MS, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Engineering and Applied Science: Civil Engineering

Infrastructure-to-vehicle communication is an essential part of an intelligent transportation system. Bluetooth low energy (BLE) is one of the emerging Internet of things (IoT) technologies that can enable the exchange of data at low-cost and low-energy consumption. This study evaluated the application of IoT technologies, in particular BLE beacons, as infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication devices to support connected and automated vehicle operation in a real-world setting. An autonomous vehicle development platform built on a Lexus RX450h car was used to perform the evaluation. The testing program included two controlled-environment experiments and two real-world validation experiments. The controlled-environment experiments were used to select the BLE beacon settings to be considered. Furthermore, the validation experiments were performed in two different settings including an urban road and an interstate highway. In the urban road experiment, beacons were attached to ten different traffic signs using the selected configurations. The study evaluated the ability of the connected and automated vehicle to receive the beacon message far enough to take appropriate action while driving at road's speed limit, taking into consideration road geometry, and accounting for both dry and wet road conditions. Furthermore, beacons were attached to a side barrier in the interstate highway experiment to evaluate the ability of the autonomous vehicle to detect the beacons successfully using the selected configurations. The results showed that with the correct configurations, all traffic signs were repeatedly detected from a distance far enough for the vehicle to take the needed action. The highest performance configurations were further evaluated based on battery life. Accordingly, the optimal configuration was suggested to be used in real life. The study revealed promising results and indicated that the BLE beacon technology can be a reliable solution to develop infrastruct (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Munir Nazzal Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Hazem Elzarka Ph.D. (Committee Member); John Ash Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering

Master of Science in Engineering, Youngstown State University, 2023, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

This thesis delves into the firmware development of a custom Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Sensor Peripheral. The sensor peripheral is designed to o↵er a variety of low power sensing options. A review of BLE and applications is presented. The custom SensorTag incorporates three unique sensors: an accelerometer, 4-in-1 gas sensor, and an analog front end. These sensors will be analyzed and previous research applications will be discussed. A comprehensive analysis of the firmware development will be given throughout this paper. A brief overview of the phone application is provided. Finally, a discussion of the practical applications of the custom board will be given, including corrosion and protein detection.

Committee: Frank Li PhD (Committee Chair); Vamsi Borra PhD (Committee Member); Pedro Cortes PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Electrical Engineering; Engineering

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Engineering and Applied Science: Civil Engineering

This objective of this research is to develop a cost-effective large-scale outdoor construction equipment tracking system. For this purpose, a detailed comparative study was conducted on the available localization technologies in the industry. The reliability and limitations of State DOTs current system for tracking construction equipment were assessed, and after identifying alternative technologies available in the market, the most optimal option was selected for developing an efficient and cost-effective tracking system. The research proposes Bluetooth Low Energy Technology, as an alternative to the GPS Technology, for developing a large-scale outdoor construction equipment tracking system using beacons, owing to its low-cost, long life, ruggedness, and ease of installment. To install the system on DOT's equipment and analyze its operation and efficiency, several field tests were conducted to optimize the proposed system's performance. The research concludes with a life-cost-benefit analysis, discusses the optimal results for system's cost and life, and gives the necessary recommendations for its implementation. In conclusion, BLE Technology is effective and economical for large scale outdoor construction equipment localization. Although it is new and advanced, the implementations and benefits of BLE technology are many but uncovered, yet, and more research is needed in this area.

Committee: Munir Nazzal Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nabil Nassif (Committee Member); Sara Khoshnevisan Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering

Master of Science in Engineering, Youngstown State University, 2022, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

The need for small versatile sensors is ever-growing [1]. The demand to create sensors that are more versatile and resilient while still improving in size and speed is only growing. As this technology improves, we find more innovative applications. These new applications are bringing this technology out of strictly the academic and industrial realm and bringing it into everyday life. People are now able to run important medical tests on the fly without anything more than a watch or ring [2]. Athletes are able to extract important statistics data from practice to improve their craft and increase safety. This research aims to create a universal platform to interface with a group of different sensors that is easy to use, versatile and expandable. To make the platform easy to adapt, it should be developed to work with existing infrastructure that people are already familiar with and have easy access to. Bluetooth Low Energy is a technology that is present on nearly all mobile devices [3], which makes it a great mode of communication. A sensor platform system is developed from the hardware level all the way to the application layer, reading data on a mobile device. This system also avoids the problems of other implementations with limited adaptabilities.

Committee: Pedro Cortes PhD (Advisor); Eric MacDonald PhD (Committee Member); Frank Li PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Engineering; Computer Science; Electrical Engineering; Engineering

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Computer Science and Engineering

Digital contact tracing offers significant promise to help reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses. Google and Apple joined together to create the Google/Apple Exposure Notification (GAEN) framework to determine encounters with anonymous users later diagnosed COVID-19 positive. However, as GAEN lacks geospatial awareness, it is susceptible to geographically distributed replay attacks. While the replay attack is generally known, we contribute a new proof-of-concept for an easily deployed, anonymous, low-cost, crowd-sourced replay attack network by malicious actors (or far away nation-state attackers) who utilize malicious (or innocent) users' smartphones to capture and replay GAEN advertisements that drastically increase false-positive rates even in areas that otherwise exhibit low positivity rates. In response to this powerful and feasible replay attack, we introduce GAEN+, a solution that enhances GAEN with geospatial awareness while maintaining user privacy, and demonstrate its ability to effectively prevent distributed replay attacks with negligible overhead compared with the original GAEN framework.

Committee: Anish Arora (Advisor); Zhiqiang Lin (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science

Master of Sciences (Engineering), Case Western Reserve University, 2021, EECS - Electrical Engineering

The rise of wearable technology has enabled continuous fitness and health monitoring. Continuous health monitoring is seen as a very powerful tool for preventative health care. The development of advanced sensors and better devices allow for more comprehensive monitoring and wider adoption. Wearable devices commonly use PPG based pulse oximetry to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation, two very important health metrics, although limitation in their design prevent them from being very practical from a health monitoring perspective. This research presents the design and development of a novel wearable pulse oximeter device that attempts to overcome limitations of existing devices. All aspects of the device design including mechanical form factor, electrical circuit and embedded software are covered in length. The resulting device, Earox, is an ear-based design that clips on the ear lobe to continuously monitor heart rate and oxygen saturation for two weeks on a single charge.

Committee: Kenneth Loparo (Committee Chair); Nicholas Barendt (Committee Member); Farhad Kaffashi (Committee Member) Subjects: Electrical Engineering; Medical Imaging

Master of Science in Computer Engineering (MSCE), Wright State University, 2011, Computer Engineering

Fall related injuries are the leading cause of death and hospitalization among the elderly. Falls among older people become a major problem facing hospitals and nursing homes. In this study we put an effort to design a wireless device capable of detecting falls with the hope that this study will provide a path towards better healthcare monitoring and better independent living for the elderly. In this project I showed how the fall detection device can be interfaced with different systems to achieve functionality without adding extra cost. For seniors who prefer to stay at their homes and live independently, the device can communicate with their smart phone to request help if needed. For hospitals and nursing homes, an infrared receiver and infrared signals decoding algorithms were implemented to interface with FastFind software to keep track of the location of the residents who fall or request help. There is also an option of having a live video feed from the specific room where the fall was detected.

Committee: Jack Jean PhD (Advisor); Yong Pei PhD (Committee Member); Meilin Liu PhD (Committee Member); Mateen Rizki PhD (Other); Andrew Hsu PhD (Other) Subjects: Engineering