitation laser power.
This supports the theory of light trapping in thin films due to plasmonic mechanisms. It
also provides insight into the relationship between incident light intensity and potential
absorption enhancement in thin-film semiconductors.
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GEURIN, SCOTT OSBORN
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2010
HONORS ADVISOR:
Juan C. Balda
THESIS TITLE:
Design of a Battery Charger for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles
ABSTRACT:
With a renewed focus on renewable energy and "green" products, a need has
arisen for a new and more environmentally friendly way to power automobiles.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are currently the main focus area for research and
funding in order to eliminate energy use by automobiles while also eliminating
harmful CO2 emissions. The weakest link in these systems is the battery system
and the interface between the battery and the vehicle and charging power
source. For this reason, a large amount of research is going into batteries and
battery charges to be placed on board these plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
The research presented in this paper discusses current battery systems being
used and comments on battery systems being investigated for future use. Also, a
battery charging system along with an interface with the vehicle is designed and
simulations results are presented. These results show that an efficient battery
charging system can be used to charge the on-board vehicle from a normal ac
outlet found in most homes in the United States. Finally, the state of current
research and the most up to date developments in the area of electric vehicle
batteries and charging systems is discussed.
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GREENLEE, JORDAN DOUGLAS
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2008
HONORS ADVISOR:
Magda El-Shenawee
THESIS TITLE:
Computational Modeling of the Internal Structure in the Breast
ABSTRACT:
Many researchers who are using microwave modality in the area of breast cancer
detection employ oversimplified models of the internal structure of the breast.
Use of engineered or biologically inaccurate models could render inaccurate
results. Therefore, a mathematical biological model is implemented in this work
and aims to bridge the gap between biologists and engineers.
The results of the proposed breast duct model show that older women have
smaller breast ducts leading to less dense breasts, which is in agreement with
medical knowledge. Also, younger women have larger breast ducts leading to
more dense breasts which are consistent with the proposed research. The model
was implemented computationally in C++ in both two and three dimensions.
The proposed vasculature model is based on experimental biological research
findings. The simulated results are in agreement with the experimental data. The
model was implemented computationally in C++ in three dimensions.
The potential impact of the proposed model is to provide researchers with a more
biological understanding of the breast. Computer simulations of breast ducts and
blood vessels are presented separately; however, they will be combined in one
model to create a fully functional mammary gland.
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HOYT, CHRISTOPHER GLEN
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2009
HONORS ADVISOR:
Roy McCann
THESIS TITLE:
Developing Equivalent Second Order System Models and
Robust Controls for Servo-Drive Related Systems
ABSTRACT:
Numerous industrial and other plant processes today represent systems in which
a motor supplies torque to a drive disk, which in turn through a pulley system
drives a larger load. Developing models for these complex systems can become
time consuming and expensive. A simple second order system approximation can
be developed for these systems under certain system conditions which can
greatly reduce the complexity of controlling and modeling the system. A second
order feed-forward notch controller can then be introduced to the system which
greatly improves performance.
The results of this proposed method of approximating complex servo-drive
systems show that such reductions in complexity can be made with positive
results. Further implementation of the proposed second order notch filter
improved system responses. In order to demonstrate these methods, Simulink in
conjunction with MATLAB was used to first run simulations of the proposed
method. The ECP Model 220 Servo Drive system was then used to physically test
the approximations.
The successful results obtained have the potential to lead to cheaper control
system solutions with better responses in industrial processes.
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HUDA, SHAMA MEHNAZ
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2009
HONORS ADVISOR:
Alan Mantooth
THESIS TITLE:
Low Voltage, Low Power, Bulk-Driven Amplifier
ABSTRACT:
The importance of low voltage and low powered electronics is increasing with
advances in medical electronics. This branch of electronics specifically requires
low voltage and low power to make efficient innovative medical equipment. Low
power electronics are also desirable because it conserves energy and power. This
paper proposes a design of a differential in –differential our amplifier that uses a
bulk-driven differential pair for the input pair. In addition, it also used bulk-driven
current mirrors for the tail current sink and the active loads. The bulk-driven
technique helps to achieve the low voltage design. 90nm CMOS technology was
considered for the design but at the end SIGE 5AM process was chosen as it has
low threshold voltage values maintaining good current – voltage characteristics.
The software Cadence was used to simulate the design. A layout of the amplifier
is out of the scope of this paper.
A gain of 14 dB was achieved using a rail-to-rail voltage of 1V (0.5V to -0.5). The
power dissipation was 102uW using 5pF capacitive loads. The values of the
calculations match the values of the simulations quite well. Some of the
differences can be explained by the lack of accurate knowledge of the some of the
process parameters for the SIGE 5AM process. Overall, the design achieved its
goals and a successful low voltage and low power fully differential amplifier was
created with respectable gain. This amplifier can be used as an input stage for an
operational amplifier.
