Practical Applications of HORNET to Inspect Walls of Structures

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhei Tokura ◽  
◽  
Kohei Toba ◽  
Yogo Takada
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Growth Period ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Manual Inspection ◽  
Dangerous Situation ◽  
Measurement Results ◽  
Inspection Process

[abstFig src='/00280003/07.jpg' width=""300"" text='Photograph of HORNET catching onto a wall' ] During the high economic growth period in Japan, the development of new infrastructures was promoted and numerous bridges and buildings were constructed. Currently, the walls of bridges and buildings are inspected manually. This manual inspection process is expensive and time-consuming, and inspectors may be placed in dangerous situation. In this study, a robot that moves stably on a wall while maintaining a distance from the wall was developed to enable low-cost, safe inspection. Several characteristics of the robot were measured, and the possibility of using the robot in practical applications was assessed based on the measurement results.

scholarly journals Chemical Modification of Combusted Coal Gangue for U(VI) Adsorption: Towards a Waste Control by Waste Strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8421
Author(s):  
Yuan Gao ◽  
Jiandong Huang ◽  
Meng Li ◽  
Zhongran Dai ◽  
Rongli Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Chemical Activation ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Coal Gangue ◽  
Order Kinetic ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Detailed Structural Analysis ◽  
Alkaline Conditions

Uranium mining waste causes serious radiation-related health and environmental problems. This has encouraged efforts toward U(VI) removal with low cost and high efficiency. Typical uranium adsorbents, such as polymers, geopolymers, zeolites, and MOFs, and their associated high costs limit their practical applications. In this regard, this work found that the natural combusted coal gangue (CCG) could be a potential precursor of cheap sorbents to eliminate U(VI). The removal efficiency was modulated by chemical activation under acid and alkaline conditions, obtaining HCG (CCG activated with HCl) and KCG (CCG activated with KOH), respectively. The detailed structural analysis uncovered that those natural mineral substances, including quartz and kaolinite, were the main components in CCG and HCG. One of the key findings was that kalsilite formed in KCG under a mild synthetic condition can conspicuous enhance the affinity towards U(VI). The best equilibrium adsorption capacity with KCG was observed to be 140 mg/g under pH 6 within 120 min, following a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. To understand the improved adsorption performance, an adsorption mechanism was proposed by evaluating the pH of uranyl solutions, adsorbent dosage, as well as contact time. Combining with the structural analysis, this revealed that the uranyl adsorption process was mainly governed by chemisorption. This study gave rise to a utilization approach for CCG to obtain cost-effective adsorbents and paved a novel way towards eliminating uranium by a waste control by waste strategy.

scholarly journals Preparation and photocatalytic performance of metallic Nb0.9Ta0.1S2/2D-C3N4 composite

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanxiang Chen ◽  
Jianjian Yi ◽  
Zhao Mo ◽  
Yanhua Song ◽  
Wenshu Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Separation Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Metal Sulfide ◽  
Electron Hole ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Energy And Environment ◽  
Photocatalytic Application ◽  
Light Utilization ◽  
Ternary Metal ◽  
Key Issues

Abstract Photocatalysis technology has potential application in the field of energy and environment. How to expand visible light utilization and promote the separation efficiency of the carriers are the key issues for the high active photocatalysts preparation and future practical applications. In this work, a ternary metal sulfide Nb0.9Ta0.1S2 was prepared and used as an electron collector in the photocatalytic application. As a result, the generated electrons are quickly transferred to the surface of the composite to participate in the reaction. It was demonstrated that the photocatalytic activity of 2D-C3N4 was enhanced after the modification of Nb0.9Ta0.1S2. The Nb0.9Ta0.1S2/2D-C3N4 composite material was synthesized by solvothermal method. The composition of 5% Nb0.9Ta0.1S2/2D-C3N4 showed the highest H2 evolution rate of 1961.6 μmolg−1h−1, which was 6.6 times that of 2D-C3N4. The 15% Nb0.9Ta0.1S2/2D-C3N4 exhibited the best activity in Rhodamine B degradation rate of 97% in 2 h, which is 50% higher than that of 2D-C3N4. Nb0.9Ta0.1S2/2D-C3N4 can be used as electron trap to promote the effective separation of electron–hole pairs. This work provides benchmarks in exploring low-cost and efficient cocatalyst.

