Theses and Dissertations from UMD

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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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    Experiments on networks of coupled opto-electronic oscillators and physical random number generators
    (2018) Hart, Joseph David; Roy, Rajarshi; Murphy, Thomas E; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In this thesis, we report work in two areas: synchronization in networks of coupled oscillators and the evaluation of physical random number generators. A ``chimera state'' is a dynamical pattern that occurs in a network of coupled identical oscillators when the symmetry of the oscillator population is spontaneously broken into coherent and incoherent parts. We report a study of chimera states and cluster synchronization in two different opto-electronic experiments. The first experiment is a traditional network of four opto-electronic oscillators coupled by optical fibers. We show that the stability of the observed chimera state can be determined using the same group-theoretical techniques recently developed for the study of cluster synchrony. We present three novel results: (i) chimera states can be experimentally observed in small networks, (ii) chimera states can be stable, and (iii) at least some types of chimera states (those with identically synchronized coherent regions) are closely related to cluster synchronization. The second experiment uses a single opto-electronic feedback loop to investigate the dynamics of oscillators coupled in large complex networks with arbitrary topology. Recent work has demonstrated that an opto-electronic feedback loop can be used to realize ring networks of coupled oscillators. We significantly extend these capabilities and implement networks with arbitrary topologies by using field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to design appropriate digital filters and time delays. With this system, we study (i) chimeras in a five-node globally-coupled network, (ii) synchronization of clusters that are not predicted by network symmetries, and (iii) optimal networks for cluster synchronization. The field of random number generation is currently undergoing a fundamental shift from relying solely on pseudo-random algorithms to employing physical entropy sources. The standard evaluation practices, which were designed for pseudo-random number generators, are ill-suited to quantify the entropy that underlies physical random number generation. We review the state of the art in the evaluation of physical random number generation and recommend a new paradigm: quantifying entropy generation and understanding the physical limits for harvesting entropy from sources of randomness. As an illustration of our recommendations, we evaluate three common optical entropy sources: single photon time-of-arrival detection, chaotic lasers, and amplified spontaneous emission.
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    The Effects of Coupling Delay and Amplitude / Phase Interaction on Large Coupled Oscillator Networks
    (2012) Lee, Wai Shing; Ott, Edward; Antonsen, Thomas M.; Electrical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The interaction of many coupled dynamical units is a theme across many scientific disciplines. A useful framework for beginning to understanding such phenomena is the coupled oscillator network description. In this dissertation, we study a few problems related to this. The first part of the dissertation studies generic effects of heterogeneous interaction delays on the dynamics of large systems of coupled oscillators. Here, we modify the Kuramoto model (phase oscillator model) to incorporate a distribution of interaction delays. Corresponding to the continuum limit, we focus on the reduced dynamics on an invariant manifold of the original system, and derive governing equations for the system, which we use to study stability of the incoherent state and the dynamical transitional behavior from stable incoherent states to stable coherent states. We find that spread in the distribution function of delays can greatly alter the system dynamics. The second part of this dissertation is a sequel to the first part. Here, we consider systems of many spatially distributed phase oscillators that interact with their neighbors, and each oscillator can have a different natural frequency, and a different response time to the signals it receives from other oscillators in its neighborhood. By first reducing the microscopic dynamics to a macroscopic partial-differential-equation description, we then numerically find that finite oscillator response time leads to many interesting spatio-temporal dynamical behaviors, and we study interactions and evolutionary behaviors of these spatio-temporal patterns. The last part of this dissertation addresses the behavior of large systems of heterogeneous, globally coupled oscillators each of which is described by the generic Landau-Stuart equation, which incorporates both phase and amplitude dynamics. Our first goal is to investigate the effect of a spread in the amplitude growth parameter of the oscillators and that of a homogeneous nonlinear frequency shift. Both of these effects are of potential relevance to recently reported experiments. Our second goal is to gain further understanding of the observation that, at large coupling strength, a simple constant-amplitude sinusoidal oscillation is always a solution for the dynamics of the global order parameter when the system has constant nonlinear characteristics.
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    Control of Networked Robotic Systems
    (2012) Liu, Yen-Chen; Chopra, Nikhil; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    With the infrastructure of ubiquitous networks around the world, the study of robotic systems over communication networks has attracted widespread attention. This area is denominated as networked robotic systems. By exploiting the fruitful technological developments in networking and computing, networked robotic systems are endowed with potential and capabilities for several applications. Robots within a network are capable of connecting with control stations, human operators, sensors, and other robots via digital communication over possibly noisy channels/media. The issues of time delays in communication and data losses have emerged as a pivotal issue that have stymied practical deployment. The aim of this dissertation is to develop control algorithms and architectures for networked robotic systems that guarantee stability with improved overall performance in the presence of time delays in communication. The first topic addressed in this dissertation is controlled synchronization that is utilized for networked robotic systems to achieve collective behaviors. Exploiting passivity property of individual robotic systems, the proposed control schemes and interconnections are shown to ensure stability and convergence of synchronizing errors. The robustness of the control algorithms to constant and time-varying communication delays is also studied. In addition to time delays, the number of communication links, which prevents scalability of networked robotic systems, is another challenging issue. Thus, a synchronizing control with practically feasible constraints of network topology is developed. The problem of networked robotic systems interacting with human operators is then studied subsequently. This research investigates a teleoperation system with heterogeneous robots under asymmetric and unknown communication delays. Sub-task controllers are proposed for redundant slave robot to autonomously achieve additional tasks, such as singularity avoidance, joint angle limits, and collision avoidance. The developed control algorithms can enhance the efficiency of teleoperation systems, thereby ameliorating the performance degradation due to cognitive limitations of human operator and incomplete information about the environment. Compared to traditional robotic systems, control of robotic manipulators over networks has significant advantages; for example, increased flexibility and ease of maintenance. With the utilization of scattering variables, this research demonstrates that transmitting scattering variables over delayed communications can stabilize an otherwise unstable system. An architecture utilizing delayed position feedback in conjunction with scattering variables is developed for the case of time-varying communication delays. The proposed control architecture improves tracking performance and stabilizes robotic manipulators with input-output communication delays. The aforementioned control algorithms and architectures for networked robotic systems are validated via numerical examples and experiments.
