Computer-controlled autonomous model car: A mechatronics project

Mechatronics is a synthesis of mechanical engineering and electronic engineering, and computer engineering, distinct areas that overlap in the design of systems. It represents the interdisciplinary nature of design and development of today\u27s products.;The current research focuses on the design, construction and testing of a computer controlled autonomous model car which can exhibit intelligent behavior such as timed course execution, obstacle detection, and response to sensor inputs. The car is intended as a mechatronics design project that will be integrated into an existing one-semester mechanical engineering undergraduate instrumentation course.;The car was designed around a microprocessor board (Tern Analog Drive) controlled by a 16-bit microcontroller (Tern V104) and equipped with several sensor channels. Two stepper motors were used to propel and guide the car. Photocells were used to detect the path. The control program was written in Turbo C.;The car was tested on a path of reflective white tape about 2 inches wide. The path consists of a 36-inch straight portion followed by a 17-inch radius of curvature curved portion, and completed by a 6-inch straight section with an obstacle at the end. The autonomous car successfully traversed the path and stopped when it detected the obstacle.;It was concluded that a successful mechatronic design project could be developed around the construction and testing of an autonomous car

Automated Classification of Microwave Transmitter Failures Using Virtual Sensors

Each year, nearly $100 M is spent replacing high-power microwave tubes in the fleet. In many cases (estimated at over 25%), tubes that are operating perfectly are inadvertently replaced because there are insufficient in-situ monitoring equipment available to diagnose specific problems within the system. High-power microwave vacuum tubes used in radar or communications systems have minimal condition-based maintenance capability and no means to identify specific component failures. This chapter presents the results from a system that uses cathode current and acoustic emission sensors combined as a virtual sensor to locate and classify microwave transmitter failures. Data will be shown which differentiate the failure mode from subsystems on a radar klystron and from a communications system magnetron. The use of the integrated condition assessment system (ICAS) to acquire and track virtual sensor data will also be described. These results offer promise of a low-cost, nonintrusive system to monitor microwave transmitters, which correctly identifies component failures avoiding incorrect replacement of high-value klystrons, magnetrons, or traveling wave tubes. This advanced technique also offers the possibility of developing built-in prognostic capabilities within the radar system to provide advanced warning of a system malfunction

Enhancing Electromagnetic Side-Channel Analysis in an Operational Environment

Side-channel attacks exploit the unintentional emissions from cryptographic devices to determine the secret encryption key. This research identifies methods to make attacks demonstrated in an academic environment more operationally relevant. Algebraic cryptanalysis is used to reconcile redundant information extracted from side-channel attacks on the AES key schedule. A novel thresholding technique is used to select key byte guesses for a satisfiability solver resulting in a 97.5% success rate despite failing for 100% of attacks using standard methods. Two techniques are developed to compensate for differences in emissions from training and test devices dramatically improving the effectiveness of cross device template attacks. Mean and variance normalization improves same part number attack success rates from 65.1% to 100%, and increases the number of locations an attack can be performed by 226%. When normalization is combined with a novel technique to identify and filter signals in collected traces not related to the encryption operation, the number of traces required to perform a successful attack is reduced by 85.8% on average. Finally, software-defined radios are shown to be an effective low-cost method for collecting side-channel emissions in real-time, eliminating the need to modify or profile the target encryption device to gain precise timing information

