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This paper aims to introduce robot technology to carry out the safety inspection of transmission towers in long-distance power transmission, so as to improve the safety and efficiency of inspection. However, aiming at the problem that the existing climbing robots are mainly used for large load applications, which leads to the large size and lack of flexibility of the robot, we propose an innovative solution. Firstly, a lightweight quadruped climbing robot is designed to improve portability and operational flexibility. Then, a one-dimensional force sensor is added at the end of each leg of the robot, and a special swing phase trajectory is designed. The robot can judge whether the electromagnetic adsorption is effective and avoid potential safety hazards. Finally, based on the principle of virtual model control (VMC), a foot-end force balancing algorithm is proposed to achieve uniform distribution and continuous change in force, and improve safety and load capacity. The experiments show that the scheme has a stable climbing ability in the environments of angle steel, vertical ferromagnetic plane and transmission tower.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) as a label-free, non-contact, highly sensitive, and powerful technique has been widely applied in determining bio- and chemical molecules with fingerprint recognitions. 2-dimensional (2D) materials with layered structures, tunable optical properties, good chemical/physical stabilities, and strong charge–transfer interaction with molecules have attracted researchers’ interests. Two-D materials with a large and flat surface area, as well as good biocompatibility have been considered promising candidates in SERS and widely applied in chemical and bio-applications. It is well known that the noble metallic nanostructures with localized surface plasmon effects dominate the SERS performance. The combination of noble metallic nanostructure with 2D materials is becoming a new and attractive research domain. Until now, the SERS substrates combined with 2D materials, such as 2D graphene/metallic NPs, 2D materials@metallic core-shell structures, and metallic structure/2D materials/metallic structure are intensely studied. In this review, we introduce different kinds of fabrication strategies of 2D and 3D SERS substrates combing with 2D materials as well as their applications. We hope this review will help readers to figure out new ideas in designing and fabricating SERS substrates with high SERS performance that could enlarge the applicable domains of SERS.

With the development of robot technology and the extensive application of robots, the research on special robots for some complex working environments has gradually become a hot topic. As a special robot applied to transmission towers, the climbing robot can replace humans to work at high altitudes to complete bolt tightening, detection, and other tasks, which improves the efficiency of transmission tower maintenance and ensures personal safety. However, it is mostly the ability to autonomously locate in the complex environment of the transmission tower that limits the industrial applications of the transmission tower climbing robot. This paper proposes an intelligent positioning method that integrates the three-dimensional information model of transmission tower and visual sensor data, which can assist the robot in climbing and adjusting to the designated working area to guarantee the working accuracy of the climbing robots. The experimental results show that the positioning accuracy of the method is within 1 cm.

This paper is concerned with the existence of mild solutions and total controllability for a class of non-autonomous measure evolution systems with non-instantaneous impulses and state-dependent delay. By using the theory of evolution family and Krasnoselskii’s fixed point theorem, the existence of mild solutions and total controllability for the considered systems is obtained. Finally, we give two applications to support the validity of the study.

This paper deals with a class of boundary value problems of second-order differential equations with impulses and discontinuity. The existence of single or multiple positive solutions to discontinuous differential equations with impulse effects is established by using the nonlinear alternative of Krasnoselskii’s fixed point theorem for discontinuous operators on cones. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the main results.

This paper is mainly concerned with the exact controllability for a class of impulsive ψ-Caputo fractional evolution equations with nonlocal conditions. First, by generalized Laplace transforms, a mild solution for considered problems is introduced. Next, by the Mönch fixed point theorem, the exact controllability result for the considered systems is obtained under some suitable assumptions. Finally, an example is given to support the validity of the main results.

This paper is concerned with a class of implicit-type coupled system with integral boundary conditions involving Caputo fractional derivatives. First, the existence result of solutions for the considered system is obtained by means of topological degree theory. Next, Ulam–Hyers stability and generalized Ulam–Hyers stability are studied under some suitable assumptions. Finally, one example is worked out to illustrate the main results.

This paper is concerned with multiple solutions for a class of nonlinear fourth-order boundary value problems with parameters. By constructing a special cone and applying fixed point index theory, the multiple solutions for the considered systems are obtained under some suitable assumptions. The main feature of obtained solutions (u(t),v(t)) is that the solution u(t) is positive, and the other solution v(t) may change sign. Finally, two examples with continuous function f1 being positive and f2 being semipositone are worked out to illustrate the main results.

Platelet separation and purification are required in many applications including in the detection and treatment of hemorrhagic and thrombotic diseases, in addition to transfusions and in medical research. In this study, platelet separation was evaluated using a novel zigzag microchannel fluidic device while leveraging a dielectrophoresis (DEP) electric field using the COMSOL multiphysics software package and additional experimentation. The zigzag-shaped microchannel was superior to straight channel devices for cell separation because the sharp corners reduced the required horizontal distance needed for separation and also contributed to an asymmetric DEP electric field. A perfect linear relationship was observed between the separation distance and the corner angles. A quadratic relationship (R2 = 0.99) was observed between the driving voltage and the width and the lengths of the channel, allowing for optimization of these properties. In addition, the voltage was inversely proportional to the channel width and proportional to the channel length. An optimal velocity ratio of 1:4 was identified for the velocities of the two device inlets. The proposed device was fabricated using laser engraving and lithography with optimized structures including a 0.5 mm channel width, a 120° corner angle, a 0.3 mm channel depth, and a 17 mm channel length. A separation efficiency of 99.4% was achieved using a voltage of 20 V and a velocity ratio of 1:4. The easy fabrication, lower required voltage, label-free detection, high efficiency, and environmental friendliness of this device make it suitable for point-of-care medicine and biological applications. Moreover, it can be used for the separation of other types of compounds including lipids.