Search results

Automatic robots can improve the efficiency of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank inspection and maintenance, but it is difficult to achieve high-precision spatial positioning and navigation on tank surfaces. The purpose of this paper is to develop a spatial positioning robotic system for tank inspection. The robot can accurately identify and track weld paths. The positioning system can complete robot’s spatial positioning on tank surfaces.

A tank inspection robot with curvature-adaptive transmission mechanisms is designed in this study. A weld path recognition method based on deep learning is proposed to accurately identify and extract weld paths. Integrated multiple sensors, the positioning system is developed to improve the robot’s spatial positioning accuracy. Experiments are conducted on a cylindrical tank to test weld seam tracking accuracy and spatial positioning performance of the robotic system. The practicality of the robotic system is then verified in field tests.

The robot can accurately identify and track weld seams with a maximum drift angle of 4° and a maximum offset distance of ±30 mm. The positioning system has excellent positioning accuracy and stability. The maximum angle and height errors are 3° and 0.08 m, respectively.

The positioning system can improve the autonomous performance of inspection robots and solve the problems of weld path recognition and spatial positioning. Application of the robotic system can promote the automatic inspection and maintenance of LPG tanks.

Regular cable trench inspection is crucial, and robotics automation provides an efficient and safer alternative to manual labor. However, existing robots have limited capabilities in traversing obstacles and lack a mechanical arm for detecting cables and equipment. This study aims to develop an intelligent robot for cable trench inspection, enhancing obstacle-crossing abilities and incorporating a mechanical arm for inspection tasks.

This study presents an intelligent robot for cable trench inspection, featuring a six-degree-of-freedom mechanical arm mounted on a six-track chassis with four flippers. The robot's climbing and obstacle-crossing stability, as well as the motion range of the mechanical arm, are analyzed. The positioning, navigation and remote monitoring systems are developed. Experiments, including climbing and obstacle-crossing performance tests, along with navigation and positioning system tests, are conducted. Finally, the robot's practicability is verified through field testing.

Equipped with flipper tracks, the cable trench inspection robot can traverse obstacles up to 30 cm high and maintain stable locomotion on 30° slopes. Its navigation system enables autonomous operation, while the mechanical arm performs cable current detection tasks. The remote monitoring system provides comprehensive control of the robot and environmental parameter monitoring in cable trenches.

The front and rear flipper tracks enhance the robot's ability to traverse obstacles in cable trenches. The mechanical arm addresses cable current and equipment contact detection issues. The navigation and remote monitoring systems improve the robot's autonomous operation and environmental monitoring capabilities. Implementing this robot can advance the automation and intelligence of cable trench inspections.

Periodic inspection of bridge cables is essential, and cable-climbing robots can replace human workers to perform risky tasks and improve inspection efficiency. However, cable inspection robots often fail to surmount large obstacles and cable clamps. The purpose of this paper is to develop a practical cable inspection robot with stronger obstacle-surmounting performance and circumferential rotation capability.

A cable inspection robot with novel elastic suspension mechanisms and circumferential rotation mechanisms is designed and proposed in this study. The supporting force and spring deformation of the elastic suspension are investigated and calculated. Dynamic analysis of obstacle surmounting and circumferential rotation is performed. Experiments are conducted on vertical and inclined cables to test the obstacle-surmounting performance and cable-clamp passing of the robot. The practicality of the robot is then verified in field tests.

With its elastic suspension mechanisms, the cable inspection robot can carry a 12.4 kg payload and stably climb a vertical cable. The maximum heights of obstacles surmounted by the driving wheels and the passive wheels of the robot are 15 mm and 13 mm, respectively. Equipped with circumferential rotation mechanisms, the robot can flexibly rotate and successfully pass cable clamps.

The novel elastic suspension mechanism and circumferential rotation mechanism improve the performance of the cable inspection robot and solve the problem of surmounting obstacles and cable clamps. Application of the robot can promote the automation of bridge cable inspection.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Chinese and American financial companies’ distinct brand personality indicators shown through culturally based linguistic features online. The potential correlation between culturally oriented brand personalities and companies’ financial performance is also examined.

This study employs computerized content analyses to examine the cross-cultural differences among 28 American and Chinese financial companies’ online communication based on Aaker’s brand personality framework.

The findings reveal that despite some similarities, there are significant differences between the frequencies and patterns of brand personality indicators on American and Chinese websites, which demonstrate the connection between the companies’ linguistic preferences with their different cultural backgrounds. It also proves that there could be significant relationship between financial companies’ corporate brand (CB) personality expressions and their financial performance, and US financial companies’ revenues are more closely correlated with brand personality dimensions than Chinese companies’.

The necessity for cross-cultural adaptation of CB personality is verified in this study. Chinese international companies may have a big room to improve their online corporate communication. Similarly, foreign companies who intend to enter into Chinese market may think about laying emphasis on their personality indicators of competence in their online corporate communication.

This research is among the first to utilize a corpus-based analytical tool to conduct content analyses of financial companies’ online brand personalities, in addition to empirically validate the correlations between companies’ brand personality indicators and financial performance. The study enriches the literature on online marketing communication, draws attention to the connection between cultural differences and linguistic preferences in CB personality construction and emphasizes the importance of making appropriate cross-cultural adaptation in online corporate communication.