American startup Tornyol has created an automatic micro-drone that hunts mosquitoes. This 40 gram drone identifies insects by sound and kills them in the air. This technology is 100 times cheaper and aims to eliminate mosquitoes.
Mosquito Control Technology: The biggest enemy of humans i.e. mosquitoes will now be killed in the air itself. An American startup company ‘Tornyol’ has come up with one such new technology. Things that were once seen in science-fiction films are now becoming reality. The company has created an automatic micro-drone that can chase and hunt insects. Its successful test has also been done.
A moth became the first victim
During testing, this tiny drone accurately hit and dropped a moth flying in the air. The world’s famous startup incubator ‘Y Combinator’ has invested money in this company. This success of Tornyol is being considered a big step towards completely eliminating mosquitoes that spread deadly diseases in the future.
Weight only 40 grams, cost 100 times less!
Two engineers named Alex Toussaint and Clovis Piedallu have designed these drones. Their weight is only 40 grams. The company claims that this drone technology will be up to 100 times cheaper than the current methods of eliminating mosquitoes.
These drones use smartphone microphones, ultrasonic sensors installed in car parking systems and an advanced software to track insects. The company estimates that 10 such drones together can completely eliminate mosquitoes from an area of one square kilometer.
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This surprising test was done on July 14 last. Alex Toussaint also released a video of this, in which the drone itself is chasing and killing an insect inside a lab. Alex described this success as the company’s first “air-to-air kill”. At present this test has been done with the help of computers and motion-capture cameras, but engineers say that in a few weeks this entire technology will start working on the drone’s own in-built hardware.
Will also be able to identify male and female mosquitoes
These drones emit ultrasonic waves and detect their prey by analyzing the echoes produced by the sound of insects’ wing flaps. With the difference in this sound, drones can not only distinguish mosquitoes from other insects, but can also find out which species the mosquito is and whether it is male or female. Tornyol aims to make urban areas completely mosquito-free in the future by using large swarms of such drones.