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Over the past few years, the engineering programs at York College of Pennsylvania have added more community-based projects into the two-course capstone design sequence that all engineering majors take in their senior year. With capstone design already organized as a multi-disciplinary project-based learning course, it was a natural extension to develop opportunities for community-based projects. As a part of the initiative an automated urban greenhouse was designed, built, and delivered to a local city school to engage school students in sustainability and developing food awareness. A curriculum is being designed to include the greenhouse into the school activities. This paper discusses the process of including community-based projects into capstone projects involving a multidisciplinary student team. Expectations of the community-based project are presented. Detailed descriptions of the mechanical system, the electrical system, the sensor network, and the programmable logic controller are presented. System integration, on-site testing, and student outcomes assessment are also included.

This paper describes the design of an automated device to detect air bubbles during a neuroangiography, a medical procedure that takes images of the blood vessels in the brain. In the neuroangiography procedure, a saline solution is injected into the patient through a catheter without the presence of any air bubbles. If an air bubble enters the bloodstream of the patient it may cause an air embolism, therefore, it is crucial that all air bubbles are detected and removed during the surgery. The current process relies on a nurse to constantly monitor the intravenous(IV) line for bubbles and pinch the line manually if a bubble is detected. They must also ensure that the pressure of the saline bag is maintained within a certain range and the saline bag does not become empty. The device discussed in this paper was designed to implement these tasks automatically so the nurse’s work level stress would decrease, and their focus and energy could be directed to the patient’s well-being. Simulation and hardware implementation results of the bubble detection device are presented.

This paper presents a complete design and implementation of the software and hardware system for a Formula Society of Automatic Engineers (FSAE) electric vehicle. This design followed the guidelines published by the FSAE formula hybrid electric vehicle rules. A model view controller based software architecture was developed to interact with all necessary hardware during the steady state and dynamic conditions. The vehicle hardware system includes a main processing unit “main brain,” tractive system control board, dashboard, shutdown circuit, and related safety features. A combination of laboratory tests and field tests were performed to validate the software and hardware system.

This paper presents the design, build, integration, and implementation of a control system for an urban greenhouse. A next generation programmable logic controller (PLCnext technology) is used to realize the control system application. PLCnext based controller interactions with sensor network and electromechanical systems are documented. The sensor network includes temperature, humidity, moisture, and light sensors. The electromechanical system includes heaters, fans, motors, solenoids, lights, and other required electrical components. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) for the sensor network and control system interface are custom designed. System integration, laboratory testing, and on-site implementation results are included in this paper.

This paper presents a multidisciplinary open-ended capstone design project where students designed, built, and test drove a Formula Society of Automatic Engineers (FSAE) electric vehicle. The capstone team included students from computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering programs. Each student worked in on a subteam, namely, mechanical design, drivetrain, supervisory control and data acquisition, and battery management system. A thorough description of each subsystem is provided herein. Software architecture, system integration, and field test results are also reviewed. Team organization, faculty and industry involvement, and assessment of student outcomes are provided. This paper details the approach of building a bridge between academia and engineering practices. This paper also documents a process where undergraduate students research and master multiple technology areas and then apply them to the project’s focus. ABET student outcomes 1–7 were used to design and assess the course. Peer-to-peer rating and ranking are presented as an assessment tool for the multidisciplinary nature of the project.

Control room software communicates with the back-end and front-end software to maintain the appointments and database. Control room hardware consists of motor driver, PLC, power supplies, and sensor interfaces. Control room software controls the PLC operations to move the radio telescope at the appropriate locations using azimuth and elevation motors and receives astronomical data from the SpectraCyber. This paper describes the control room software and hardware development for a radio telescope as well as the laboratory testing of the complete system.

This paper describes the design and implementation of a drivetrain for a Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FASE) electric vehicle. The specifications used to design the system were provided by SAE in the Formula Hybrid SAE rules. The custom designed central Tractive System Control Board (TSCB) communicates with the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, motor controller, Accumulator Isolation Relays (AIR), and the Battery Management System (BMS) of the vehicle. A detailed description of the TSCB and its integration with the vehicle systems, as well as test-drive results, are presented.