scholarly journals A Survey on Deep Learning Based Methods and Datasets for Monocular 3D Object Detection

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 517
Author(s):  
Seong-heum Kim ◽  
Youngbae Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Object Detection ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Future Research ◽  
3D Object ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Depth Sensors ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
3D Object Detection

Owing to recent advancements in deep learning methods and relevant databases, it is becoming increasingly easier to recognize 3D objects using only RGB images from single viewpoints. This study investigates the major breakthroughs and current progress in deep learning-based monocular 3D object detection. For relatively low-cost data acquisition systems without depth sensors or cameras at multiple viewpoints, we first consider existing databases with 2D RGB photos and their relevant attributes. Based on this simple sensor modality for practical applications, deep learning-based monocular 3D object detection methods that overcome significant research challenges are categorized and summarized. We present the key concepts and detailed descriptions of representative single-stage and multiple-stage detection solutions. In addition, we discuss the effectiveness of the detection models on their baseline benchmarks. Finally, we explore several directions for future research on monocular 3D object detection.

scholarly journals Preparation of Organic Crystal Seed and Its Application in Improving the Functional Period of Biodegradable Agricultural Film

Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 826
Author(s):  
Runmeng Qiao ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Guangjiong Qin ◽  
Qi Liu ◽  
Jialei Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Degradation Rate ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Water Vapor Permeability ◽  
Growth Period ◽  
Nucleating Agent ◽  
Degree Of Crystallinity ◽  
Vapor Permeability ◽  
Agricultural Films ◽  
Degradation Degree ◽  
Water Holding

White pollution caused by agricultural films has recently attracted great attention. In some areas, the content of micro plastic in the soil has reached 30 kg/ha. The most effective way to solve this problem is to replace traditional polyethylene agricultural films with degradable agricultural films. The consistency between the degradation rate and the crop growth period has become the biggest obstacle for the wide application of such novel agricultural films. In this paper, crystallinity regulation is used to adjust the functional period of degradable agricultural films. In addition, an organic nucleating agent of polyethylenimine (PEI) is selected by doping it to poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) polymers using a double-screw extruder. The PBAT doped with 1 wt% PEI films revealed a significant increase in mechanical properties, water holding capacity, and crystallinity compared with the pure PBAT film. There was a 31.9% increase in tensile strength, a 30.5% increase in elongation at break, a 29.6% increase in tear resistance, a 30.9% decrease in water vapor permeability, and a 3.1% increase in crystallinity. Furthermore, the induction period of PBAT doped with 1 wt% PEI under photoaging (without soil) was about 160 h longer than PBAT film, and the experienced biodegradation in soil (without light) was 1 week longer than PBAT film. Experimental results exhibited that the change of degradation degree was linearly proportional to the degree of crystallinity. This study proposes a convenient, low-cost, and effective method to adjust the crystallinity and change the degradation rate.

scholarly journals Ruthenium Sensitizers and Their Applications in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuancheng Qin ◽  
Qiang Peng
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽  
Ruthenium Complexes ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Photovoltaic Energy ◽  
Dye Sensitized ◽  
Sensitized Solar Cells ◽  
Excellent Stability

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted considerable attention in recent years due to the possibility of low-cost conversion of photovoltaic energy. The DSSCs-based ruthenium complexes as sensitizers show high efficiency and excellent stability, implying potential practical applications. This review focuses on recent advances in design and preparation of efficient ruthenium sensitizers and their applications in DSSCs, including thiocyanate ruthenium sensitizers and thiocyanate-free ruthenium sensitizers.

