Don't be fooled by their tiny size or the fact that you can crush one with your hand. Mosquitos are murderers, killing, by some estimates, more than a million people each year by spreading terrible diseases.
Maker Ildar Rakhmatulin is all too familiar with these killer bugs and decided to do something about it with the help of a Raspberry Pi and a deadly laser. The project relies on artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify and track mosquitoes in real-time. A galvanometer is used to orient the laser before zapping the unsuspecting target. The AI network was trained using a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GPU and Ryzen 5 3600 CPU
To research and develop this project, Rakhmatulin relied on the help of a Raspberry Pi 3 B+. A simple Raspberry Pi Camera module was used to monitor visually for potential mosquitos.
Once a mosquito has been identified, the Pi sends a command to the galvanometer to adjust the mirrors and target the mosquito. Once it's in position, the laser is powered, delivering a devastating blast to the insect. It then does a follow-up sweep to make sure the mosquito threat is completely terminated.
Would this work in the real world? There's an interesting discussion on Hacker News, where this was first shared, about whether a 1W laser would be safe if a human was exposed to it. Also, the article claims that the mosquitos were only 300mm away from the laser, which is not exactly far. And this is a pre-printed article with no video showing it in action.
If you want to read about this project in detail, visit the project page on PrePrints. Check out our list of best Raspberry Pi Projects for more cool creations from the maker community.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
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no_name_4 That's cool and looks pretty impressive, but what happens when the mosquito is on my face?Reply -
jerimiah797 This idea has been around for 10 years... where do I buy mine? Or how about a tutorial.. It's bizarre that something so amazing gets revived periodically but still isn't actually real.Reply
https://www.ted.com/talks/nathan_myhrvold_could_this_laser_zap_malaria/transcript?language=en -
Blatantruth This needs to have 4 or more lasers all converge on the bug from different vectors. If any one laser falls on you, it does no damage. You would need 3 or more at once hitting something to heat it up enough to kill instantly.Reply