Remote-Controlled Monitoring of Flying Pests with an Electrostatic Insect Capturing Apparatus Carried by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Koji Kakutani,Yoshinori Matsuda,Hideyoshi Toyoda,Kazumi Osamura,Yoshihiro Takikawa,Teruo Nonomura

doi:10.3390/agriculture11020176

Koji Kakutani, Yoshinori Matsuda + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11020176

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Journal: Agriculture	Publication Date: Feb 20, 2021
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Kindai University, Panasonic (Japan)

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to construct an electrostatic insect-capturing apparatus that could be applied to a drone (quadcopter). For this purpose, a double-charged dipolar electric field screen (DD-screen) was constructed using oppositely charged insulator tubes that was then attached to a drone. For charging, the inner surface of the tubes was coated with a conductive paste and then linked to a negative or positive voltage generator. The opposite charges of the tubes formed an electric field between them and created an attractive force to capture insects that entered the field. The DD-screen constructed here was sufficiently light to enable its attachment to a drone. The screen was hung from the drone perpendicular to the direction of drone movement, so as to receive the longitudinal airflow produced by the movement of the drone. It was positioned 1.8 m below the drone body to avoid the influence of the downward slipstream generated by the rotating propellers. Eventually, the drone was able to conduct a stable flight, with sufficient endurance, and captured airborne insects carried by an airflow of 8 m/s during the flight. This study, therefore, provides an experimental basis for establishing a new method for conducting trap-based monitoring of airborne insects during remote-controlled flight through operation of a DD-screen attached to a drone.

Highlights

An electric field screen is an air-shielding apparatus that harnesses the nature of an electric field [1]
A new approach for direct monitoring of airborne insects was developed based on electrostatic engineering techniques combined with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology
An electric field screen was used to create an attractive force in a static electric field and capture insects that entered the electric field

Summary

Introduction

An electric field screen is an air-shielding apparatus that harnesses the nature of an electric field [1]. Such screens have been used in various facilities to capture airborne spores of pathogens [2,3], flying insect pests [4,5], pollen grains that cause pollenosis [6], and fine smoke particles [7]. All screens have a simple, common structure, which typically includes an electric driver (an electric power source and direct current (DC) voltage generator) and a screen body. The electric driver is common to all types of electric field screen; the screen body may vary depending on the application. The terms single-charged and double-charged refer to the mode of voltage application, i.e., using a single negative or positive voltage generator or using two generators, respectively

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