The Florida Technological University four-component strain-gage balance is an internally mounted, half-inch diameter balance capable of measuring four components of load: front and rear normal force, axial force, and rolling moment. Measurement of these components is accomplished by means of sixteen strain gages that are mounted on the balance and wired into four full bridge circuits. When the balance is subjected to a load, the strain gages, through a small resistance change, indicated the strain a balance element is undergoing. This report presents a description of the balance and its support equipment, and outlines specific calibration procedures necessary to their successful implementation. These calibration procedures take two forms: that of calibrating the readout equipment, and that of calibrating the balance itself. Also contained in this report is a method of reducing calibration data into a set of parameters applicable to the balance. To aid in the calibration of the balance, a calibration assembly was designed and built. Two calibration models were designed to facilitate the incremental loading of the balance and the interpretation of the readout data.

Wearable sensors have garnered considerable interest because of their potential for various applications. However, much less has been studied about the Stretchsense pressure sensor characteristics and its workability for industrial application to prevent potential risk situations such as accidents and injuries. The proposed study helps investigate Stretchsense pressure sensors' applicability for measuring hand-handle interface forces under static and dynamic conditions. The BendLabs sensors - a multi-axis, soft, flexible sensing system was attached to the wrist to evaluate the wrist angle deviations. In addition, the StretchSense stretch sensors were attached to the elbow joint to help estimate the elbow flexion/extension. The research tests and evaluates the real-time pressure distribution across the hand while performing given tasks and investigates the relationship between the wrist and elbow position and grip strength. The research provides objective means to assess the magnitudes of high pressures that may cause pressure-induced discomfort and pain, thereby increasing the hand's stress. The experiment's most significant benefit lies in its applicability to the actual tool handles outside the laboratory settings.

The control of asthma is a very important part of an asthmatic's life. Decreasing control can lead to asthma attacks, which can be fatal. For this reason, the researchers have set out to create an instrument to measure control of asthma, and have suggested five possible instruments. Before an instrument can be used, it must be shown to be reliable, valid, and responsive. Reliability will be shown using various intraclass correlation coefficients, depending on the model being used for the data. Construct validity will be shown by how well the instrument's correlation coefficients with other instruments correspond to a priori predictions. Responsiveness will be shown by three methods, t tests comparing the change in changers and stable subjects, a responsiveness index, and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. All five instruments are shown to be highly reliable. No conclusions can be drawn as of yet about the validity, as the a priori predictions have yet to made. For all three methods of assessing responsiveness, the five instruments were ranked identically. In choosing the best instrument, no final decisions can be made, as validity has yet to be shown, but at this time it appears as though the simplest instrument (involving only five questions on the patient's asthma symptoms asked at a visit to a clinic) is also the best as it has high reliability and is highly responsive. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

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Depuis la préhistoire, plusieurs matériaux ont été utilisés pour fabriquer des instruments et des appareils de santé. Au cours des dernières décennies, avec l’apparition du terme « biomatériau », les matériaux ont été conçus pour contrôler des réactions biologiques spécifiques, pour augmenter la durée de vie des biodispositifs et la qualité de vie des patients dans le monde. Cependant, indépendamment de la nature du matériau, ou au sens strict du biomatériau, et de la fonction remplie, ils sont susceptibles aux phénomènes de surface causés par son environnement. Certains phénomènes intéressants incluent l’action des protéines, des électrolytes et des cellules sur les surfaces métalliques. Ces interactions peuvent entraîner le développement de complications telles que la formation de thrombus, la corrosion et la calcification, qui affecteront le fonctionnement des dispositifs, et la contamination bactérienne qui peut transformer la surface en vecteur de propagation de maladies. Des recherches ont exploité des stratégies de modification de surface pour minimiser ou éviter ces complications. Ces approches demandent du temps et des efforts pour développer une surface efficace pour chaque cas. Sur cette base, l’objectif principal de ce travail était de concevoir et de développer des revêtements à base de chitosane à utiliser dans le revêtement de surfaces métalliques et de dispositifs utilisés dans le système de santé et de modifier ces surfaces pour moduler la réponse biologique. Pour atteindre cet objectif, le projet de recherche a été divisé en trois parties. La première était le greffage du chitosane utilisant de la dopamine comme ancre. La deuxième était le développement d’un greffage original en une étape remplaçant la dopamine par l’acide caféique. La dernière était la modification du revêtement de chitosane pour moduler la réponse biologique de la surface. À chaque étape, les surfaces revêtues ont été caractérisées par analyses biologiques et physico-chimiques. Les résultats ont démontré que la méthodologie développée produisait des revêtements de chitosane qui possédait des réponses biologiques et des performances physico-chimiques favorables et qui pouvait être modifiés pour améliorer ou conférer la propriété souhaitée. De plus, cette méthodologie permet de produire une plateforme capable d’être appliquée sur une large gamme de complications en raison de sa modulabilité. Cela représente une diminution de la consommation de temps pour créer une nouvelle surface à partir du zéro pour chaque situation. / Since prehistoric times, several materials have been used to make health instruments and devices. In recent decades, with the appearance of the term "biomaterial", materials have been designed to control specific biological reactions, to increase the lifespan of biodevices and the quality of life of patients around the world. However, regardless of the nature of the material, or in the strict sense of the biomaterial, and the function fulfilled, they are susceptible to the surface phenomena caused by its environment. These phenomena include the action of proteins, electrolytes, and cells on metal surfaces. These interactions can lead to the development of complications such as thrombus formation,corrosion, and calcification, which will affect the functioning of the devices, and bacterial contamination, which can transform the surface into a vector for the spread of disease. Researches were made on the use of surface modification strategies to minimize or avoid these complications. These approaches require time and effort to develop an effective surface for each case. On this basis, the main objective of this work was to design and develop chitosan-based coatings to coat metallic surfaces and devices used in the health care system and to modify these surfaces to modulate the biological response. To accomplish this objective, the research project was divided into three parts. The first was the grafting of chitosan using dopamine as an anchor. The second was the development of an original one step graft replacing dopamine with caffeic acid. The last was the modification of the chitosan coating to modulate the biological response of the surface. At each stage, the coated surfaces were characterized by biological and physicochemical analyzes. The results obtained showed that the developed methodology produced chitosan coatings that had favorable biological responses and physicochemical performances, and that it could be modified to improve or confer the desired property. Besides, this methodology makes it possible to produce a platform able to be applied to many complications due to its modularity. It represents a reduction in the consumption of time to create a new surface from scratch for each situation.

