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Validation of the Kinematic Knee Sleeve for Measuring Joint Angle Changes in Active Young Adults
MaryAnn Wiethop
Electric goniometers (EG) are a valid and reliable method of measuring joint angle changes during human movement. However, EG can be costly and impractical for use outside of laboratory settings. Therefore, an advanced textile sensor, the Kinematic Knee Sleeve (KiTT), was developed to track exercises and human movements. However, the KiTT has not been previously validated against a standard criterion. Purpose: To validate the KiTT against an EG during a series of lower body exercises in active college-aged adults. Methods: Following a five-minute warm-up on a stationary bike, participants (n = 13, age = 21 ± 1.8 yrs, body mass = 61.5 ± 3.4 kg) were fitted with the KiTT on their left leg and an EG on the lateral joint line of their right knee. Participants then completed 6 exercises (squat jump, countermovement jump, broad jump, box jump, box drop, lateral hop) in a randomized order. A total of 3 sets of 8 repetitions was completed per exercise, with the exception of lateral hops, which consisted of 3 sets of 5 repetitions performed. Paired sample t tests were used to analyze differences in knee flexion values between the EG and KiTT during the lower body exercises. Results: No significant differences were found in knee flexion values between the EG and KiTT in squat jumps, countermovement jumps, broad jumps, box jumps, and box drop exercises (p ≥ 0.05). Lateral hop knee flexion was significantly higher in the Kitt compared to the EG (p ＜ .001). Conclusion: The KiTT is an accurate device for measuring knee joint angle changes during lower body exercises and is effective for use outside of a laboratory. The Kitt can be utilized during rehabilitation, practice, or game settings for measuring and monitoring knee angle range of motion.
2023 -
Anisotropic Spiky Colloids for Antifouling Surfaces
Mackenzie Williams
Fouling is the accumulation of contaminants on a surface. Fouling reduces surface efficiency and can cause contamination, impacting several industries such as medical, maritime, and space. Our approach uses the assembly of anisotropic spiky colloids to fabricate antifouling surfaces to repel fouling materials. The main objective of the project is to characterize the adsorption of anisotropic spiky colloids of differing spike size and distribution over a planar surface to generate rough antifouling surfaces. We simulate the irreversible particle deposition using the Random Sequential Adsorption (RSA) algorithm, in which particles are randomly adsorbed onto the surface. The algorithm accepts the randomly positioned and oriented particle over the surface if the particle does not overlap with previous ones; after that, the particle remains fixed for the duration of the simulation. Simulation results show that the maximum number of adsorbed particles decreases as the particle aspect ratio increases, while the number of adsorbed particles decreases as the shape parameter of superellipsoids increases. Furthermore, the average roughness increases as the spike shape parameter increases, but the particle-particle separation decreases. Our investigation of these structures will allow the future development of anti-fouling surfaces for multi-scale inserts.
2023 -
Development of a Waveguide to Investigate Acoustically-Forced Droplet Combustion
Hunter Wilson
Project Problem To understand the fundamental flame-acoustic coupling phenomena of a single burning droplet, a test facility is needed to study the effects in a prescribed acoustic field. Acoustic waveguides are commonly used devices to generate these acoustic wave conditions. These devices are sized based upon the desired frequency range in mind, which is 500 – 2000 Hz for this application. With this information, the expected acoustic field for both standing and traveling wave forcing can be determined. Approach The geometry of the waveguide is rectangular with an internal length of Lx = 915 mm and a volume of V = .016 m3, which has two sets of speakers on each end to create the desired acoustic conditions, as well as an optical viewing port for high-speed combustion diagnostics of the burning droplet. Under this summer RCEU program, these parts were manufactured using UAH’s CNC machine out of ¼” stainless steel plates. The end plates have threaded holes for the speakers and a series of pressure ports to measure the oscillatory pressure local to the test section. The waveguide’s modular design allows it to be scaled, enabling other forcing conditions to be explored in future studies. For example, the end plates may have a variation to add another speaker, or alternative length sections can be installed to alter the resonant characteristics of the waveguide. Additionally, a signal conditioning system is needed to process the pressure readings from a pair of Kulite XCE-IC-093-5G pressure transducers. The pressure transducers produce an output signal in the range of millivolts. However, the data acquisition unit requires the input to be in volts. Therefore, an amplifier circuit was designed and prototyped using an AD620ANZ operational amplifier accompanied by a voltage inverter. Open-source software for the development and design of printed circuit boards (PCB’s) was utilized for circuit design and integrated-circuit footprint layout. Results Using acoustic theory to determine the resonant condition for a container closed at both ends (i.e., f = nc/2Lx), the waveguide was designed to produce the resonant conditions withing the desired range for the experiments (i.e., f = 866 Hz for n = 1, f = 1732 Hz for n = 2, etc.). Subsequently, the acoustic field for both standing and travelling wave forcing was characterized at the fundamental resonant frequency of the device using acoustic theory. Conclusion With the newly built acoustic waveguide, experiments for acoustically-coupled droplet combustion can be conducted. The next steps are to modify the waveguide to include the needed features/hardware for this experiment. This includes a syringe-pump fuel injection system and implementing high-speed combustion diagnostics (e.g., OH* chemiluminescence). The results will be analyzed using advanced image processing at frame-rating on the order of ~100 kfps. Through these methods, further understanding of condensed phase combustion will be achieved.
2023 -
Benchmarking the flagship Alabama HPC system
Kishan Yerubandi
perfSONAR is middle-ware between network monitoring tools and higher level services such as visualizations and workflow managers. Using perfSONAR APIs, it is possible to unlock data gathered from 1000s of networks, and design more intelligent “above the network” services. Developers of lower level measurement and monitoring tools can use similar APIs to facilitate the deployment, sharing, and location of new products.
2023 -
TEMPO Spectrometer Satellite Validation using TOLNet Mobile RO3QET Lidar
Avery Cantrell and Todd McKinney
2022 -
Investigating the Effects of Kidney Stones on our Microbiome: Lactobacilli Growth in the Presence of Oxalate
Rayan Haque and Layla Jeries
2022 -
Design and Implementation of an Airborne Particulate-Matter Sensor
Leonard Hochmuth and Todd McKinney
2022 -
Developing Methods for Testing Inhibition of E. coli Strains by Urinary Lactobacilli
Layla Jeries and Rayan Haque
2022
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