This research focuses on impacts of the small-scale photovoltaic technology (PVT) in remote rural areas of Bangladesh. Since many rural areas in Bangladesh do not have reliable electric grid connection, PVT provides means for increasing human productivity and wellness to create jobs, educational opportunities, and to improve health. However, PVT installations are costly to maintain and technical reliability are major concerns for remote applications. To determine the longterm sustainability this research examined connections between PVT and poverty alleviation in conjunction with income, social acceptance of the technology, and affordability. A model has been proposed to incorporate available PVT resources, demand for PVT energy, technical and financial sustainability, economic and environmental benefits, and social awareness. The inputs for the model are cost, technical knowhow, public awareness, supply chain, and support structures. The outputs are income/jobs, education, social life, security, health, and environment. The outcomes of this model are used to determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of PVT applications in Bangladesh.

An effective and efficient sensor network is an essential component of an automated urban greenhouse (AUG). This paper describes a design process that prototyped a smart sensor network as part of a capstone design project. This smart sensor network communicates among sensing, power and automation, and visualization and user interface aspects of the AUG to provide automatic monitoring of lighting, heating, watering, and ventilation. This automated urban greenhouse, along with the sensor network, is being installed at a local elementary school in downtown York, Pennsylvania. It will serve as an educational tool and create awareness of the importance of fresh foods.

Designing, building, and testing are integral parts of an engineering degree program. Engineers are problem solvers and innovators who develop solutions for technical, societal, and commercial problems. Undergraduate engineering degree programs are the training ground to produce future engineers with appropriate knowledge and skills. This paper describes a process to incorporate major design experiences that prepares students for professional engineering practices. Design experience starts in the first semester and is an integral part of the curriculum throughout the four years. Students finish with major design experiences in their junior and senior years. ABET student outcomes are followed as guidelines while implementing design projects. Co-operative education with industries plays an important role by providing real-life engineering experiences to the undergraduate students.

This paper presents an evolving ant direction particle swarm optimization algorithm for solving the optimal power flow problem with non-smooth and non-convex generator cost characteristics. In this method, ant colony search is used to find a suitable velocity updating operator for particle swarm optimization and the ant colony parameters are evolved using genetic algorithm approach. To update the velocities for particle swarm optimization, five velocity updating operators are used in this method. The power flow problem is solved by the Newton–Raphson method. The feasibility of the proposed method was tested on IEEE 30-bus, IEEE 39-bus and IEEE-57 bus systems with three different objective functions. Several cases were investigated to test and validate the effectiveness of the proposed method in finding the optimal solution. Simulation results prove that the proposed method provides better results compared to classical particle swarm optimization and other methods recently reported in the literature. An innovative statistical analysis based on central tendency measures and dispersion measures was carried out on the bus voltage profiles and voltage stability indices.

In this paper, a novel method called evolving ant direction particle swarm optimization with differentially perturbed velocity (EADPSODV) hybrid algorithm has been presented to solve the optimal power flow problem with non-smooth and non-convex generator fuel cost characteristics. In this approach, ant colony search is utilized by the EADPSODV algorithm to find a suitable mutation operator for particle swarm optimization with differentially perturbed velocity (PSODV). Genetic algorithm method is employed to evolve the ant colony parameters. The power flow problem is solved by the Newton–Raphson method. The performance of the proposed approach has been demonstrated on IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 118-bus test systems with three different objective functions. Investigations reveal that the EADPSODV provides significantly better results compared to classical PSODV and other methods reported in the literature recently.

