Demodulation of high-speed, wide-bandwidth wave forms has typically been performed by ASICs or large CPU clusters. However, development times for these technologies can be long and expensive, especially for ASICs. While general purpose processors are flexible and easier to program, they often lack the throughput required to handle high-speed waveform demodulation. GPUs open up new avenues for flexible demodulators that can be developed quickly and modified and maintained easily. This project seeks to harness the power of GPU processing for high-speed demodulation. To do this, the design uses an industry-leading GPU development environment to optimize the
repetitive processes during demodulation. The system can exploit these processes through parallelization while maintaining a modest implementation loss.

This project tests the performance of the MPSoC device by running software, consisting of an algorithm using cross-correlation, on both the MPSoC’s processing system and on a comparable device to establish a benchmark. The system demonstration uses the same algorithm to perform Wi-Fi signal detection with a peripheral software-defined radio and directional antenna. The resulting signal correlation value and received signal strength indicator, as well as video feed from a camera, are displayed on a monitor to visualize the signal strength at a specific location.The benchmark software uses math functions ported over from a C-language software library device to ensure an accurate performance comparison between the new and current systems. The benchmark software measured the total elapsed time taken to correlate one million input signals with one reference signal. The results from this test were delivered to General Dynamics Mission Systems so it could compare the devices internally to determine if the MPSoC device should be considered for future products.

The growing capabilities of unmanned aircraft have garnered attention from the commercial and defense industries. Demand for unmanned aircraft that can transmit data over long distances in a secure fashion is on the rise. The designed system can establish a secure connection through the user controller and a camera attached to the unmanned aircraft’s flight controller by encrypting and transmitting data over the LTE network in real time. The system can operate as long as both the user and unmanned aircraft are within range of any LTE network, no matter the distance between them. The secure encryption of both real-time video and unmanned aircraft controls limits the threat of third-party attackers learning more about the system’s operations. By connecting the camera to the unmanned aircraft controller, both video stream and commands are encrypted and decrypted over the link to the user’s control station. The system demonstrates advanced, commercially available capabilities for unmanned aircraft to transmit data to a user over unlimited range, contingent on each component being within range of popular LTE networks.

Military personnel must be able to observe a target without making that target aware of their presence. The wavelength of light used for this target illumination must be far enough outside the visible spectrum that an inexpensive and common device, such as a simple attachment to a camera phone, cannot detect the light. The covert short-wave illuminator uses microprocessing to control the system’s optical output levels while monitoring its temperature. The device is designed to be used in conjunction with a higher-level system that sends commands to and powers the illuminator, in addition to receiving temperature data. Through a complex arrangement of lenses and the use of highly sensitive electrical equipment designed to power the laser diode, the system outputs a uniform beam in the 1500 to 1600 nanometer wavelength range for optimal covert illumination of a target.

Implantable ports aid in the administration of chemotherapy drugs. The wireless body temperature sensor monitors the immuno-compromised patient’s body temperature, detecting and alerting the patient about dangerous temperature spikes via a user-friendly smartphone application. The smartphone application, written in Swift, also allows the patient to view their temperature history. A rise in temperature often correlates with conditions such as neutropenia, which can be deadly if not caught early. The device is made up of a microcontroller that includes Bluetooth transmission capabilities and a custom mounted temperature sensor accurate within 0.1 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the design operates in low power mode to conserve battery life and ensure it lasts the duration of the patient’s chemotherapy treatment. The device is integrated into a modified port design and uses biologically inert silicon. The design meets the International Electrotechnical Commission 6061 and Food and Drug Administration medical industry safety standards.

The sponsor has issues tracking and measuring the temperature of the rotor on a wound field salient pole generator without an existing device to do the job. The team designed a system that can take the temperature readings from a resistance temperature detector sensor attached to a field coil and transmit these readings to a data acquisition system for analysis.The system’s microcontroller uses the change in resistance to calculate the temperature in degrees Celsius using programming libraries, then transmits the temperature readings at a rate of one reading per second to a data acquisition system via a Bluetooth app. This app displays the readings and stores them on the tablet’s solid-state hard drive, allowing them to be referenced anytime. The design’s capabilities allow the operator to monitor the temperature of a field coil on a spinning rotor, enabling the sponsor to verify its thermal models with test results and create more efficient machines.

Dairy cattle require a temperature-humidity index range of 72-74 to maximize milk production. The Rovey Dairy in Glendale, Arizona, achieves the required range through a series of cooling mechanisms: a misting system, fans and shaded areas. During the hottest months, utility costs spike as a result of their binary system, in which components are either all on or all off. The system designed uses a series of cameras and sensors in conjunction with a misting line to divide the dairy into sections where it detects cow presence and sections with ambient temperature. Software analyzes the footage to determine cow presence while sensors measure the environmental conditions in specific areas. If the temperature or humidity is too high, the fans and misters are activated. Water and energy resources are used optimally to cool only the occupied areas. To monitor potential harmful pollutant levels, the system also detects methane, carbon monoxide, isobutane, ethanol and hydrogen. All data is recorded and can be accessed via an online database. Updates are posted to allow the operator continual access and retrieval.

The coverslipper module on the Ventana HE 600 instrument dispenses an agent that activates precoated adhesive on glass coverslips to encapsulate the stained tissue samples. The manufacturing process for precoated coverslips poses challenges to process and quality control. The team modified an existing HE 600 coverslipper’s software and mounting medium to apply the correct amount of adhesive onto slides, eliminating the need for precoated coverslips. The modification also includes a new system that will prevent curing of the mounting medium, and accompanying buildup and blockage in the nozzle, when the machine is not in use. These modifications will allow for better quality control over the coverslipped slides and lead to long-term cost reduction.

The sponsor develops automated staining systems that process tissue samples affixed to glass slides. These systems use defined protocols to create and control an environment that yields accurate and reproducible staining results. While the samples in a given protocol can be processed identically, the samples provided may not be consistent with one another. Varying thickness in the tissue cuts placed on each slide can influence the final staining results. To help correct this factor, the team developed and implemented a tool and process that can determine these slide-to-slide differences in thickness before processing.The system uses reflectance confocal microscopy techniques. To obtain measurements, the stage with the tissue slide is moved along the optical axis until the top and bottom surfaces of the sample have passed through the focus of the first microscope objective. The voltage measurement of the photodiode, which converts light into electrical currents, records peaks at the top and bottom surfaces of the sample. The thickness is determined by calculating the distance traveled by the stage between the peaks in the photodiode signal.

The aviation industry continues to make avionics platforms smaller, lighter and more integrable for aircraft manufacturers and their airline customers. The team was tasked with developing a method to cool one of the sponsor’s avionics units being moved out of the avionics bay and into the aircraft fuselage itself, where active cooling options are not available. The designed heat management system conforms to industry standards and passively cools the avionics unit while keeping size, weight, power usage and cost low. The team modeled four thermal management alternatives using computational fluid dynamics simulations and thermal testing before selecting the most appropriate solution. This resulted in the design, validation and implementation of an entirely conductive pathway-based heat management system. The heat from the components is conducted into the electromagnetic interference shielding on the board via thermal standoffs, then conducted into the enclosure using thermal bridges. The heat in the enclosure is dissipated via conduction into the mounting rails of the aircraft, and by convection from the enclosure surface into the fuselage crown air gap.