The startup Tornyol has introduced a mosquito-hunting drone. Some mosquitoes are carriers of dangerous diseases, and a relentless battle is being waged against them.
According to statistics, mosquitoes are responsible for the deaths of 700,000 people annually, infecting 700 million and posing a threat to 4 billion people worldwide with diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Traditional methods of mosquito population control, including the treatment of areas with insecticides and biological agents, are proving to be expensive and insufficiently effective. The drones proposed by Tornyol can handle the destruction of mosquitoes locally and at a cost 100 times lower than alternative methods.
The drones are modified toys weighing only 40 grams with autonomous control. They can patrol their assigned territory independently and destroy mosquitoes in mid-air by simply slicing them with their propellers. The approach relies on pure kinetics without any chemical agents.
The detection of mosquitoes, identification of their species, and even their sex occurs through echolocation. The drones carry a phased antenna array—a matrix of microphones that works with a simple ultrasonic transmitter on the drone, borrowed from a car parking system. A special algorithm allows the drones to maneuver in complex conditions without colliding with obstacles and to tear apart any detected mosquito if it is deemed potentially dangerous to humans.
The mosquito recognition system on the drones takes into account the Doppler effect from the flapping of a mosquito's wings and builds a spectrogram for each insect detected in the air. The developers do not disclose details about the technology, citing patent protection requirements. However, they promise that no beneficial insect will be harmed. The system can confidently distinguish, for example, a wasp from a mosquito.
The mosquito protection system includes a base station for charging and coordination: just 10 of these drones can clear a square kilometer of territory, providing round-the-clock protection for gardens or yards from mosquitoes.
One of the system's developers previously worked at a company designing ultrasonic guidance units for missiles and guarantees the reliability of the platform for mosquito extermination based on his experience.
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