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posted by janrinok on Tuesday October 08 2019, @06:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the I'm-sure-there-is-a-good-use-for-this dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

Thanks to the wonders of neural networks and machine learning algorithms, it's now possible to do things that were once thought to be inordinately difficult to achieve with computers. It's a combination of the right techniques and piles of computing power that make such feats doable, and [Robert Bond's] ant zapping project is a great example.

The project is based around an NVIDIA Jetson TK1, a system that brings the processing power of a modern GPU to an embedded platform. It's fitted with a USB camera, that is used to scan its field of view for ants. Once detected, thanks to a little OpenCV magic, the coordinates of the insect are passed to the laser system. Twin stepper motors are used to spin mirrors that direct the light from a 5 mW red laser, which is shined on the target. If you're thinking of working on something like this we highly recommend using galvos to direct the laser.

Because why wouldn't you want to?

Source: https://hackaday.com/2019/10/05/tracking-ants-and-zapping-them-with-lasers/


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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by esperto123 on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:11PM (3 children)

    by esperto123 (4303) on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:11PM (#904041)

    If this works for mosquitoes I will throw money at this guy!

    Please build one for mosquitoes, I want to see the suckers (pun intended) be caught mid air!

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by RS3 on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:21PM

    by RS3 (6367) on Tuesday October 08 2019, @01:21PM (#904045)

    Bill Gates had invested $$ into that idea years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser [wikipedia.org]

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @06:33AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @06:33AM (#904556)

    Please build one for mosquitoes, I want to see the suckers (pun intended) be caught mid air!

    Eye damage from the lasers might make it hard to see the suckers... ;)

    Wonder what sort of lasers could kill mosquitoes at range without causing eye damage. The power required to kill a moving mosquito in flight is likely magnitudes higher than what could cause eye damage.

    Use very very many weak lasers that couldn't cause eye damage on their own, but when all pointed at the same mosquito will kill it?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @11:33AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 09 2019, @11:33AM (#904641)

      They mount them at the top of the wall near the ceiling at 90 degrees. So it shines on your mozzies, not in your eyes.