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In this paper we suggest a lightning detection system capable of warning a local populous of incoming lightning weather using a combination of the AS3935 sensor and the one-board-computer Raspberry Pi, in an attempt to design a product that is cheap, mobile and easy to use. The product is composed of a sensor net that registers and reports lightnings on a webserver. The server is reachable as a normal website based on the LAMP method. The project reached a stadium which should satisfy a “proof of concept”, however, the product is far from complete, as it lacks the necessary algorithms needed for proper data computation. The current system only uses Raspberry pi, but it is theoretically possible to introduce other hardware to the system, but the current developed product does not support such functionality. / I den här rapporten föreslår vi ett blixtlokaliseringssystem kapabelt att varna lokal befolkningen om inkommande blixtväder med hjälp av en kombination av sensorn AS3935 och enchipsdatorn Raspberry Pi, i ett försök att skapa en produkt som är billig, mobil och användarvänlig. Systemet består av ett nät av sensorer som registrerar och rapporterar blixtaktivitet på en webbserver. Servern är nåbar som en vanlig hemsida som är byggd enligt LAMP metoden. Projektet har nått ett stadium som borde uppnå kraven för ett ”bevis av ett koncept”, men produkten är långt ifrån färdig, då den saknar de nödvändiga algoritmerna som krävs för ordentlig databehandling. Det nuvarande systemet använder sig enbart av Rasberry Pi:s, men i teorin vore det fullt möjligt att introducera ny hårdvara i nätet, men den nuvarande produkten stöder inte sådan funktionalitet.

Three houses are presented in this book. Each house has been designed with distinct site parameters with the expectation that obvious differences in form would occur. The focus of this investigation lies within the significant parallels that exist between the projects and how those parallels relate to the principles that constitute a framework of operation for a designer. / Master of Architecture

The cyanobacterial neurotoxin β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), a non-protein amino acid, first attracted attention in correlation to reports of high incidence of the unusual neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Parkinsonism-dementia (ALS/PDC) among the people of Guam in the South Pacific Ocean. Experimental studies have revealed that BMAA causes neuronal cell death. The neurotoxin is suggested to act via excitotoxicity through interaction with glutamatergic receptors. More importantly, BMAA is suggested to misincorporate in the synthesis of proteins, and contribute to protein misfolding and/or deleterious aggregation, which are hallmarks of several neurodegenerative disorders. A selective uptake of BMAA in the rat neonatal hippocampus can interfere with brain development, causing learning and memory impairments in adult rats. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of BMAA in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. These cells were exposed to BMAA (10 μM, 50 μM, 100 μM or 500 μM) for 72 hours, and the expression of five selected proteins, including heat shock protein-27 (HSP-27), lysosomal associated membrane protein-1 (LAMP-1), CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP), Golgi associated plant pathogenesis related protein-2 (GLIPR-2), and glucose regulated protein-78 (GRP-78). They were carried out with immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results revealed an increased expression of all selected proteins, which indicates an uptake and shows the effects of BMAA in the cell cultures. Taken together, BMAA caused cellular stress, including endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress that is correlated with HSP-27, LAMP-1, CHOP, GLIPR-2, and GRP-78. Further studies are needed in order to support the results. The experiments require being repeated using the same biomarkers as well as a combination of them with other biomarkers to elucidate the effects of BMAA.