This paper presents a heuristic optimization methodology, namely, Bacterial foraging PSO-DE (BPSO-DE) algorithm by integrating Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE) for solving non-smooth non-convex Dynamic Economic Dispatch (DED) problem. The DED problem exhibits non-smooth, non-convex nature due to valve-point loading effects, ramp rate limits, spinning reserve capacity, prohibited operating zones and security constraints. The proposed hybrid method eliminates the problem of stagnation of solution with the incorporated PSO and DE operators in original bacterial foraging algorithm. It achieves global cost by selecting the bacterium with good foraging strategies. The bacteria with good foraging strategies are obtained in the updating process of every chemo-tactic step by the PSO operator. The DE operator fine tunes the solution obtained through bacterial foraging and PSO operator. A 3- and 7-unit systems for static economic dispatch, a 26-bus, 6-generator test system and an IEEE 39-bus, 10-unit New England test systems are considered to show the effectiveness of the proposed method over other methods reported in the literature.

This paper proposes a new control scheme for multi-terminal HVDC (MTDC) systems to improve the performance during the system transients such as AC line faults. The new method is called parallel multi-proportional-integral (MPI) control scheme. This new control scheme provides wide range of controller parameters and has the ability to response quickly. To evaluate the performance of the proposed control scheme, a four-terminal HVDC system is considered with the detailed modeling of converters, commutation transformers, source impedances, line parameters, and filters. Simulation results from various transient conditions are compared between the proposed controller, the fuzzy logic-based auto-tuning PI controller, and the conventional fixed-parameter PI controller. The SimPowerSystems and the fuzzy logic toolboxes in the MATLAB/SIMULINK software package are used to conduct the simulations. Simulation results show that the MPI controller has better performance than the conventional fixed-parameter PI controller and has very similar responses compared to the fuzzy logic-based auto-tuning PI controller without any added complexity in controller design procedure for a MTDC system.

The transients in a HVDC system can temporarily change line currents, voltages, and power substantially from the reference steady state values and the behavior of the system depends greatly upon the parameters of the converter controller. The DC system performances are affected by the AC system characteristics such as the short circuit ratio, and the AC system inertia. A controller which has good performance for a particular operating condition may not have sufficiently good performance under another operating condition or vice versa. Performance of the controller also depends on the impedance at the rectifier and the inverter bus, which may vary according to the operating conditions of the AC network. A controller with self-coordinating adaptive capability can perform better in various situations. The proposed controller is tested at a very low SCR, the most critical value for system performance evaluation, and at the low inertia of the AC system. Simulation results are compared between proposed controller, fuzzy tuned controller, gain scheduling controller, and fixed-parameter controller. All simulations are conducted using MATLAB/SIMULINK software package.

A novel method for reducing harmonics in series-connected converters is proposed in this paper. Pulse multiplication for parallel-connected converters is usually easier to achieve because of the interphase transformer, which is absent in the series-connected converters. The proposed method in this paper adopts an averaging inductor to the series-connected converters and thus simplifies the pulse multiplication circuit greatly. The principle of this method is demonstrated by a three-thyristor switching circuit scheme, which can make a 12-pulse double bridge converter to operate at 36 pulses. Simulation results reinforce the theoretical work. Only slight changes are needed for the proposed method to reach higher pulse operations. This makes this method even more attractive when high-pulse operation is desired. The configurations of two-thyristor and four-thyristor switching schemes are also given.

Solar photovoltaic water pumping (SPVWP) is a cost-effective application in remote locations in developed countries. The economy and reliability of solar electric power made it an excellent choice for remote water pumping. Ranchers in the western US, Canada, Mexico, and Australia are the biggest portion of the SPVWP system users. Water sources are spread out in the ranchland and power lines are not readily available and refueling and maintenance of stand alone generators is not cost effective. But in the developing countries, where drinking water is number one priority for most of the population the SPVWP has not achieved a great success yet. Even though, the SPVWP has significant advantages a lot of challenges are associated with the SPVWP, especially in operation and maintenance. This paper discusses some policies to make the SPVWP system an appropriate technology for the respective application region.

