Date Approved

12-2020

Graduate Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Engineering (M.S.E.)

Degree Program

School of Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Brian Krug

Second Advisor

Dr. Joshua Veazey

Third Advisor

Karl Brakora

Academic Year

2020/2021

Abstract

Inertial sensing is an important part of engineering and technology, especially for determining spatial orientation. Most modern inertial sensing units rely on MicroElectroMechanical systems (MEMS) style gyroscopic sensors to determine angular acceleration. This research investigates a novel gyroscopic sensing technology that uses mechanical precision of magnetic nanoparticles, instead of MEMS, to determine inertial measurements. The only other study on this novel technology proposed a scalar set of equations for relating magnetic field and torque magnitude to the magnitude of angular displacement of the sensor. This research develops the theoretical model into a set of full vector equations, so that the magnetic field and torque can be related to both the magnitude and direction of angular displacement of the sensor. It was determined that inertial components of nanoparticle torque in the original model are negligible due to scaling laws at the nanoscale, and that the only significant contributions are due to viscous fluid drag, which changed the theoretical equations considerably. Euler rotation angles were used to derive a decomposed 3D vector that represents the torque and magnetic field of the nanoparticle response to angular displacement. Simulations verified the assumptions made in the model and overall it was concluded that, theoretically, the sensor technology could work and is viable for further applications. However, improvements should be made to the sensor design in order to improve electromagnetic immunity to exterior sources.

Download

Share

COinS