Low-cost sensory glove for human-robot collaboration.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Human Robot Collaboration (HRC) is a technique that enables humans and robots to co-exist in the same environment by preforming operations together. HRC has become a vital goal for industry to achieve progress towards the fourth industrial revolution (Lotz, Himmel, & Ziefle, 2019) as it focuses on creating advanced production/manufacturing plants that have high levels of productivity, efficiency, quality and automation. Sensory gloves can be used to enhance the Human Robot Collaboration environment in order to achieve progress towards Industry 4.0. It can provide a safe environment where humans and robots can interact and work in conjunction. However, challenges exist in terms of cost, accuracy, repeatability and dynamic range of such devices. The project researched and developed a low-cost sensory glove to enable a user to collaborate with an industrial robot in a production environment. The sensory glove was used to provide a process whereby humans could collaborate with the robot through physical interaction under safe conditions. The sensory glove used IMU sensors in order to track the orientation of the user’s hand accurately. An algorithm was developed and designed to extract the data from the glove and create a simulated three-dimensional render of the hand as it moved through free space. This involved the design and development of an electronic system architecture that powers the glove. A control system was developed to enable the extraction of data and create the simulated three-dimensional hand model. It produced the image that the robot would sense when interacting with the worker. Testing was conducted on the cost, accuracy, dynamic range, repeatability and potential application of the system. The results showed that it was an innovative and low-cost method for humans and robots to collaborate in a safe environment. The apparatus established a process whereby humans and robots could perform operations together

Joint University Program for Air Transportation Research, 1986

The research conducted under the NASA/FAA sponsored Joint University Program for Air Transportation Research is summarized. The Joint University Program is a coordinated set of three grants sponsored by NASA and the FAA, one each with the Mass. Inst. of Tech., Ohio Univ., and Princeton Univ. Completed works, status reports, and bibliographies are presented for research topics, which include computer science, guidance and control theory and practice, aircraft performance, flight dynamics, and applied experimental psychology. An overview of activities is presented

Optical properties monitor: Experiment definition phase

The stability of materials used in the space environment will continue to be a limiting technology for space missions. The Optical Properties Monitor (OPM) Experiment provides a comprehensive space research program to study the effects of the space environment-both natural and induced-on optical, thermal and space power materials. The OPM Experiment was selected for definition under the NASA/OAST In-Space Technology Experiment Program. The results of the OPM Definition Phase are presented. The OPM Experiment will expose selected materials to the space environment and measure the effects with in-space optical measurements. In-space measurements include total hemispherical reflectance total integrated scatter and VUV reflectance/transmittance. The in-space measurements will be augmented with extensive pre- and post-flight sample measurements to determine other optical, mechanical, electrical, chemical or surface effects of space exposure. Environmental monitors will provide the amount and time history of the sample exposure to solar irradiation, atomic oxygen and molecular contamination

Mechatronic Tools for the Modeling and Design of Servo Motor Actuated Belt Driven Motion Systems

Mechatronics is defined as the synergistic integration of physical systems, electronics, controls, and computers through the design process, from the very start of the design process, thus enabling complex decision making. This definition reveals the elements involved yet it eludes to the complexity and the constant balance of tradeoffs which are prevalent in the context of applying Mechatronics to a successful design process. This work pursues the use of various tools for the application of Mechatronics to the modeling and design of a servo motor driven motion system. The use of Mechatronics is pervasive in and among today\u27s highly integrated devices and systems. By virtue of the fact that the phrase Mechatronics may carry different meaning depending upon ones discipline or industry, the most general definition is sought and embodied within the work. An overview of the relevant discipline specific perspectives is offered; as sufficient background for the systems modeling and analysis presented. In the course of developing and applying a Mechatronics design process for servo motor actuated motion systems, the use of frequency response analysis and alternative modeling techniques is emphasized, not only as a tool for understanding and applying the matter but, also for the purposes of model verification. These efforts culminate in the design and testing of a physical realization of one of the models presented; the servo motor actuated compliant belt system with compliance and friction. The results of this work underscore the notion that using a Mechatronics design process while devising a servo motor driven motion system enables optimization and functionality not otherwise realizable. These results are supported with experimental verification and comparison. The implications of this work are threefold: the work equips the Mechatronics practitioner with the tools required for verification of the results of modeling and analysis, the work provides an upgrade to the tools and equipment available in the College of Engineering at Marquette University, and the work will likely inspire additional related projects