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HURLBURT, BRADY
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2011
HONORS ADVISOR:
Jingxian Wu
THESIS TITLE:
An Expressive Vocal Midi Controller
ABSTRACT:
The choice of controller often characterizes the performance obtained from an
electronic instrument. Controllers exist that allow electronic musicians to mimic
the expressive qualities of keyboard, wind, string, and percussion instruments,
but vocalists have been largely neglected. To fill this need, a realtime software
vocal MIDI controller named Grove is developed and demonstrated. Grove’s
pitch and time analyses are shown to be accurate, and it has mappable control
signals that go beyond the capabilities of previous audio-to-MIDI converters to
facilitate an expressive performance. Grove’s source code is available under the
GNU GPL v3 license.
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JOSHI, ABHISHEK
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2008
HONORS ADVISOR:
Omar Manasreh
THESIS TITLE:
Optical Properties of Colloidal Core/Shell Nanocrystals
ABSTRACT:
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KEGLEY, LAUREN ELIZABETH
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2012
HONORS ADVISOR:
Vijay Varadan
THESIS TITLE:
Testing the Efficiency of Vertically Aligned Gold Nanowires on a
Titanium Needle Implantable Neural Electrodes in the Rattus
Norvegicus Hippocampus.
ABSTRACT:
Miniaturized multi-electrode arrays are MEMS devices that have found use
as neural prosthetics (Neuro-MEMS). As implants they can interface with neurons
as sensors or actuators and help compensate for loss of sensory input, motor
control, or cognitive function. The microelectrodes, studied here, were
developed in-house. They have a vertically aligned gold nanowire array and are
mounted on a sturdy find gauge titanium needle. Hence, the bill of materials and
design characteristics encourage its use as neural probe. For this study, a probe
was tested in vivo for signal acquisition in the hippocampus of a Rattus
Norvegicus (Sprague Dawley Rat). Using an Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee (IACUC) approved protocol, the neural probe was deployed in the CA1
region of the hippocampus of a sedated rate. The signal was obtained as voltage
against time and it was filtered for isolated spikes of neural activity, which were
sorted in form of a Spike Train-Raster Plot. The qualitative evaluation of data,
obtained through the newly developed neural probe, was used as ground work to
decide on future research and discuss possible clinical impacts.
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LIU, TING
GRADUATION TERM:
Fall 2009
HONORS ADVISOR:
Alan Mantooth
THESIS TITLE:
Low Noise Amplifier Design
ABSTRACT:
Since low noise amplifier is an important block in the wireless communication
receiver, this thesis presents a technique for implementing a CMOS low noise
amplifier with inductive source degeneration topology, and operating the LNA at
900MHz. The purpose of the LNA is to amplify the received signal to acceptable
levels with minimum self-generated additional noise. The thermal noise and
induce noise is took into account in this design. In order to reduce the noise
figure, some capacitors and resistance is needed, and they will also make the
circuit have low power consumption. This thesis includes theory background,
design and cadence simulations.
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LIU, XIANGYU
GRADUATION TERM:
Fall 2010
HONORS ADVISOR:
Jingxian Wu
THESIS TITLE:
Mapping Device with Wireless Communication
ABSTRACT:
Wireless communication is one of the most powerful communication methods
that people use nowadays. The key advantage of wireless communications is that
it can cover large distances without having to run any cables from one end to the
other. Based on this advantage, wireless communication has many important
applications, such as remote controls, cell phones, and global positioning system
(GPS).
This senior design project is developed to use wireless communication technology
to map the geographic characteristics of an unknown place. It contains two
wireless communication modules with Atmega 1281 processor, two robots with
the 8051 microcontroller, six pairs of infrared transmitters and receivers, and a
base transceiver connected to a computer. The robots are used to go through a
maze and detect an unknown path with infrared sensors. The information will be
sent and received through the wireless modules. Finally, this information would
be sent to the base. Then the computer will display this unknown place.
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MEGEE, RACHEL LAUREN
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2009
HONORS ADVISOR:
Magda El-Shenawee
THESIS TITLE:
Preliminary Study Based on the DDSCAT Software to Explore
Increasing the Contrast of Breast Tumors for Microwave
Imaging
ABSTRACT:
Microwave technology is being researched for its capabilities to detect breast
tumors less painfully and at earlier stages. It is necessary to have a large contrast
between cancerous and healthy tissue when the microwaves are reflected off the
breast tissue. To model the increasing contrast between cancerous breast tissue
and healthy breast tissue, the DDSCAT code is investigated for its capabilities and
analyzed for its accuracy in scattering calculations.