An Experimental Study on Stretchy and Tough PDMS/Fabric Composites

2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruofei Chang ◽  
Zhou Chen ◽  
Cunjiang Yu ◽  
Jizhou Song
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Elastic Response ◽  
Deformation Localization ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Damage Propagation ◽  
Linear Elastic ◽  
Nylon Fabric ◽  
Fabric Composite ◽  
Fabric Composites

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has a good elasticity but with a pretty low fracture toughness, which limits its use in practical applications. This paper presents a simple and low-cost approach to manufacture a PDMS/fabric composite through incorporating the commercially available stretchy plain weft-knitted nylon fabric into the PDMS matrix. The fracture toughness of the composite is much higher than that of pure PDMS with an increase up to 700%. The toughening mechanism, which can be attributed to the deformation localization induced fiber stretch and damage propagation in the PDMS matrix, is fully investigated. During cyclic loadings, the composite may exhibit a linear elastic response or a significant hysteresis depending on the stretch level. These results provide physical insights into the deformation mechanism of a soft fabric-reinforced composite and may offer practical routes to realize robust crack-insensitive PDMS.

scholarly journals Modelling of new generation plasma optical devices

Nukleonika ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina V. Litovko ◽  
Alexy A. Goncharov ◽  
Andrew N. Dobrovolskiy ◽  
Lily V. Naiko ◽  
Irina V. Naiko
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Rocket Engine ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Optical Devices ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Plasma Accelerators ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Closed Electron ◽  
Positive Space

Abstract The paper presents new generation plasma optical devices based on the electrostatic plasma lens configuration that opens a novel attractive possibility for effective high-tech practical applications. Original approaches to use of plasma accelerators with closed electron drift and open walls for the creation of a cost-effective low-maintenance plasma lens with positive space charge and possible application for low-cost, low-energy rocket engine are described. The preliminary experimental, theoretical and simulation results are presented. It is noted that the presented plasma devices are attractive for many different applications in the state-of-the-art vacuum-plasma processing.

The Effect of Air Injection Method on the Airlift Pump Performance

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Hu ◽  
Chuan-Lin Tang ◽  
Shu-Peng Cai ◽  
Feng-Hua Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Volume Flow Rate ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Air Injection ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Pump Design ◽  
Pump Performance ◽  
Dimensionless Equation ◽  
Measurement Results ◽  
Injection Methods

With simple structure, excellent reliability, low cost, no restriction at depth of water, and easy control and operation, airlift pumps have special advantage in borehole hydraulic jet mining, river dredging and deep sea mining. To clarify the mechanism and process of action of air injection methods on air lift performance, and to enhance lifting capacity, the pump performance of a small airlift system in transporting river sands is investigated experimentally in the present study. The results are as the follows. The influences of air exit ports on water volume flow rate, mass flow rate of solids and lifting efficiency are studied and found to be very low when the number of air exit ports exceeds 3. The pump design show best pumping capability for water and solids at higher air flow rates, but the lifting efficiency is then very low. In addition, a dimensionless equation which describes the flows in the pipe is presented based on the Bernoulli equation, and compared with measurement results in the dimensionless form, which are nearly in good agreement with each other for all the arrangements of air exit ports and are basically contained within ±18% of the theoretical curve. The results are important for understanding the mechanism of airlift pumps and enriching multiphase flow theory.

A waste biomass derived hard carbon as a high-performance anode material for sodium-ion batteries

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (34) ◽  
pp. 13046-13052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pin Liu ◽  
Yunming Li ◽  
Yong-Sheng Hu ◽  
Hong Li ◽  
Liquan Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anode Material ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Coulombic Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sodium Ion ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Sodium Ion Batteries ◽  
Waste Biomass ◽  
Hard Carbon ◽  
Practical Applications

This study reports a hard carbon material derived from a waste biomass of corn cob and the influence of carbonized temperature on electrochemical performance. This study provides a promising anode material with low cost, high initial coulombic efficiency and excellent cycle performance, making sodium-ion batteries closer to practical applications.

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