abstract: A fully automated logic design methodology for radiation hardened by design (RHBD) high speed logic using fine grained triple modular redundancy (TMR) is presented. The hardening techniques used in the cell library are described and evaluated, with a focus on both layout techniques that mitigate total ionizing dose (TID) and latchup issues and flip-flop designs that mitigate single event transient (SET) and single event upset (SEU) issues. The base TMR self-correcting master-slave flip-flop is described and compared to more traditional hardening techniques. Additional refinements are presented, including testability features that disable the self-correction to allow detection of manufacturing defects. The circuit approach is validated for hardness using both heavy ion and proton broad beam testing. For synthesis and auto place and route, the methodology and circuits leverage commercial logic design automation tools. These tools are glued together with custom CAD tools designed to enable easy conversion of standard single redundant hardware description language (HDL) files into hardened TMR circuitry. The flow allows hardening of any synthesizable logic at clock frequencies comparable to unhardened designs and supports standard low-power techniques, e.g. clock gating and supply voltage scaling. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Electrical Engineering 2012

Engineering design is a decision-making process. Optimization techniques can be used to insure that better decisions are made. One design of great interest to engineers is that of high-velocity channels used for routing floodwater out of urban areas. In the design of these channels it is very important to avoid such hydraulic phenomena as standing waves, hydraulic jumps, and shocks. These will require higher wall heights and more expense. These channels can be modeled with physical models, but they are expensive and time consuming. To minimize the cost of building and changing the physical models and the time required to perform the study, an automated numerical model can be used to test a range of designs before construction of the physical model. The resulting design can be used as an initial design, which is close to the desired design requiring fewer changes to the physical model, saving time and money.

The design of manufacturing systems in hazardous environments is complex, requiring interdisciplinary knowledge to determine which components and operators (human or robotic) are feasible. When conceptualizing designs, some options may be overlooked or unknowingly infeasible due to the design engineers' lack of knowledge in a particular field or ineffective communication of requirements between disciplines. To alleviate many of these design issues, we develop a computational design tool to automate the synthesis of conceptual manufacturing system designs and optimization of preliminary layouts. To generate workcell concepts for manufacturing processes, we create a knowledge-based system (KBS) that performs functional modeling using a common language, a generic component database, and a rule set. The KBS produces high-level task plans for specific manufacturing processes and allocates needed material handling tasks between compatible human and/or robotic labor. We develop an extended pattern search (EPS) algorithm to optimize system layouts based on worker dose and cycle time minimization using the functions and sequencing of generated task plans. The KBS and EPS algorithm were applied to the design of glovebox processing systems at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Our computational design tool successfully generates design concepts with varied task allocation and processing sub-tasks and layouts with favorable manipulation workspaces. This work establishes a framework for automated conceptual design while providing designers with a beneficial tool for designing manufacturing systems in an interdisciplinary and highly constrained domain. / text

PipeSynth is a design automation approach that combines various optimization research and artificial intelligence methods for synthesizing fluid networks. Starting with only the port locations, PipeSynth generates and optimizes the most effective network for a given application. This ideal network is found by not only optimizing the sizes of each pipe and orientation of fittings in the network (parameters), but also optimizing the layouts of how they are all connected (topology). Using Uniform-Cost-Search for topology optimization, and a combination of non-gradient based parametric optimization methods,PipeSynth demonstrates how advances in automated design can enable engineers to manage much more complex fluid network problems. PipeSynth uses a unique representation of fluid networks that synthesizes and optimizes networks one pipe at a time, in three-dimensional space. PipeSynth has successfully solved several problems containing multiple interlaced networks concurrently with multiple inputs and outputs. PipeSynth shows the power of automated design and optimization in producing solutions more effectively and efficiently than traditional design approaches. / text

Failure detection and isolation (FDI) is essential for reliable operations of complex autonomous systems or other systems where continuous observation or maintenance thereof is either very costly or for any other reason not easily accessible. Beneficial for the model based FDI is that there is no need for fault data to detect and isolate a fault in contrary to design by data clustering. However, it is limited by the accuracy and complexity of the model used. As models grow more complex, or have multiple interconnections, problems with the traditional methods for FDI emerge. The main objective of this thesis is to utilise the automated methodology presented in [Svärd, 2012] to create a model based FDI system for the Columbus air loop. A small but crucial part of the life support on board the European space laboratory Columbus. The process of creating a model based FDI, from creation of the model equations, validation thereof to the design of residuals, test quantities and evaluation logic is handled in this work. Although the latter parts only briefly which leaves room for future work. This work indicate that the methodology presented is capable to create quite decent model based FDI systems even with poor sensor placement and limited information of the actual design. [] Carl Svärd. Methods for Automated Design of Fault Detection and Isolation Systems with Automotive Applications. PhD thesis, Linköping University, Vehicular Systems, The Institute of Technology, 2012

This thesis seeks to extend the PDG methodology by developing a generalized formal method for nesting PDGs in an interconnected system. A procedure for decomposing an individual PDG into reusable modules will be defined and a software architecture will be presented which takes advantage of these reusable modules. This method breaks the PDG structure into discrete elements known as PDG objects, PDG modules and PDG services. Each of these elements forms a distinct unit of reuse and each can be seen as a "little" PDG. Two different industrial implementations of this method are presented. These examples show that it is possible to share PDG services amongst multiple PDGs and provide a mechanism to create a PDG for a complicated system.

abstract: Threshold logic has long been studied as a means of achieving higher performance and lower power dissipation, providing improvements by condensing simple logic gates into more complex primitives, effectively reducing gate count, pipeline depth, and number of interconnects. This work proposes a new physical implementation of threshold logic, the threshold logic latch (TLL), which overcomes the difficulties observed in previous work, particularly with respect to gate reliability in the presence of noise and process variations. Simple but effective models were created to assess the delay, power, and noise margin of TLL gates for the purpose of determining the physical parameters and assignment of input signals that achieves the lowest delay subject to constraints on power and reliability. From these models, an optimized library of standard TLL cells was developed to supplement a commercial library of static CMOS gates. The new cells were then demonstrated on a number of automatically synthesized, placed, and routed designs. A two-stage 2's complement integer multiplier designed with CMOS and TLL gates utilized 19.5% less area, 28.0% less active power, and 61.5% less leakage power than an equivalent design with the same performance using only static CMOS gates. Additionally, a two-stage 32-instruction 4-way issue queue designed with CMOS and TLL gates utilized 30.6% less area, 31.0% less active power, and 58.9% less leakage power than an equivalent design with the same performance using only static CMOS gates. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Computer Science 2010

Multiobjective optimization system of exhaust manifold shapes including initial design has been developed. Space of possible solutions is explored by an evolutionary algorithm. Evaluation of exhaust drains shape comes  from drains length and sum of arc angles. Drains mustn't interfere in surrounding parts. System is tested on set of input data originated from practice. Further, performance of proposed evolutionary algorithm is evaluated.

The goal of this thesis was to explore the possibilities of using evolutionary algorithms to design components with specific purpose. We examined the process of designing an optimal shape of reflector from a highly reflective metal sheet. The main goal of this reflector is to evenly distribute light from a light emitting diode. We created a simplified model of the environment, where our component should be used. Then we used the evolutionary approach to find a suitable reflector shape for an existing device. One selected solution was manufactured and its properties measured. We also used the developed program to search for a design of an optical part for a completely new device proposal. Both tasks were accompanied by a number of problems that originated in an inaccurate task specification and general disparity between the fields of evolutionary computation and industrial components development. We provided an analysis of issues we encountered and presented solutions that can be applied to other similar tasks.

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