This thesis focuses on 3D marker tracking for human gait analysis. In KISS Gait Analysis System at METU, a subject&#039 / s gait is recorded with 6 cameras while 13 reflective markers are attached at appropriate locations on his/her legs and feet. These images are processed to extract 2 dimensional (2D) coordinates of the markers in each camera. The 3 dimensional (3D) coordinates of the markers are obtained by processing the 2D coordinates of the markers with linearization and calibration algorithms. Then 3D trajectories of the markers are formed using the 3D coordinates of the markers. In this study, software which takes the 2D coordinates of markers in each camera and processes them to form the 3D trajectories of the markers is developed. Kalman Filter is used in formation of 3D trajectories. The results are found to be satisfactory.

This thesis, for the first time in the literature, presents an automatic mode-matching system that uses the phase relationships between the residual quadrature and drive signals in a gyroscope to achieve and maintain the frequency matching condition, and also the system allows controlling the system bandwidth by adjusting the closed loop parameters of the sense mode controller, independently from the mechanical sensor bandwidth. There are two mode-matching methods, using the proposed mode-matching system, presented in this thesis. In the first method, the frequency matching between the resonance modes of the gyroscope is automatically accomplished by changing the proof mass potential. The main motivation behind the first method is to tune the sense mode resonance frequency with respect to the drive mode resonance frequency using the electrostatic tuning capability of the sense mode. In the second method, the mode-matched gyroscope operation is accomplished by using dedicated frequency tuning electrodes that only provides a capability of tuning the sense mode resonance frequency generating an electrostatic spring effect on the sense frame, independently from the proof mass potential. This study mainly focuses on the second method because the proof mass potential variation is not desired during the gyroscope operation since the proof mass potential directly affects the drive and sense mode dynamics of the gyroscope. Therefore, a single-mass fully-decoupled gyroscope including the dedicated frequency tuning electrodes are designed. To identify mode shapes and mode frequencies of the designed gyroscope, FEM simulations are performed. The designed gyroscopes are fabricated using SOI-based SOG process. The fabrication imperfections are clarified during the formation of the structural layer of the gyroscope. Next, the closed loop controllers are designed for the drive amplitude control, sense force-feedback, quadrature cancellation, and mode-matching regarding the phase relationship between the quadrature and drive signals. Mode-matching is achieved by using a closed loop controller that provides a DC tuning potential. The mode-matching system consisting of vacuum packaged sensor, drive amplitude control, sense force-feedback, quadrature cancellation, and mode-matching modules is implemented on a printed circuit board (PCB), and then the system level tests are performed. Tests illustrate that the mode-matching system operates in a desired manner. Test results demonstrate that the performances of the studied MEMS gyroscopes are improved up to 2.6 times in bias instability and 2 times in ARW under the mode-matched condition compared to the mismatched (~200 Hz) condition, reaching down to 0.73 &deg / /hr and 0.024 &deg / /&radic / hr, respectively. At the mode-matched gyroscope operation, the better performance is obtained to be bias instability of 0.87

In this work, the operating modes and characteristics of a Z-source full-bridge dc/dc converter are investigated. The mathematical analysis of the converter in continuous conduction mode, CCM and discontinuous conduction mode-2, DCM-2 operations is conducted. The transfer functions are derived for CCM and DCM-2 operation and validated by the simulation. The current mode controller of the converter is designed and its performance is checked in the simulation. The component waveforms in CCM and DCM-2 modes of operation are verified by operating the prototype converter in open-loop mode. The designed controller performance is tested with the closed-loop control implementation of the prototype converter. The theoretical efficiency analysis of the converter is made and compared with the measured efficiency of converter.