The DDSCAT is used to model homogenous and inhomogeneous targets.
Simulations of the scattering field by the homogenous and inhomogeneous
targets are conducted and compared to Mie theory calculations for accuracy.
Many different magnitudes of refractive indices, as well as real and complex
refractive indices, are tested with the DDSCAT.
Overall, the results obtained, show the DDSCAT to be a flexible code, capable of
modeling many complex targets, which offers a potential to further research of
breast cancer detection.
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ROARK, JUSTIN
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2011
HONORS ADVISOR:
Scott Smith
THESIS TITLE:
Showcase for the Advantages of Asynchronous vs.
Synchronous Circuits
ABSTRACT:
Synchronous circuits currently dominate the semiconductor industry, but asynchronous
circuitry is becoming more popular and will continue to do so, as evidenced by the
International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, Asychronous circuits, when
compared to synchronous circuits, display tolerance to supply voltage and temperature
variation. The goal of this project is to demonstrate these two advantages.
The project will compare two microcontrollers, a synchronous 8051 and an
asynchronous 8031, which will both play a song under various stresses. Note than an
8031 and 8051 are the same, except for the 8051 includes an on-chip instruction
memory, whereas the 8031’s is off-chip. When the supply voltage is decreased the song
on the asynchronous 8031 will show down, but continue to play. The synchronous 8051
will not slow down and will fail much sooner than the asynchronous 8031, when the
supply voltage is decreased. The two microcontrollers will then be introduced to
excessive heat. The asynchronous microcontroller, again, will slow down the music, but
continue to function, while the synchronous microcontroller will not slow down and fail
sooner. The final demonstration will introduce excessive cooling. The asynchronous
8051 will speed up the song, while the synchronous 8051 will remain the same.
Testing shows that two processors performed as predicted. The synchronous 8051,
when the supply voltage was decreased, played the song at a consistent speed before
just stopping entirely. The asynchronous 8031 slowed the song down and would
resume when the voltage was increased back to its nominal level. Under high
temperature variation, the synchronous processor failed entirely. The asynchronous
processor slowed down the song when heated. Both processors performed as
hypothesized.
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SIECK, CALEB FREDERICK
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2009
HONORS ADVISOR:
Vasundara Varadan
THESIS TITLE:
Tunable Notch Filter by Use of a Superstrate Deposited on the
Plasmonic Resonator
ABSTRACT:
In recent years, the prospects of metamaterial structures for application in
microwave and optical devices such as beam steerers, modulators, filters, lenses,
antenna radomes, and cloaking devices has led to a major increase in research in
this field. A few growing topics in metamaterials are tunability and
miniaturization due to the desire for wideband varieties of the devices listed
above.
The research at hand explored the effects of superstrates on tunable split ring
resonators (SRR) for purposes of the development of tunable devices and
miniaturization of devices designed for low microwave frequencies. The effects
were studied using an SRR coupled to a microstrip line subjects the propagating
signal to a notch filter.
Simulations performed confirmed that a tunable tilter could be created by using a
ferroelectric superstrate and applying a dc bias across the split rings.
Comparisons of simulation and measurement data led to trends of how a given
superstrate's thickness and dielectric constant affect the resonance of an SRR. It
was also shown by measurement that a filter designed for 1.21 GHz could be
miniaturized by a factor of 4 by using a superstrate of strontium titanate.
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SPARKMAN, BRETT
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2011
HONORS ADVISOR:
Scott Smith
THESIS TITLE:
Reducing Energy Usage of Null Convention Logic Circuits Using
Null Cycle Reduction Combined with Supply voltage Scaling
ABSTRACT:
The NULL Cycle Reduction (NCR) technique can be used to improve the
performance of a NULL Convention Logic (NCL) circuit at the expense of power
and area. However, by decreasing the supply voltage of certain components, the
power of the NCR circuit can be reduced. Since NCR has increased performance,
it could be possible to decrease the power while maintaining the original
performance of the circuit.
To verify this, the NCR circuit will be implemented using a 4-bit by 4-bit dual-rail
multiplier as the test circuit. This circuit will be simulated in ModelSim to ensure
functionality, synthesized into a Verilog netlist using Leonardo, and imported into
Cadence to perform transistor-level simulations for power calculations. The
supply voltage of the duplicated circuits will be decreased until the performance
matches the design of the original multiplier, resulting in overall lower energy
usage.
