By integrating an electrochemical deposition process and a silicon chip manufacturing process, a chemical sensor based on a floating gate field-effect transistor was developed. The sensor was fabricated using the standard 0.35μm CMOS process with minimal post-processing. A pH-sensitive organic polymer was electrochemically deposited on the “pseudo” floating gate extension. This “pseudo” floating gate extension was an external area connected to the floating gate of the testing device. By monitoring the change of the current-voltage characteristics during exposure to the gas phase of the chemical aqueous solution, the sensor was shown to be feasible with a reasonable sensitivity. / May 2007

By integrating an electrochemical deposition process and a silicon chip manufacturing process, a chemical sensor based on a floating gate field-effect transistor was developed. The sensor was fabricated using the standard 0.35μm CMOS process with minimal post-processing. A pH-sensitive organic polymer was electrochemically deposited on the “pseudo” floating gate extension. This “pseudo” floating gate extension was an external area connected to the floating gate of the testing device. By monitoring the change of the current-voltage characteristics during exposure to the gas phase of the chemical aqueous solution, the sensor was shown to be feasible with a reasonable sensitivity.

By integrating an electrochemical deposition process and a silicon chip manufacturing process, a chemical sensor based on a floating gate field-effect transistor was developed. The sensor was fabricated using the standard 0.35μm CMOS process with minimal post-processing. A pH-sensitive organic polymer was electrochemically deposited on the “pseudo” floating gate extension. This “pseudo” floating gate extension was an external area connected to the floating gate of the testing device. By monitoring the change of the current-voltage characteristics during exposure to the gas phase of the chemical aqueous solution, the sensor was shown to be feasible with a reasonable sensitivity.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1993 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / An automated method is described for binding attributes to extracted data from a telemetry stream. These attributes can be used by post processing utilities to facilitate efficient analysis. A practical implementation of such a scheme is described.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1993 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / A long standing problem in telemetry post processing is the application of correct calibration factors to telemetered data generated on a system which has had a history of hardware changes. These calibration problems become most exacerbated when old test data is being examined and there is uncertainty as to hardware configuration at the time of the test. In this paper a mechanism for introducing a high degree of reliability in the application of calibration factors is described in an implementation done for Brilliant Pebbles Flight Experiment Three (FE-3).

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 17-20, 1994 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / A long standing problem in telemetry applications is the recovery of data which has been damaged during downlink. Data recovery can be significantly improved by telemetering information in a packet format which employs redundant mechanisms for data encapsulation. A simple statistical algorithm (known as a "merge" algorithm) can be run on the captured data to derive a "least damaged" data set.

The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the techniques outlined in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Technical Report 255 Highway Traffic Data for Urbanized Area Project Planning and Design (NCHRP-255), published in 1982 by the Transportation Research Board. This evaluation was accomplished by using a regional travel demand forecast model calibrated and validated for the year 1990 and developing a highway forecast for the year 2000. The forecasted volumes along the Capital Beltway (I-495/I-95) portion located in the State of Maryland were compared to observed count data for that same year. A series of statistical measures were used to quantitatively evaluate the benefits of the techniques documented in NCHRP-255. The primary research objectives were: • To critically evaluate the ability of a regional travel demand forecast model to accurately forecast freeway corridor volumes by comparing link forecast volumes to the actual count data. • To evaluate and determine the significance of post-processing techniques as outlined in NCHRP-255. The most important lesson learned from this research is that although it was originally written in 1982, NCHRP-255 is still a very valuable resources for supplementing travel demand forecast model output. The "raw" model output is not reliable enough to be used directly for highway design, operational analysis, nor alternative or economic evaluations. The travel demand forecast model is a tool that is just part of the forecasting process. It is not a turn-key operation, and travel demand forecasts cannot be done without the application of engineering judgment. / Master of Science

ITC/USA 2009 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Fifth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2009 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Once the test is complete, the job of the Data Analyst has begun. Files from the various acquisition systems are collected. It is the job of the analyst to put together these files in a readable format so the success or failure of the test can be attained. This paper will discuss the process of breaking down these files, comparing data from different systems, and methods of presenting the data.

Multi-view three-dimensional television relies on view synthesis to reduce the number of views being transmitted.  Arbitrary views can be synthesized by utilizing corresponding depth images with textures. The depth images obtained from stereo pairs or range cameras may contain erroneous values, which entail artifacts in a rendered view. Post-processing of the data may then be utilized to enhance the depth image with the purpose to reach a better quality of synthesized views. We propose a Partial Differential Equation (PDE)-based interpolation method for a reconstruction of the smooth areas in depth images, while preserving significant edges. We modeled the depth image by adjusting thresholds for edge detection and a uniform sparse sampling factor followed by the second order PDE interpolation. The objective results show that a depth image processed by the proposed method can achieve a better quality of synthesized views than the original depth image. Visual inspection confirmed the results.