This paper describes fuzzy logic-based self-tuning controller parameters for the rectifier side current regulators and inverter side gamma regulators in a multi-terminal high-voltage direct current (MTDC) transmission system. A four-terminal MTDC system is considered, with the detailed modeling of converters, transformers, source impedances, transmission lines, and filters. Simulations are conducted using MATLAB/SIMULINK® to generate transient responses. The simulation results using a fuzzy self-tuning proportional-integral (PI) controller and a fixed-parameter PI controller are compared. The transient simulation studies presented reveal the superior performance of the fuzzy self-tuning PI controller over the fixed-parameter PI controller in the MTDC transmission systems.

Many parts of the world as well as the western US are rural in nature and consequently do not have electrical distribution lines in many parts of villages, farms, and ranches. Distribution line extension costs can run from USD 10,000 to USD 16,000/km, thereby making availability of electricity to small water pumping projects economically unattractive. But, ground water and sunlight are available, which make solar photovoltaic (SPV) powered water pumping more cost effective in these areas’ small scale applications. Many western states including Wyoming are passing through the sixth year of drought with the consequent shortages of water for many applications. The Wyoming State Climatologist is predicting a possible 5–10 years of drought. Drought impacts the surface water right away, while it takes much longer to impact the underground aquifers. To mitigate the effect on the livestock and wildlife, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal initiated a solar water pumping initiative in cooperation with the University of Wyoming, County Conservation Districts, Rural Electric Cooperatives, and ranching organizations. Solar water pumping has several advantages over traditional systems; for example, diesel or propane engines require not only expensive fuels, they also create noise and air pollution in many remote pristine areas. Solar systems are environment friendly, low maintenance, and have no fuel cost. In this paper the design, installation, site selection, and performance monitoring of the solar system for small-scale remote water pumping will be presented. This paper also presents technical, environmental, and economic benefits of the SPV water pumping system compared to stand alone generator and electric utility.

Based on evidence from assessment data and in discussions with engineering employers, the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at York College of Pennsylvania saw the need to revise its freshman engineering experience. This paper describes the need for this new course and discusses the architecture and pedagogy of the course. Of particular interest were the goals of ensuring all students developed proficiency in operating basic electric/electronic test equipment, skills in basic DC circuit analysis techniques, exposure to a broad range of electric/electronic devices, and introduction to fundamentals of engineering design. Consequently the course was primarily laboratory based and project oriented.

This paper presents an evolving ant direction hybrid differential evolution (EADHDE) algorithm for solving the optimal power flow problem with non-smooth and non-convex cost characteristics. In this algorithm, ant colony search is used by the EADHDE to find a suitable mutation operator for the hybrid differential evolution and the ant colony parameters are evolved using a genetic algorithm approach. The Newton-Raphson method solves the power flow problem. The feasibility of the proposed approach is tested on IEEE 30- and 57-bus systems, and the results obtained are compared with other methods. The proposed algorithm is capable of handling discrete control variables and gives similar results when compared with continuous case.

Bangladesh has had problems with electricity distribution for many years. The distribution system in Bangladesh is facing tremendous pressure from industrial and residential users to maintain a regular supply. The Bangladesh Power Distribution Board (BPDB) manages the situation using the load shading technique. Load shedding is now impractical as living standards and electric load characteristics have changed over the years. Modern household and office equipment require electricity and after an outage turn back on automatically, creating high demand when electricity comes back on after a long period of load shedding. Short-term load management techniques are discussed in this paper. This paper also presents alternative medium-term solutions for the electricity crisis in Bangladesh.

This paper presents a simulation study of the CIGRE high voltage direct current (HVDC) benchmark transmission system with the Western system coordinating council (WSCC) 3-machine, 9-bus power system network. The CIGRE HVDC benchmark system is embedded between generator-two and generator-three of the WSCC system to conduct the simulation. A three phase to ground fault on the AC side of the inverter is applied to study system responses such as settling time after the fault is cleared and the relative load angles.

