Senior Design Projects

Below is a list of projects that are offered to you. We are restricted by most of the projects
that are industry sponsored and require either US Citizenship or Green Card/Permanent
Resident status. Please submit your top three choices as I have described in class.
 Project FA24 – 1

Title: Raytheon University Drone Competition

Industry Sponsor: Mr. Jesse Lee (Raytheon Corp.)
Email: jesse@raytheon.com
UTA Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz (UTA – EE), Dr. Chris McMurrough (UTA –
CSE), and Dr. Bob Woods (UTA – MAE)

DUE TO INDUSTRY PARTNER RESTRICTIONS, THE GROUP MUST BE COMPRISED

OF ONLY US CITIZENS OR PERMANENT RESIDENTS/GREEN CARD HOLDERS

Brief Description:
Universities will participate in unmanned vehicle challenges which involve applicable real-
world scenarios. The competition will involve researching, developing, integrating, and
testing hardware and software components to complete showcase challenge objectives.
The competing schools are UTD, UTEP, UT-Austin, UNT, SMU, Jackson State, Ole Miss,
Prairie View A&M, Texas A&M, and UTA as of now. All competitions requirements, rules,
etc. are being determined! The requirements and constraints will be defined with
Raytheon as we get started.
 Project FA24 – 2

Title: Multi-Axis Positioning Stage for Optical Sensor Validation

Industry Sponsor: Texas Instruments
Email: j-yehle@ti.com
UTA Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz & Dr. Alex Johnston

Brief Description:
Create/integrate a multi-axis rotation and translation stage for use in an existing optical
sensor validation setup. Project members will design and build the motor stage and
accompanying software, and validate that the solution meets project specifications.

The team will

• Learn how to come up with a creative solution to a problem with many physical
constraints
• Gain a sense of what kinds of problems can be solved with existing solutions and what
problems require custom engineering
• Integrate learnings from multiple disciplines (electrical, mechanical) in one project
• Design and build hardware, validate that hardware can meet design specifications
• Design software with high-level functions for end-user to integrate into their existing
software

Deliverables
• Schematics/CAD of motor stage
• Fully functional motor stage which meets design requirements
• Motor driver software
• Detailed Validation report on motor stage capability/precision/speed.
 Project FA24 - 3

Title: Low Voltage Distributed Power System

UTA Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz & Dr. Alex Johnston

DUE TO INDUSTRY PARTNER RESTRICTIONS, THE GROUP MUST BE COMPRISED

OF ONLY US CITIZENS OR PERMANENT RESIDENTS/GREEN CARD HOLDERS

Brief Description:
Dr. Wetz has several components that make up a small microgrid in his lab. They are in
various states of operation. The team will re-design, build, and test the components
needed to make a functioning microgrid that employs hybrid energy storage modules,
rotating machines, emulated sources, and programmable loads.
 Project FA24 – 4
Title: Compact, High Repetition Rate Linear Transformer Driver (LTD)
Sponsor: Lockheed Martin MFC
UTA Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz & Dr. Alex Johnston

DUE TO ITAR RESTRICTIONS AT LOCKHEED THE GROUP MUST BE COMPRISED

OF ONLY US CITIZENS OR PERMANENT RESIDENTS/GREEN CARD HOLDERS

Brief Description:
Compact, High Repetition Rate Linear Transformer Driver
Lockheed Martin is interested in a compact, high repetition rate linear transformer driver
(LTD). A LTD is a pulsed power generator wherein numerous low impedance modulators
are inductively added to provide impedance transformation and produce high peak power
output pulses. Advances in solid-state technology (SiC, GaN, etc) allow the switching of
higher voltages and currents at ever increasing switching speeds and the incorporation
of these switches into a LTD provides the means of creating very compact and high
repetition rate pulsed power drivers. Lockheed Martin proposes the development of a LTD
to meet the below specifications while attempting to minimize volume.

LTD Specifications of Interest:

- Voltage: 10 – 50 kV
- Current: 200 – 1000 A
- Pulse Repetition Rate: 100 kHz – 1 MHz
- Load Impedance: 30 – 50 ohm

Project Deliverables:
- Concept Design/Trade Study
- Single Stage Hardware Prototype
- Biweekly Meeting Support
- Final Presentation
 Project FA24 – 5
Title: 5 A Battery Cycler
UTA Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz & Dr. Alex Johnston

Brief Description:
Electrochemical batteries typically operate between 2.0 V and 4.1 V and the amount of
capacity they store is typically defined as the amount of current the battery is able to
source to a load for one hour between those voltage limits. For example, a 5 Ah battery
can supply 5 A to a load for one hour and over that time frame the battery’s voltage will
drop from 4.1 V to 2.0 V. Batteries are typically charged using a constant current (CC) –
constant voltage (CV) charge procedure. During the CC phase the battery is charged
using a constant current equal to its 1/2C or 1C capacity until the voltage reaches 4.1 V
after which the voltage is held at 4.1 V till the current drops below say 0.1C. In this
project you will design a battery charger/discharger that will charge or discharge a
battery at user entered current as high as 5 A. You will have to build a programmable
load that will draw a CC up to 5 A and a power supply that can charge at CC up to 5 A.
Some sort of user input is required to define what the current and voltage limits are. The
device will have to measure the current and track the capacity in and out of the battery.