Concussion and repetitive head impact exposure are significant media, clinical, and research topics. Long-term symptomatic outcomes of sub-injurious head impact exposure have become a topic of concern for professional and youth contact sport athletes alike. Vulnerable populations such as females and pediatric athletes deserve special attention but are understudied. It is known that females tend to be diagnosed with concussions more frequently and incur them at lower peak head kinematic values than their male counterparts. Sex-specific symptom presentation has been demonstrated, but little is known about the effect of athlete perception of head impact exposure or skill level on symptom reporting. Injury biomechanics research has begun to converge on using instrumented mouthguards to monitor head impact exposure in various sports. These devices offer six-degree-of-freedom head kinematic measurements and direct coupling to the measurement point of interest, the skull, by connecting to the upper dentition. However, published post-processing recommendations for these devices differ from one another and manufacturer practices. This lack of commonization makes cross-study comparison difficult. Additionally, the devices are plagued by relative motion artifacts that can leak into reported kinematic signals. The research presented in this dissertation aimed to first address a lack of common post-processing methods available for instrumented mouthguard measurements made with three linear accelerometers and three gyroscopes. We developed an optimal combination of cutoff frequencies for filters applied to these instruments by quantifying the minimal error from a transformation function. We then applied those same methods to instrumented mouthguards, minimizing error based on sport-specific impact duration. Next, mouthguard decoupling artifacts were described in a laboratory study. Decoupling increased kinematic error relative to ground truth measurements from an instrumented headform. We used these data to develop a classification algorithm that found signal features related to mouthguard decoupling while recording an acceleration event in an instrumented mouthguard. We proceeded to salvage impacts with decoupling artifacts. When decoupling was identified, the primary head acceleration signal could be salvaged by wavelet deconstruction. We removed high-frequency content that was representative of decoupling artifacts. We applied these optimized post-processing techniques to instrumented mouthguard data from a group of adolescent female ice hockey players. Their documented head impact exposure was correlated to symptom outcomes and ocular motor evaluation scores. Their sleep and menstrual cycle patterns were included as potential confounding factors. In this sample of athletes, sleep was more strongly associated with symptom presentation than head impact exposure. Ocular motor results showed a possible association with head acceleration exposure severity and menstrual cycle phase, but further study is warranted. Finally, a self-reported association between symptoms and head impact exposure appears to be individual- and skill-level specific, as we saw many variations between individuals of the same sex in what they called a "memorable" head impact. / Doctor of Philosophy / Concussion and repetitive head impact exposure are significant media, clinical, and research topics. Additionally, the long-term outcomes of sub-injurious head impact exposure have become a topic of concern for professional and youth contact sport athletes alike. Vulnerable populations such as females and pediatric athletes deserve special attention but are understudied. Sex-specific symptom presentation has been demonstrated, but little is known about the effect of athlete perception of head impact exposure or skill level on symptom reporting. Instrumented mouthguards are used to monitor head impact exposure in various sports. These devices measure linear and rotational head motion and couple directly to the measurement point of interest, the skull, by connecting to the upper dentition. However, published post-processing recommendations for these devices differ from one another and manufacturer practices. This lack of commonization makes cross-study comparison difficult. Additionally, the devices are plagued by relative motion (decoupling) artifacts that can leak into reported head motion signals. The research presented in this dissertation aimed to first address a lack of common post-processing methods available for instrumented mouthguard measurements made with three linear accelerometers and three gyroscopes. We developed an optimal combination of cutoff frequencies for filters applied to these instruments by quantifying the minimal error from a transformation function. We then applied those same methods to instrumented mouthguards, minimizing error based on sport-specific impact duration. Next, mouthguard decoupling artifacts were described in a laboratory study. Decoupling increased mouthguard error relative to ground truth measurements from an instrumented dummy headform and was direction dependent. We used these data to develop a classification algorithm that found signal features related to mouthguard decoupling while recording an acceleration event in an instrumented mouthguard. We proceeded to salvage impacts with decoupling artifacts through wavelet deconstruction. We applied these optimized post-processing techniques to instrumented mouthguard data from a group of adolescent female ice hockey players. Their documented head impact exposure was correlated to symptom outcomes and eye movement evaluation scores. In this sample of athletes, sleep was more strongly associated with symptom presentation than head impact exposure. Finally, a self-reported association between symptoms and head impact exposure appears to be individual- and skill-level specific, as we saw many variations between individuals of the same sex in what they called a "memorable" head impact.