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    Synchronization and prediction of chaotic dynamics on networks of optoelectronic oscillators
    (2011) Cohen, Adam B.; Roy, Rajarshi; Murphy, Thomas E; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The subject of this thesis is the exploration of chaotic synchronization for novel applications including time-series prediction and sensing. We begin by characterizing the nonlinear dynamics of an optoelectronic time-delayed feedback loop. We show that synchronization of an accurate numerical model to experimental measurements provides a way to assimilate data and forecast the future of deterministic chaotic behavior. Next, we implement an adaptive control method that maintains isochronal synchrony for a network of coupled feedback loops when the interaction strengths are unknown and time-varying. Control signals are used as real-time estimates of the variations present within the coupling paths. We analyze the stability of synchronous solutions for arbitrary coupling topologies via a modified master stability function that incorporates the adaptation response dynamics. Finally, we show that the master stability function, which is derived from a set of linearized equations, can also be experimentally measured using a two-node network, and it can be applied to predict the convergence behavior of large networks.
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    Synchronization of Chaotic Optoelectronic Oscillators: Adaptive Techniques and the Design of Optimal Networks
    (2011) Ravoori, Bhargava; Roy, Rajarshi; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Synchronization in networks of chaotic systems is an interesting phenomenon with potential applications to sensing, parameter estimation and communications. Synchronization of chaos, in addition to being influenced by the dynamical nature of the constituent network units, is critically dependent upon the maintenance of a proper coupling between the systems. In practical situations, however, synchronization in chaotic networks is negatively affected by perturbations in the coupling channels. Here, using a fiber-optic network of chaotic optoelectronic oscillators, we experimentally demonstrate an adaptive algorithm that maintains global network synchrony even when the coupling strengths are unknown and time-varying. Our adaptive algorithm operates by generating real-time estimates of the coupling perturbations which are subsequently used to suitably adjust internal node parameters in order to compensate for external disturbances. In our work, we also examine the influence of network configuration on synchronization. Through measurements of the convergence rate to synchronization in networks of optoelectronic systems, we show that having more network links does not necessarily imply faster or better synchronization as is generally thought. We find that the convergence rate is maximized for certain network configurations, called optimal networks, which are identified based on the eigenvalues of the coupling matrix. Further, based on an analysis of the eigenvectors of the coupling matrix, we introduce a classification system that categorizes networks according to their sensitivity to coupling perturbations as sensitive and nonsensitive configurations. Though our experiments are performed on networks consisting of specific nonlinear optoelectronic oscillators, the theoretical basis of our studies is general and consequently many of our results are applicable to networks of arbitrary dynamical oscillators.
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    Application of Chaotic Synchronization and Controlling Chaos to Communications
    (2005-04-19) Dronov, Vasily; Ott, Edward; Electrical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This thesis addresses two important issues that are applicable to chaotic communication systems: synchronization of chaos and controlling chaos. Synchronization of chaos is a naturally occurring phenomenon where one chaotic dynamical system mimics dynamical behavior of another chaotic system. The phenomenon of chaotic synchronization is a popular topic of research, in general, and has attracted much attention within the scientific community. Controlling chaos is another potential engineering application. A unique property of controlling chaos is the ability to cause large long-term impact on the dynamics using arbitrarily small perturbations. This thesis is broken up into three chapters. The first chapter contains a brief introduction to the areas of research of the thesis work, as well as the summaries the work itself. The second chapter is dedicated to the study of a particular situation of chaotic synchronization which leads to a novel structure of the basin of attraction. This chapter also develops theoretical scalings applicable to these systems and compares results of our numerical simulations on three different chaotic systems. The third chapter consists or two logically connected parts (both of them study chaotic systems that can be modeled with delayed differential equations). The first and the main part presents a study of a chaotically behaving traveling wave tube, or TWT, with the objective of improving efficiency of satellite communication systems. In this work we go through an almost complete design cycle, where, given an objective, we begin with developing a nonlinear model for a generic TWT; we then study numerically the dynamics of the proposed model; we find conditions where chaotic behavior occurs (we argue that TWT in chaotic mode could be more power efficient); then we use the idea of controlling chaos for information encoding; we support the concept with numerical simulations; and finally analyze the performance of the proposed chaotic communication system. The second part of this chapter describes an experiment with a pair of electronic circuits modeling the well-known Mackey-Glass equation. An experiment where human voice was encoded into chaotic signal had been conducted which showed a possibility of engineering application of chaos to secure communications.