A mechanical, non-contact soil profile meter was developed to measure soil elevations before and after an artificial rainfall for erosion studies. The design goals were to measure the heights of the soil in a 1.5 x 1.5 m bin with an accuracy of ±1.0 mm and at a data collection rate of 2 points per second. The profiler consisted of a laser and a digital camera for height measurements, and a drive system for horizontal movement. The device was calibrated to determine the accuracy of horizontal positioning and the error associated with the height measurements. The positioning accuracy of the profiler was ±0.12 mm and the calibrated height error was ±0.68 mm. The rate of data collection was 32 points per minute. The calibrated height measurement unit was tested with actual soil samples. The analysis of the data collected from 9 different soil colors at 3 different heights and 5 different locations along the profiler indicated that color, rod deflection, and vertical distance between the lens and the surface affected the height measurements. The error for absolute heights was 1.2 mm and the error for the difference in heights was 0.2 mm. The outdoor performance of the profiler was also checked and the result was satisfactory. / M.S.

The design and analysis of a microprocessor-based gyro attitude data processing system used to geolocate natural phenomena from space was performed. Operational software was written and a HERCULES Attitude Processor (HAP) unit was built and tested. Strict adherence to worst-case timing design criterion was a prime hardware design consideration. Weight, volume, and power requirements were also addressed. Redundancy was included for critical time maintenance functions. Hardware performance and accuracy was calculated and measured. Operational software was written to control the functions of the HAP unit. Algorithms were written to accurately process the high speed gyro attitude data. Data communication between subsystems in the HERCULES system was controlled by the software. Subsystem configuration, operating modes, self-testing, and resource management was performed by the operational software. Testing was performed on the HAP unit and operational software. Hardware and software performance was analyzed and is presented. / Ph. D.

Recent theoretical and numerical investigations revealed the prospect that the instantaneous total temperature is nonuniform around vortices. For low Mach number flows, the instantaneous total pressure was also shown to become nonuniform in such a similar manner that the near-wake patterns of instantaneous total pressure exhibit almost exact facsimiles of these of total temperature. Here, the time-accurate measurements of the fluctuating total temperature and pressure are presented by placing an aspirating probe in the vortex street behind a cylinder. The data, obtained at a uniform upstream Mach number of 0.4 and with the vortex street in its natural (unexcited) state, show a significant fluctuation of total temperature and pressure. In addition, their time-traces taken in the near-wake are qualitatively similar. / M.S.

Three systematic instrumental errors exist in electronic distance measuring instruments (EDMI): 1) scale error, 2) constant offset error, and 3) cyclic error. The potential magnitude of these errors requires that each EDMI should be calibrated for all three errors. The calibration constants of EDMI may be monitored on an arbitrary base line; however, a calibrated base line is required to perform an accurate EDMI calibration for constant offset and scale errors. Calibration of cyclic error requires monumentation not normally found on a calibration base line. Cyclic error can be measured on a short base line in the laboratory. The surveyors in the State of Virginia would benefit from a statewide network of calibrated base lines. A network covering the state would provide convenient access for the state's surveyors. A unified network of base lines would give the states surveyors a standard of comparison for their EDMI. This standard of comparison would be nationwide if Virginia would choose the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) to calibrate the base lines in its network. Base line calibration by NGS would require that the state abide by NGS specifications for establishing its base line network. / M.S.

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