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TAN, HONG
GRADUATION TERM:
Fall 2009
HONORS ADVISOR:
Simon Ang
THESIS TITLE:
Threshold Voltage Search Techniques for Differential
Comparators
ABSTRACT:
The differential comparator is an important building block for electronic systems.
It is used to compare two signals with its output either at a high or a low state.
When one of its inputs exceeds a threshold voltage, its output changes state from
high to low or low to high. In this thesis, several test techniques are used to
determine the threshold voltage in a LM311 differential comparator. Ramp
search, binary search, binary ramp hybrid search, and sinusoidal search
techniques are investigated. It was found that the binary ramp hybrid search
technique yielded a more accurate threshold voltage for the LM311 differential
comparator.
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THOMAS, KACIE DANIELLE
GRADUATION TERM:
Fall 2008
HONORS ADVISOR:
Alan Mantooth
THESIS TITLE:
Switched-capacitor Circuit Design
ABSTRACT:
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TRAN, BINH T.
GRADUATION TERM:
Summer 2008
HONORS ADVISOR:
Vasundara Varadan
THESIS TITLE:
Microwave Dielectroscopy of Breast Tissue Phantoms in the
5.8-40GHZ Range
ABSTRACT:
Based on the high contrast in dielectric properties between the low-water-contain
sample and the high-water-content one, we can determine whether the tissue
sample is cancerous or normal. In order to make the measurement repeatable
and convenient, some phantom materials, which have the same dielectric
properties of human tissues, have been prepared. These phantom tissues are
made from gelatin, water with honey syrup, and Sodium Chloride (NaCl). In this
project, we are going to measure and compare the dielectric properties of
different types of phantom tissues by using focused beam antennas. The purpose
of this project is to perform a systematic characterization of complex dielectric
properties of different breast tissues in a wide frequency range (dielectroscopy).
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TROWLER, DERIK WESLEY
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2008
HONORS ADVISOR:
Juan C. Balda
THESIS TITLE:
IGBT Gate Driver with an Integrated Power
Supply
ABSTRACT:
This thesis presents an IGBT gate driver with an integrated power supply capable
of driving low to medium power IGBTs and MOSFETS. The product presented is
capable of isolating digital control circuitry from an IGBT by means of
optocouplers and transformers making it useful for power electronics applications
such as matrix converters where an isolated gate drive solution is required. The
system was built in a modular format so that the gate driver and power supply
can be populated on the same printed circuit board or utilized as separate
components external to the target power electronic system. Overall, the system
was designed with maximum flexibility in mind. Some of the technical details of
the design include that it is compatible with +5 V CMOS/TTL digital logic control
circuitry and can provide a +15 V and -8 V gate drive signal capable of a 2 A peak
current drive. The power supplies showed good regulation as the output voltage
did not vary by more than 400 mV from its nominal value across several operating
conditions. The system was first built and tested as a breadboard prototype and
then migrated to a printed circuit board featuring small surface mountable parts
in order to achieve a physical size reduction. In the end the design was field
tested in an H-Bridge inverter application which provided its reliability and overall
functionality. All in all, the design met all of the requirements that were set forth
during the research stage of this thesis process.
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WHITAKER, BRET
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2008
HONORS ADVISOR:
Juan C. Balda
THESIS TITLE:
A Bi-Directional Inverter for Peak Electric Load
Shaving Applications
ABSTRACT:
The cost of energy production is greatly increased during periods of peak
demand. One way of meeting the peak demand without requiring additional
costly utility generation is through the process of peak electrical load shaving.
This process may utilize a battery energy storage system to provide energy at
periods of greatest demand and store energy at times of least demand. This
thesis discusses the designing and testing of a scaled down version of such a
system. The main goal of this system was to demonstrate a bi-directional current
flow between the battery bank and the power grid. In the discharge mode of
operation, current is pushed from the battery bank into the grid at near unity
power factor. In the charge mode of operation, current is drawn from the grid to
trickle charge the batteries. These two modes of operation were seen to be
successful and it was shown that this type of system could be used for peak load
shaving applications.
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YANG, QI
GRADUATION TERM:
Spring 2010
HONORS ADVISOR:
Juan C. Balda
THESIS TITLE:
Testing of a JK Flip Flop Integrated Circuit Using a Very Low
Cost Automated Tester
ABSTRACT:
As the integrated circuits become more complicated, their test times increase. As
such, it is nearly impossible to perform the required testing by hand. Automated
testers are used. In this thesis, a Very Low Cost Tester from Texas Instruments
was used to test a JK flip flop integrated circuit. Continuity tests, leakage tests,
output voltage tests and function tests were investigated. First, the test setups
were discussed. Then, the test procedures for each of the above tests were
implemented and test results were reported.
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