Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Publication Date

12-2023

Abstract

The research examines the application of extremum seeking control (ESC) algorithms to ground station antenna pointing for extremely high frequency (EHF) communication systems. ESC algorithms search for local maxima or minima by locating where an objective function gradient goes to zero. With wireless communication expanding into higher frequencies, the ground station pointing requirement is increasing. ESC presents a method which utilizes available equipment and information to perform ground station pointing. Additionally, ESC algorithms do not rely on assumptions or approximations needed for other techniques. The dissertation demonstrates ESC algorithm feasibility for the ground station pointing problem, benchmarks the ESC algorithms against an accepted approach, and compares the ESC algorithms’ performance. The conical scan (CONSCAN) technique is used as a baseline comparison. Comparisons are performed through simulation and laboratory experiments. A laboratory system was built to perform the experimentation. The results demonstrate the potential of the proposed algorithms.

Keywords

Extremum Seeking Control, Antenna Pointing, Optimization

Degree Name

Mechanical Engineering

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Mechanical Engineering

First Committee Member (Chair)

Dr. Claus Danielson

Second Committee Member

Dr. Steven Lane

Third Committee Member

Dr. Christos Christodoulou

Fourth Committee Member

Dr. John Russell

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

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