A COMPUTER-BASED INSECT MONITORING SYSTEM FOR STORED-PRODUCTS USING INFRARED SENSORS

Abstract

Insect infestations in stored agricultural commodities result in annual losses of millions of dollars. Traditional practices for detecting and quantifying infestations in stored-grain involve the labor intensive steps of obtaining and visually inspecting grain samples. The Electronic Grain Probe Insect Counter (EGPIC) system was developed to provide automated real-time monitoring of insects in stored-products. Insect counts from an array of electronic grain probes distributed throughout a storage volume are transmitted to a central computer for display and temporal analysis. A count occurs when an insect, upon entering a cylindrical perforated tube (a commercial grain probe trap), drops through an infrared beam projected within a custom designed sensor head attached to the bottom of the tube. The sensor head was designed to resist dust accumulating and insects crawling in the beam pathway, which would result in counting errors. For large-scale implementations, a tree-structured (distributed multiplexing) network was developed for computer acquisition of insect count data from up to a million addressable probes with a minimal amount of cable. In laboratory trials with major stored-product beetle pests, the EGPIC system counting accuracy was greater than 95%. A field trial with an eight-probe system was conducted during the summer of 1996 with newly stored oats in a commercial grain bin. Overall accuracy of the system was 79% in counting insects on a per-probe basis. Thus, by providing early detection of emerging infestations, the EGPIC system can allow managers to initiate targeted control measures on an as-needed basis but before substantial losses occur.