This paper presents a simulation study of the proposed Frontier line from Wyoming to California through Utah and Nevada as a multi-terminal high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system. A four-terminal HVDC link is modeled with one terminal in each state. Various faults are simulated at different locations of the transmission link to observe the dynamic performance of the system. Results from the simulation study show that a multi-terminal HVDC link is technically feasible from Wyoming to California.

This paper presents on-site wind energy measurement data at 50 meter and the wind turbine layout diagram for three different sites in Wyoming. This paper also presents a preliminary transmission assessment for each site with existing transmission lines and the steps required for transmission line interconnection. The capacity factor, geographic location, and nearby existing transmission line at each site are suitable for developing a wind energy farm. The study shows that commercial wind electricity generation is feasible technically and economically.

Alternating current (AC) is the main driving force in the industries and residential areas, but for the long transmission line (more than 400 miles) AC transmission is more expensive than that of direct current (DC). Technically, AC transmission line control is more complicated because of the frequency. DC transmission does not have these limitations, which has led to build long HVDC transmission lines over the last 40 years. HVDC technology made possible to transfer bulk power over long distances. This paper presents a comparative evaluation of HVDC and HVAC transmission systems.

Even though there is no fuel cost for a renewable resource, the use of it is still more costly than fossil and nuclear fueled energy production. Other problems limit the effective use of solar and wind energy. New and novel ways of using these resources must be found to make them more cost efficient in today's world in order to explore the full potential of renewable energy. The idea of Distributed Generation (DG) is not new, but the idea of large scale implementation is. While still not as efficient or cost effective as traditional power generation, these technologies are finding a useful niche in the power grid. The model was built at the University of Wyoming power system lab as part of a project to study distributed generation. A system including a collection of inductors and a motor-generator set was constructed. The design called for multiple distributed sources and loads. Also, variable resistance and capacitance were noted. Each of these tests was also conducted using the Powerworld simulator. End of line voltage, line capacity and a comparison between similar "percentage of power supplied by the PV" values will be shown for each case.

This paper describes the effect of different defuzzification methods (DFMs) and membership functions (MFs) on the fuzzy logic-based self-tuning current controller applications in an HVDC link. The OGRE HVDC Benchmark system and control features are modeled using the SimPowerSystem toolbox and the available blocks in the MATLAB/SIMULINKreg. The fuzzy logic-based self-tuning controller is designed using the fuzzy logic toolbox in the MATLABreg. A comparative study is conducted between the fixed-gain controller and the fuzzy tuning controllers. This paper also presents the effect of the number of rules on the fuzzy logic-based self-tuning controller in an HVDC link. The results reveal that fuzzy tuned PI controller recovers the system from the faults faster than the traditional PI controller with fewer oscillations, and consecutively has less commutation failures.

Pulse multiplication methods in both parallel and series connected converters are well known to reduce harmonics. A novel technique with fewer thyristors is proposed in this paper to achieve higher pulses. The proposed scheme uses three re-injection thyristors, two re-injection transformers, and an averaging inductor to achieve 18-pulse operation of a 6-pulse rectifier. This technique will reduce the cost and/or complexity for thyristor operation and harmonics filters.

Prototyping is the key step in the manufacturing industry to save time and effort. Successful prototyping needs efficient processes and systems that integrate all necessary development steps. dSPACE offers an efficient rapid control prototyping process for any industry dealing with feedback control. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate a well-documented procedure of rapid control prototyping of a permanent magnet DC (PMDC) motor drive for speed control using dSPACE and Mathworks Simulink. The combined tools of Simulink and dSPACE provide the means for modeling the controller in software and applying it to the actual hardware via a digital signal processing board. This paper presents a comparison and analysis between the simulation results and dSPACE/ actual hardware results, which agreed with each other except for some minor differences.