Within the lighting industry, major focus on rules and restrictions must be followed when developing luminaires. To be able to place a lighting luminaire in a wet room certain requirements must be fulfilled. These requirements are something that must be taken into account and be followed early in the product development process. The study was conducted in collaboration with the company Bsweden Belysningsbolaget AB (Bsweden). Bsweden expressed a desire to receive one or more proposals for products that would expand or strengthen their product variety. The product would be included in the segment “lighting luminaries that can withstand water and are suitable for bathrooms”. The purpose of this study was therefore to develop a proposal of a lighting luminaire that could withstand water and that are suitable for bathrooms. The methods used were literature study, case study, competitor analysis and a design process. Literature study was carried out in the following areas; lighting theory, light sources, choice of material, electrical safety and theory about the design process. The case study consisted of document study and interviews with Bsweden and with the company Intertek Semko AB. A competitor analysis of Bsweden’s nearest competitors was also conducted. All the gathered information was then used during the design process where a design requirement specification and functional analysis was created. These were used as a guideline during the design process and to develop the result of the study. The result contains of a product proposal consisting a stripped and timeless lighting luminaire, adapted for bathrooms. The product proposal meets Bswedens’ requirements and the requirements in the design specification and the functional analysis; therefore the purpose of the study is fulfilled. Because of the existing conditions, the proposed product could not be tested in reality. If a prototype of the product would been manufactured and sent to testing, the requirements for the product could be tested and the results could therefore become more reliable. / Inom belysningsbranschen är det stort fokus på regler och restriktioner som måste efterföljas vid framtagning av armaturer. För att en belysningsarmatur ska få placeras i ett våtrum måste den uppfylla vissa krav. Dessa krav är något som det måste tas hänsyn till och efterföljas tidigt i en produktframtagningsprocess.   Studien har utförts i samarbete med företaget Bsweden belysningsbolaget AB (Bsweden). Bsweden uttryckte en önskan om att få ett eller flera förslag på produkter som skulle kunna utöka och stärka deras sortiment. Produkten skulle ingå i segmentet belysningsarmaturer som är anpassade för badrum. Syftet med studien har därför varit att ta fram ett förslag på en belysningsarmatur som är våtrumsanpassad för badrum.     De metoder som användes var litteraturstudie, fallstudie, konkurrentanalys och designprocess. Litteraturstudie genomfördes inom områdena belysningsteori, ljus-källor, materialval, elsäkerhet samt designprocess. Fallstudien bestod av dokument-studier och intervjuer med uppdragsgivaren Bsweden samt med företaget Intertek. Dessutom utfördes en konkurrentanalys av Bswedens närmsta konkurrenter. All insamlad information användes sedan under designprocessen där en designkravspeci-fikation och funktionsanalys skapades. Dessa användes som vägvisare under designprocessen för att leda fram till studiens resultat.   Resultatet består av ett produktförslag på en avskalad och tidlös belysningsarmatur, anpassad för badrum. Produktförslaget uppfyller de krav som Bsweden ställt samt kraven i designkravspecifikationen. Därmed anses det att studiens frågeställningar har besvarats och således har studiens syfte uppfyllts.   Utifrån de förutsättningar som fanns kunde inte produktförslaget testas i verkligheten. Om en prototyp av produktförslaget hade tillverkats och skickats iväg på testning kunde kraven för produkten testats och resultatet hade således blivit mer tillförlitligt.

There are various situations in which electrical energy is desired but cannot by conveniently supplied. Since the days of Hienrich Hertz and Nikola Tesla, scientists have tried to solve this problem using different methods of wireless power transfer. Today, wireless power transfer has only been commercially demonstrated at small distances through use of induction. This thesis demonstrated the transfer of wireless power at relatively large distances through radio frequencies in the development of a prototype for a commercial product - a wireless household lamp.

Considering the significant investment of higher education made by students and their families, graduating in a timely manner is of the utmost importance. Delay attributed to drop out or the retaking of a course adds cost and negatively affects a student’s academic progression. Considering this, it becomes paramount for institutions to focus on student success in relation to term scheduling. Often overlooked, complexity of a course schedule may be one of the most important factors in whether or not a student successfully completes his or her degree. More often than not students entering an institution as a first time full time (FSFT) freshman follow the advised and published schedule given by administrators. Providing the optimal schedule that gives the student the highest probability of success is critical. In efforts to create this optimal schedule, this thesis introduces a novel optimization algorithm with the objective to separate courses which when taken together hurt students’ pass rates. Inversely, we combine synergistic relationships that improve a students probability for success when the courses are taken in the same semester. Using actual student data at the University of Kentucky, we categorically find these positive and negative combinations by analyzing recorded pass rates. Using Julia language on top of the Gurobi solver, we solve for the optimal degree plan of a student in the electrical engineering program using a linear and non-linear multi-objective optimization. A user interface is created for administrators to optimize their curricula at main.optimizeplans.com.

