DESIGN AND CONTROL OF HOVERCRAFTS OVER A NETWORK
BY
JOEL MICHAEL RUBEL
B.S.M.E., Bradley University, 2001
THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004
Urbana, Illinois
To Alison, Leila and Gilbert
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Acknowledgments
My contribution to the HoTDeC project would not have been possible without the help of the entire team. First I would like to thank Andrew Stubbs for his patience and willingness to explain the concepts that I did not understand, and for keeping sanity in the lab during the 20 hour days. Vladimer Vladimerou contributed a majority of the work on the network side of the project, and his unique sense of humor kept us all laughing, he is the architect. Also, I would like to thank Adam Fulford for his work with the vision system and for helping out when a second pair of hands were needed. Jim Leistra also contributed greatly on the multiple redesigns on the hovercraft. I would also like to thank my adviser Geir Dullerud for giving me the opportunity to work on such a wonderful project. Finally, I would like to thank Alison Geraci for the support and understanding that she gave me during my graduate school experience.
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Table of Contents
Page List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 2 Test Stand Fabrication, Components, and Set Up . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Ducted Fan and Fixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 DSP, Interface Test Stand and Power Supplies . . . . . .