Design of a CSK-CDMA Based Indoor Visible Light Communication Transceiver using Raspberry Pi and LabVIEW

Visible Light Communication (VLC) has drastically drawn the attention of both academia and industry as it can offer simultaneous lighting and data communication in an indoor environment. Additionally, VLC also tender a viable means to assuage the radio spectrum crunch. However, the data rate of the VLC system is choked because of the limited modulation bandwidth of Light Emitting Diode (LED), baseband modules, and intersymbol interference (ISI). In this article, an indoor VLC based software-defined radio (SDR) is designed and implemented that make use of Color Shift Keying (CSK) modulation, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technique, and Raspberry Pi (RPi) to enabled the ISI free high data rate communication. The SDR is designed in LabVIEW software interfaced with the MATLAB and tested for text transmission. Numerous experiments were conducted on SDR at different alignments of transmitter and receiver. Our findings through experimentation showed that the SDR delivers an improved data rate of 2.645Mbps. Over and above, MATLAB based simulation packages are also conceived that validate the effectiveness of the proposed CSK-CDMA based VLC system. The bit-error-rate (BER) results of the proposed system are compared with the traditional CSK-OOK based VLC system. The results are quite impressive and show remarkable coding gain

SensorTape: Modular and Programmable 3D-Aware Dense Sensor Network on a Tape

SensorTape is a modular and dense sensor network in a form factor of a tape. SensorTape is composed of interconnected and programmable sensor nodes on a flexible electronics substrate. Each node can sense its orientation with an inertial measurement unit, allowing deformation self-sensing of the whole tape. Also, nodes sense proximity using time-of-flight infrared. We developed network architecture to automatically determine the location of each sensor node, as SensorTape is cut and rejoined. Also, we made an intuitive graphical interface to program the tape. Our user study suggested that SensorTape enables users with different skill sets to intuitively create and program large sensor network arrays. We developed diverse applications ranging from wearables to home sensing, to show low deployment effort required by the user. We showed how SensorTape could be produced at scale using current technologies and we made a 2.3-meter long prototype.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF award 1256082

ICE Detection for LED Headlights

This project focused on building an efficient system for detecting and melting ice that may form on an LED headlight during inclement weather. Although LED headlights draw less power and provide more efficient light than their competitors, they do not produce enough outward heat to melt ice. The proposed solution utilizes an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) film to produce heat along the surface of the headlight, as well as infrared (IR) sensors for detecting ice, and temperature sensors to determine freezing conditions. System operation is managed by a microcontroller which also allows for CAN (Controller Area Network) bus integration. During testing, the prototype proved it could perform as designed as well as interface with a vehicle’s CAN bus

Coordinating Aerial Robots and Unattended Ground Sensors for Intelligent Surveillance Systems

Sensor networks are being used to implement different types of sophisticated emerging applications, such as those aimed at supporting ambient intelligence and surveillance systems. This usage is enhanced by employing sensors with different characteristics in terms of sensing, computing and mobility capabilities, working cooperatively in the network. However, the design and deployment of these heterogeneous systems present several issues that have to be handled in order to meet the user expectations. The main problems are related to the nodes‘ interoperability and the overall resource allocation, both inter and intra nodes. The first problem requires a common platform that abstracts the nodes’ heterogeneity and provides a smooth communication, while the second is handled by cooperation mechanisms supported by the platform. Moreover, as the nodes are supposed to be heterogeneous, a customizable platform is required to support both resource rich and poorer nodes. This paper analyses surveillance systems based on a heterogeneous sensor network, which is composed by lowend ground sensor nodes and autonomous aerial robots, i.e. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), carrying different kinds of sensors. The approach proposed in this work tackles the two above mentioned problems by using a customizable hardware platform and a middleware to support interoperability. Experimental results are also provided

Communication blades: modular communications for tangible and embedded interfaces

Bladed Tiles is a modular hardware toolkit for building tangible and embedded interface devices. It includes “function blades” and “interaction tiles,” which can provide a flexible, inexpensive, open-ended platform for constructing a wide variety of tangible and embedded interfaces. In this paper, we propose Communication Blades. These are a class of electronic modules with varied computational capabilities for interfacing devices built using bladed tiles toolkit and also for interfacing embedded devices as adapters with external communication networks. These blades provide flexibility by offering the ability to select between different communication technologies and connectivity by providing devices with interoperability over different communication mediums. Furthermore, the modular blade architecture allows different types of communication blades to be plugged in on demand. This reduces the need for development and knowledge of communication protocols by the developers, thus abstracting the underlying complexity. My research work includes studying and designing various communication blades i.e. Serial, USB, Bluetooth and Gumstix. It also includes prototyping, testing and implementing the communication blades

Processor, Payload, and Power Subsystem Development of the MISSat-1 CubeSat

This thesis details the development and programming of the processor subsystem, camera payload, and power subsystem of the Mississippi Imaging Space Satellite (MISSat-1). An overview of the hardware and software considerations necessary for the processor subsystem is discussed. An explanation of microcontroller uses as well as real time operating system fundamentals is also presented as it relates to MISSat-1. The subsystem deals with varieties of peripheral integration and communication standards among devices. The camera graphical user interface (GUI) was expanded with the addition of functions that improve CubeSat image handling. Additionally, image processing techniques and algorithms are considered to improve CubeSat images. This work continues the camera payload work undertaken by University of Mississippi electrical engineering students from previous years. This paper will then discuss the design and analysis completed thus far for the power subsystem of the MISSat-1. Such topics will include an in-depth solar panel investigation, which will lead to the selection of the solar panels that will be used on the MISSat-1. The solar panel selection, along with the other chosen subsystem components, will allow for the formation of the power budget, which shows the breakdown of power usage for each subsystem. The power budget will then be developed into a Matlab GUI. Finally, the power budget will be further analyzed by comparing it to other satellite projects

Development of a CubeSat power management subsystem for the ALSat#1 Mission

This thesis aims to develop and analyse the power management subsystem for the ALSat#1 mission that studies the cosmic rays in low earth orbit. The primary task is to find components to build and make the CubeSat able to do the mission and subsequently analyse if it is capable to make the mission in three different orbits RAANs (RAAN 0º; RAAN 53.5º; RAAN 90º) with different eclipse times. This was done by using a MATLAB programme to analyse the energy consumed and energy deficit during an orbit and during a day. It was found out that the options orbit with RAAN 0º and orbit with RAAN 53.5º can complete the mission without change. However, the orbit with RAAN 90º has some deficit cumulated after a day which leads to energy insufficiency, and is only possible to overcame it with some changes in the algorithm or in the components used.Esta tese tem como objetivo desenvolver e analisar o subsistema de gerenciamento de energia da missão ALSat # 1 que pretende estudar os raios cósmicos em órbita terrestre baixa. A tarefa principal é encontrar componentes para construir e tornar o CubeSat capaz de realizar a missão e, posteriormente, analisar sua capacidade de realizar a missão em três RAANs de órbita diferentes (RAAN 0º; RAAN 53,5º; RAAN 90º) com diferentes tempos de eclipse. O estudo foi feito usando um programa MATLAB para analisar a energia consumida e o déficit de energia durante uma órbita e durante um dia. Verificou-se que as órbitas com RAAN 0º e RAAN 53,5º podem completar a missão sem alterações. Porém, a órbita com RAAN 90º tem algum déficit acumulado após um dia que leva a insuficiência energética, a qual só é possível superá-la com algumas mudanças no algoritmo ou nos componentes usados