A high-frequency half-bridge series resonant inverter with multiple output transformers is developed for driving multiple cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) with dimming feature. The primary sides of the transformers are connected in series with the resonant inverter to have an identical current, while the secondary sides are loaded by CCFLs with galvanic isolation to each other. To ensure a high circuit efficiency, the active power switches of the inverter are designed to be switched on at zero voltage. The resonant current of the inverter can be regulated by controlling the switching frequency of the inverter, so that all CCFLs can be dimmed simultaneously. On the other hand, the primary sides of the output transformers are associated with parallel switches to dim the CCFLs individually. These dimming switches are operated at a low frequency by integral cycle control with zero current switching (ZCS) to reduce the switching losses. The resonant circuit is tactfully designed to alleviate the variation of the resonant current caused by the switching of dimming switches. A laboratory circuit is built for driving 5 CCFLs. The intended circuit performances are confirmed by test results. The variation of the resonant current is less than 10% when the dimming switches are switching, and the measured efficiency for the circuit is 96.15% under the rated powers.

When multiple cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) are set up in a backlight module, parasitic capacitances are inevitably existent between the lamps and the aluminum back-plank. These parasitic capacitances are different from each other in introducing different leakage currents, and in turn cause current imbalance between lamps with undesired unequal brightness of the backlight module. In order to tackle this current imbalance problem, it relies critically upon a balance driving scheme. This thesis adopts the impedance-matching principle for a uniform light output. A detailed analysis and design of the balance circuit is implemented in a direct-type backlight module, which employs a series resonant parallel-loaded inverter with a transformer to generate a high AC voltage to drive multiple lamps. Adding appropriate capacitors on the load resonant circuits helps alleviate the discrepancy among lamp currents. Based on the experimental results, the maximum total current deviation is defined as an index of the current imbalance for multiple lamps system. Accordingly, the minimum impedance ratio can be provided for the designers to achieve balance driving. A prototype of the multi-lamp driving circuit with balance capacitors is designed and built for a backlight module with 16 lamps in a 32-inch liquid crystal display (LCD). Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the current balance scheme.

Three novel single-stage electronic ballasts with the advantages of high-power-factor, low current harmonic, high efficiency, and low cost are proposed for rapid-start fluorescent lamps. Included are (1) single-stage high-power-factor electronic ballast with asymmetrical topology, (2) single-stage high- power-factor electronic ballast with symmetrical topology, and (3) single-stage single-switch high-power-factor electronic ballast. The circuit configurations are obtained by integrating the buck-boost power-factor-correction converter into the Class D or the Class E resonant inverter. With simple circuit configuration and less component count, desired circuit performances of high-power-factor and high efficiency are realized. The control methods of pulse-width-modulation (PWM) with asymmetrical and symmetrical approaches are utilized for the three presented ballasts. The buck-boost conversion stage is operated at discontinuous current mode (DCM) to achieve nearly unity power factor at a fixed switching frequency. With carefully designed circuit parameters, the power switches can exhibit either zero-voltage switching-on (ZVS) or zero-current switching-on (ZCS). As a result, high circuit efficiency can be ensured. Design equations are derived and computer analyses are performed based on the lamp¡¦s equivalent resistance model and fundamental approximation. Accordingly, design guidelines for determining circuit parameters are provided. Prototypes of the three proposed circuits designed for a T8-36W lamp, two series-connected T9-40W lamps and a PL-27W lamp are built and tested to verify the computer simulations and analytical predictions.