In this thesis, opti-acoustic stereo imaging, which is the deployment of two-dimensional (2D) high frequency imaging sonar with the electro-optical camera in calibrated stereo configuration, is studied. Optical cameras give detailed images in clear waters. However, in dark or turbid waters, information coming from electro-optical sensor is insufficient for accurate scene perception. Imaging sonars, also known as acoustic cameras, can provide enhanced target details under these scenarios. To illustrate these visibility conditions, a 2D high frequency imaging sonar simulator as well as an underwater optical image simulator is developed. A computationally efficient algorithm is also proposed for the post-processing of the returned sonar signals. Where optical visibility allows, integration of the sonar and optical images effectively provides binocular stereo vision capability and enables the recovery of three-dimensional (3D) structural information. This requires solving the feature correspondence problem for these completely different sensing modalities. Geometrical interpretation of this problem is examined on the simulated optical and sonar images. Matching the features manually, 3D reconstruction performance of opti-acoustic system is also investigated. In addition, motion estimation from opti-acoustic image sequences is studied. Finally, a method is proposed to improve the degraded optical images with the help of sonar images. First, a nonlinear mapping is found to match local the features in opti-acoustical images. Next, features in the sonar image is mapped to the optical image using the transformation. Performance of the mapping is evaluated for different scene geometries.

This thesis reports design and implementation of a MEMS based resonant mass sensor for cell detection applications. The main objective of the thesis is the real-time detection of captured cells inside liquid medium and obtaining the detection results by electronic means, without the aid of any external optical instruments. A new resonant mass sensor architecture is presented that has various advantages over its conventional counterparts. The device oscillates in the lateral direction, eliminating squeeze film damping. A thin parylene layer coated on the device prevents liquids from entering the narrow gaps of the device, further improving the quality factor. The resonator is embedded on the floor of a microchannel. A gold film on the proof mass facilitates antibody based cell capture on the device. Theoretical background regarding resonator operation is investigated. Various resonator designs are presented, taking into account design trade-offs, application v considerations, and fabrication limitations. The design procedure is verified with MATLAB Simulink modeling results and finite element simulations. A new process flow has been developed for resonator fabrication, combining SOI, glass, and polymer micromachining. Modifications have been done on the flow for the solution of problems encountered during device fabrication. Each device has a foot print area of 1.5 x 0.5 cm2. The majority of this area is occupied by fluidic connections and reservoirs. Resonance characterization results in air and water have shown that there is significant quality factor enhancement with the parylene coating method. The quality factor decreases to only 170 in water from 610 in air, when the resonator is coated with a thin layer of parylene. Uniformity and linearity tests revealed that the devices have a standard deviation of only 1.9% for different analyte capture sites and an R2 of 0.997 for mass loads as high as 2.7 ng. Detection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae type yeast cells has been done using the resonators. Mass measurement of single yeast cell (13 pg) and yeast clusters (102 pg) have been performed. Antibody and thiol-gold chemistry based Candida Albicans type bacteria capture and detection has also been made in both air and water environments. The mass of several captured bacterial cells in air has been measured as 95pg. Two bacterial cells have been captured on one device inside water and their mass has been measured as 85 pg. It is worthy to note that all mass measurements are consistent with theoretical expectations.

In this work, single stage power factor corrected AC/DC converters for LEDs / single stage Flyback converter having different configuration from the traditional Flyback and single stage SEPIC converter is investigated. The study involves analysis, circuit design, performance comparisons and implementation. The study covers LEDs / their developments, characteristics and state-of-art in this new technology. The circuits are investigated by means of computer simulations. Operating principles and operating modes are studied along with design calculations. After applying prototypes in laboratory, the simulation results and theoretical analyses are confirmed. The single stage Flyback converter has high voltage input (220-240 Vac), and the output feeds up to 216 HB-LEDs, with the ratings of 24 V, 3.25 A with 90 W. The single stage SEPIC converter with universal input (80-265 Vac) has an output that feeds 21 power LEDs, with 67 V, 0.30 and 20 W ratings.

Localization and mapping are vital capabilities for a mobile robot. These two capabilities strongly depend on each other and simultaneously executing both of these operations is called SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). SLAM problem requires the environment to be represented with an abstract mapping model. It is possible to construct a map from point cloud of environment via scanner sensor systems. On the other hand, extracting higher level of features from point clouds and using these extracted features as an input for mapping system is also a possible solution for SLAM. In this work, a 4D feature based EKF SLAM system is constructed and open form of equations of algorithm are presented. The algorithm is able to use center of mass and direction of features as input parameters and executes EKF SLAM via these parameters. Performance of 4D feature based EKF SLAM was examined and compared with 3D EKF SLAM via monte-carlo simulations. By this way / it is believed that, contribution of adding a direction vector to 3D features is investigated and illustrated via graphs of monte-carlo simulations. At the second part of the work, a scanner sensor system with IR distance finder is designed and constructed. An algorithm was presented to extract planar features from data collected by sensor system. A noise model was proposed for output features of sensor and 4D EKF SLAM algorithm was executed via extracted features of scanner system. By this way, performance of 4D EKF SLAM algorithm is tested with real sensor data and output results are compared with 3D features. So in this work, contribution of using 4D features instead of 3D ones was examined via comparing performance of 3D and 4D algorithms with simulation results and real sensor data.