US is the largest consumer and importer of energy. The Average cents for coal, natural gas and petroleum for the power plants in the US are 136.1¢, 596.1¢ and 429.4¢ per MMBtu, respectively. Wyoming alone produced 35.6% of total coal in the US and it also has large and increasing natural gas reserves. Both the Western and the Eastern US states pay high prices for electric energy, compared to the Wyoming. Rail road cost from Wyoming for coal transportation is twice than its mine mouth cost. Between 1993 and 2004 electric energy production from natural gas increased from 13% to 18%, even though, natural gas is the most costly fossil fuel for the power plant. This was done as a quick response to the shortage and several blackouts in the Western and the Eastern US. Natural gas-fired power plants could be built in a shorter time frame, where as coal-fired power plants require a long lead time. Long term planning and realistic load forecasting could save huge amounts in fuel cost and add stability and reliability margins in the system. Wyoming is suitable for producing more electric energy from both wind and coal and its geographic location can utilize the opportunity to meet the demands in both the Western and the Eastern US.

United States has abundant resources of fossil fuel, such as coal and natural gas. But fossil fuels are not equally distributed through out the country and some highly developed large industrial states can not burn the cheapest fossil fuel coal due to strict environmental regulations. Both the East and West coasts of the country are facing electric energy shortages and burn costly fuels such as natural gas to satisfy the increasing demand. On the other hand, Rocky Mountain States are rich in fossil fuels and Wyoming alone produces 40% of the US coal every year. But Wyoming generates only 1% of the total US electric energy which has the second lowest price of electricity in the US. The geographic location of Wyoming is suitable to mitigate the electric energy crisis in Eastern, Western and Southern USA by using HVDC transmission lines. In this paper, technical and economical analysis of the proposed HVDC lines will be discussed.

Many wind turbines are connected to power systems in the U.S. in recent years in order to reduce the negative environmental impacts of conventional electricity generation and promote the green energy initiative. This paper presents potential wind energy resources in Wyoming and the simulation for an existing grid connection. The wind data and the potential wind power were analyzed and the wind turbine was selected according to the results of analysis. Then the performance of the wind turbine incorporating in power network was simulated using MATLAB/Simulink for steady state and fault conditions. Finally cost benefit assessment and environmental impacts were evaluated

Recent electric power shortages in various parts of the US stimulated a peak on generation capacity additions during the first three years of this new century. Most of the newly added units are fired by natural gas, a clean but expensive energy resource. The rapid increase in the use of natural gas makes its price ever increasing and volatile. Coal-fired plants are expected to be more promising for providing cheaper electricity in the near future. Coal will continue to be the primary energy source in electricity generation at least through 2030. Wyoming is the largest coal producing state and one of the largest in natural gas production in the US, but local utilization is extremely low. In addition to exporting raw energy resources, Wyoming could help the nation to solve its electrical energy crisis better by exporting energy directly using high voltage DC (HVDC) lines. The current electrical energy situations of the US and Wyoming are examined and some transmission schemes are proposed in this study. Economic analysis of the proposed schemes is also performed

Many parts of the western US is rural in nature and consequently do not have electrical distribution lines in many parts of farms and ranches. Distribution line extension costs can run from $15,000 to $25,000 per mile, thereby making availability of electricity to small water pumping projects economically unattractive. Solar photo-voltaic (PV) powered water pumping is more cost effective in these small scale applications. Many western states including Wyoming are passing through fifth year of drought with the consequent shortages of water for many applications. Wyoming State Climatologist is predicting a possible 5–10 years of drought. Drought impacts the surface water right away, while it takes much longer to impact the underground aquifers. To mitigate the effect on the livestock and wildlife, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal initiated a solar water pumping initiative in cooperation with the University of Wyoming, County Conservation Districts, Rural Electric Cooperatives, and ranching organizations. Solar water pumping has several advantages over traditional systems; for example, diesel or propane engines require not only expensive fuels, they also create noise and air pollution in many remote pristine areas. Solar systems are environment friendly, low maintenance and have no fuel cost. In this paper the design, installation and performance monitoring of the solar system for small scale remote water pumping will be presented.Copyright © 2006 by ASME