Requirements:
- Operate off of 120V AC
- User defined voltage limits between 2.0 V and 4.1 V
- User defined charge and discharge current up to 5 A with accuracy to the 0.1A
- Output display
- Capacity tracking
 Project FA24 – 6

Title: Portable Oscilloscope

UTA Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz & Dr. Alex Johnston

Brief Description:
There is always a need to measure analog and logic-level signals in the field with a single,
handheld device. Most products on the market require a computer and assume a
laboratory environment, which is not appropriate to troubleshoot installations in the field.
The ideal device would be handheld, have an easily replaceable battery that would last
at least an 8-hour shift, and have a color display to differentiate the signals based on the
input channel. Since this would involve tracing the timing of signals to equipment, it needs
to be time-resolved on the display to track when events occur and save this data to a
replaceable disk such as an SD card. The team will discuss the program needs with the
NRL sponsor, provide recommendations to accomplish the largest number of goals in the
shortest time with the least cost, program the microcontroller, design the enclosure if no
commercially available option exists, and demonstrate a finished prototype that would be
immediately available for field use. This was worked on during the Fall 2019/ Spring 2020
semester and the design was quite good. A working product was designed that needs to
be understood and improved upon.

Design Constraints:
- Portable, hand-held device using battery power source
- Color screen to display traces, larger is better and
touchscreen is an option.
- Minimum of four logic input channels, maximum possible
input channels preferred.
- Max voltage per channel is 10 V, but 30 V preferred.
- Automatic limiting of input current (high Z input)
- Ability to survive reverse-polarity battery installation
- Output logic-level pulse train (5 VDC) or single-shot trigger
with adjustable pulse width and frequency. Adjustable
number of pulses would be preferred option.
- Minimal buttons on controller, ease of use a priority
- Ability to save data to SD card or equivalent in CSV or
similar format
- Ability to trigger data recording based on selectable input channel and trigger level
- Use a microcontroller to command electronics for input and output systems

For a Passing Grade:

- Implement design in neat package with custom PCB
- During demonstration, show acquisition and display of logic waveforms output trigger
waveforms, and show data recorded to disk and displayed on computer
- Must have near-complete documentation available for review by sponsor at least one
week prior to submission to instructor for final grading.
 Project FA24 – 7

Title: Digital Delay Generator

UTA Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz and Dr. Alex Johnston

Brief Description:
A digital delay generator is an electronic timer creating a precise and reliable output signal
to time multiple events. One may require a digital delay to account for the electrical delay
in long cable runs as some experiments require precise timings. Older delay generators
utilized analog circuits to create the timings required and were hardened for
electromagnetic interference (EMI). Modern devices utilize digital circuits and while
hardened against EMI, digital circuits can fail and produce incorrect timings that may
damage experimental equipment. The team will work with the sponsors to address the
electromagnetic hardening and specific timing requirements for the digital delay
generator.

Technical Requirements
- Minimum time resolution >100 ns
- Five channels
- Rise time < 50 ns
- Minimum Pulse width of 1 µs
- TTL level output
- External trigger capability with fiber optic input
- Manual trigger capability on device
 Project FA24 – 8

Title: Compact Mobile Trigger Generator

UTA Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz and Dr. Alex Johnston

Brief Description:
Pulsed power systems often use high-voltage switches called spark gaps. These spark
gaps are activated by a high voltage pulse, generated by a trigger generator, creating an
electrical breakdown across the gap. The trigger generator is a specialized device that
delivers the necessary amplitude and pulse shape to the spark gap switch to activate it.
A trigger generator’s role in a pulsed power system is to ensure a consistent activation of
the spark gap switch. The trigger generator should accommodate many different spark
gap designs since they will not all breakdown at similar amplitudes. Additionally, because
these devices interface with high voltage equipment, the device must be supplied by an
internal battery and the input signal to the device must be galvanically isolated. The team
will work with the sponsor to meet the requirements of the device.

Technical Requirements
- Peak amplitude: 10 kV
- Rise time: < 400 ns
- Pulse duration: < 2 µs
- Repetition rate: > 50 Hz
 Project FA24 – 9

Title: Monopulse Antenna and Feed

UTA Faculty Sponsor: Nicolaus Jennings

Brief Description:
A monopulse antenna is a specialized type of antenna used for angle measurement in
RADAR and tracking systems. Unlike conventional antennas that might use sequential
scanning to determine the direction of a signal, a monopulse antenna can provide
azimuthal and elevation angle measurements. Typically composed of four sectors, the
monopulse antenna is fed into a rat race network to compute multiple beam patterns that
allow for angle measurements. The amplitude of the beam patterns is compared to
determine the direction of arrival.

Technical Requirements:
- Frequency – ISR band
- Tunable PRF of 100 – 500 Hz
- Maximum Size of 2’ x 3’
- Battery Powered
- Angle accuracy of 3°
 Project FA24-10

Title: Fiber Optic Transmission of Analog and Digital Control Signals

Sponsor: Dr. David Wetz and Dr. Alex Johnston

Brief Description:
In high voltage systems, ground isolation is critical for protection of low-voltage
components. Sending digital logic signals over fiber optics is incredibly simple, requiring
only a few components. Transmission of time varying, analog control signals over fiber
optics is much more difficult. There are commercial products available, but they are often
expensive for little reason. The team must identify different methods for transmitting and
receiving both analog and digital control signals over a single fiber optic cable. The team
must produce a reference design and demonstrate one functioning transmit/receive
channel fabricated on printed circuit boards.

Project Constraints:
- Design must consider two types of fiber optic cable (ST and standard)
- Must be capable of transmitting/receiving ±10V AC signals and both 5V and 15V TTL
signals

Project Requirements:
- Should be powered by no more than a 24VDC power supply

For a passing grade:

- Must be attractively packaged utilizing PCBs
- Internal wiring must be clean and attractive looking, not free and forced in the enclosure