Localization and mapping are vital capabilities for a mobile robot. These two capabilities strongly depend on each other and simultaneously executing both of these operations is called SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). SLAM problem requires the environment to be represented with an abstract mapping model. It is possible to construct a map from point cloud of environment via scanner sensor systems. On the other hand, extracting higher level of features from point clouds and using these extracted features as an input for mapping system is also a possible solution for SLAM. In this work, a 4D feature based EKF SLAM system is constructed and open form of equations of algorithm are presented. The algorithm is able to use center of mass and direction of features as input parameters and executes EKF SLAM via these parameters. Performance of 4D feature based EKF SLAM was examined and compared with 3D EKF SLAM via monte-carlo simulations. By this way / it is believed that, contribution of adding a direction vector to 3D features is investigated and illustrated via graphs of monte-carlo simulations. At the second part of the work, a scanner sensor system with IR distance finder is designed and constructed. An algorithm was presented to extract planar features from data collected by sensor system. A noise model was proposed for output features of sensor and 4D EKF SLAM algorithm was executed via extracted features of scanner system. By this way, performance of 4D EKF SLAM algorithm is tested with real sensor data and output results are compared with 3D features. So in this work, contribution of using 4D features instead of 3D ones was examined via comparing performance of 3D and 4D algorithms with simulation results and real sensor data.

In this thesis, determination of the shielding effectiveness of a rectangular shielding box with apertures on its walls by using electromagnetic topology (EMT) technique based on Baum-Liu-Tesche (BLT) equation is presented. The presented technique is applied to determine the field penetration into various rectangular shielding boxes with different sizes and aperture dimensions. An HP branded computer case is also analysed as a rectangular shielding box with a CD driver slot as an aperture. Results on electromagnetic field penetration through the apertures into the boxes at different frequencies are obtained by using the presented method and compared with the results obtained by using CST MICROWAVE STUDIO&reg / software simulation.

This thesis presents the design and fabrication of coplanar waveguide to microstrip transitions and planar spiral inductors, and the design of metal-insulator-metal capacitors, a planar band-pass, and a low-pass filter structures as an application for the inductors and capacitors using the RF MEMS technology. This thesis also includes a packaging method for RF MEMS devices with the use of benzocyclobutene as bonding material. The transition structures are formed by four different methods between coplanar waveguide end and microstrip end, and they are analyzed in 1-20 GHz. Very low loss transitions are obtained by maintaining constant characteristic impedance which is the same as the port impedance through the transition structures. The planar inductors are formed by square microstrip spirals on a glass substrate. Using the self-inductance propery of a conductive strip and the mutual inductance between two conductor strips in a proper arrangement, the inductance value of each structure is defined. Inductors from 0.7 nH up to 20 nH have been designed and fabricated. The metal-insulator-metal capacitors are formed by two coplanar waveguide structures. In the intersection, one end of a coplanar waveguide is placed on top of the end of the other coplanar waveguide with a dielectric layer in between. Using the theory of parallel plate capacitors, the capacitance of each structure is adjusted by the dimensions of the coplanar waveguides, which obviously adjust the area of intersection. Capacitors from 0.3 pF up to 9.8 pF have been designed. A low-pass filter and a band-pass filter are designed using the capacitors and inductors developed in this thesis. In addition to lumped elements, the interconnecting transmission lines, junctions and input-output lines are added to filter topologies. The RF MEMS packaging is realized on a coplanar waveguide structure which stands on a silicon wafer and encapsulated by a silicon wafer. The capping chip stands on the BCB outer ring which promotes adhesion and provides semi hermeticity. Keywords: Transition between transmission lines, planar spiral inductor, metal-insulator-metal capacitor, RF MEMS packaging, surface micromachining.