Thesis Defense Announcement for Dylan Sewell
April 22, 2019
Faculty and Students,
You are cordially invited to my thesis defense.
Title: Waveform selection to maximize detecting and tracking insects using harmonic oscillators
When: Tuesday, May 14th at 1:00p.m.
Where: Simrall Hall, Room 228 (Conference Room)
Candidate: Dylan Sewell
Degree: Masters, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Committee:
Dr. John Ball
(Major Professor )
Dr. Qian (Jenny) Du
(Committee Member)
Dr. Mehmet Kurum
(Committee Member)
Abstract:
The honey bee is one of the most important crop pollinating insects in the world. Researchers have recently identified a disease that has begun to impact the honey bee population. Colony Collapse Disorder results in the death of many bee colonies every year, but the cause for this remains unknown. Investigating the cause, harmonic radars are being considered to track the foraging patterns of honey bees. This research endeavors to find an optimized waveform for use in tracking foraging bees. Harmonic oscillators were developed for a transmit frequency of 1.2 GHz and various waveforms were tested against the oscillators. Ultimately, the waveform was found to be arbitrary. The amount of power that the harmonic oscillator receives is the determining factor. Given this, a general pulsed waveform can be developed that attempts to provide the maximum possible return for a predetermined maximum range of interest.