Patent Application
20200154686
The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to automatic handling and sorting of insects for growth and subsequent release and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to such handling that may be scalable to many millions of insects.
Laboratories rear and develop mosquitoes with unique characteristics such as sterility, or that their offspring do not transmit specific diseases etc.
For example, diseases such as malaria and zika are spread by female mosquitoes biting humans and transferring the disease. One way of controlling mosquito populations involves sterile males. Female mosquitoes mate only once and should they meet a sterile male then they will fail to reproduce. However it is a challenge to produce and then introduce into the environment sufficient sterile males to have a significant on an overall geographical area.
Other diseases of humans, of livestock and of plants, are spread by insect vectors, and the insects concerned may be targeted in similar ways.
Today, rearing facilities exist where large numbers of insects are reared per week for release into the environment. The insects are provided in large numbers of release boxes and the process is very labor intensive.
During the rearing process and preparations of the release boxes, one of the especially labor intensive steps is the filling of the release boxes.
Today there is no solution for mass automatic or semi-automatic preparation of the release boxes. Automation today extends only to life cycle phases of the mosquito up to the pupa stage and may include mechanical sex separation of pupa to males and females, automatic larvae feeding etc. Mosquitoes in particular are delicate in their adult form and handling methods need to be adapted for the constitution of the particular insect.
Mosquitoes have a lifestyle which begins as an egg. A larva is hatched which lives in water and eventually pupates. The pupa form lives in water, breathing air while on the surface, and can swim to a certain extent but does not eat. Eventually an adult emerges. The adult male has mouth parts which only allow the consumption of liquids. In nature they eat nectar from flowers and in captive rearing programs tend to be given sugar water.
The present embodiments relate to automating the handling of the insects from the pupa stage until release as adults.
Automatic handling may include loading of pupae into a tank or trays and then into cartridges, and the cartridges are placed in magazines. The cartridges are characterized by removable water and a net, so that the same cartridges may serve for the underwater pupa stage and the dry land adult stage, and propeller-free pumps to move the insects from, to, in and between the cartridges.
Automatic handling may further include an X-Y distribution device that holds cartridges in queues within magazines and presents the magazines to an emptying machine or expulsion unit. Thus the magazines are structured devices that hold cartridges ready for release. A structure in the cartridge may facilitate robot feeding of the adult insects with sugar water and the like.
Suction may be used to insert or transfer insects into the appropriate cartridge or box.
The cartridge may be loaded with pupae which subsequently hatch into adults, or alternatively the cartridge may be loaded with adults after hatching. Filling a cartridge with adult insects may involve suction or blowing, and a wall of air may be used on a cage of mosquitoes by directing the wall to different parts of the cage, to push insects into a collecting tube. In addition, small boxes may be independently filled and then connected together to make larger cartridges. This is useful because small boxes are easier to fill, whereas larger cartridges are easier to handle subsequently.
Embodiments also include suction of insects while they are cold and inert.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided apparatus for automatic loading of pupae into cartridges for growing, hatching into adults and dispersal of the adults, comprising:
Embodiments may comprise a suction tube connected to the source of pupae to suck pupae from the source for filling the cartridge, or a suction tube connected to a robot arm to direct the suction tube to the pupae, or a scoop to scoop up the pupae from the pupae source.
An embodiment may comprise a measuring cup to collect pupae from the suction tube, and to fill a measured dose of the pupae into the cartridge.
In an embodiment, the measuring cup comprises a sensor for detecting when the cup is full. The sensor may be for example a weight detector, a proximity detector, an ultrasonic sensor, a capacitive sensor or a camera, or any other sensor with the required sensitivity.
In an embodiment, the suction tube may be any of a propeller-free pump, a Venturi pump, a pipette and a piston, or any other kind of transport device that does not damage the pupae.
In an embodiment, the cartridge comprises upper doors, the upper doors comprising an upper door latch mechanism for robot operation.
In an embodiment, the cartridge further comprises lower doors facing the upper doors, the lower doors comprising a lower door latch mechanism for robot operation.
In an embodiment, the cartridge comprises at least one feeding hole, the feeding hole containing a liquid absorbent material for holding sugar water.
In an embodiment, the pupa source comprises water holding the pupae and an air current mechanism configured to blow across the water to concentrate the pupae for collection.
In an embodiment, the pupa source comprises water holding the pupae and a net configured to move across the water to concentrate the pupae at one side of the pupa source for collection.
Embodiments may comprise a cartridge expulsion mechanism, the cartridge expulsion mechanism comprising a funnel, an air pressure source and an outlet, the expulsion mechanism configured to open doors of a cartridge at two opposite ends and provide a wave of air pressure to expel insects from within the cartridge via the outlet for dispersion.
Embodiments may comprise a plurality of cartridges placed together in a magazine, and a pupa filling robot configured to direct pupa from the pupa source to succeeding ones of the cartridges, thereby to fill all cartridges of the magazine with pupae.
Embodiments may comprise a closing robot configured with a door contact and a latch contact, to close and latch upper doors of the cartridges after the filling of the magazine.
Embodiments may comprise a feeding robot. The feeding robot has a liquid dispenser for dispensing sugar water to the cartridges so that the feeding robot directs the liquid dispenser to feeding holes in successive cartridges of the magazine to dispense sugar water for each cartridge.
An embodiment may comprise a magazine expulsion mechanism, the magazine expulsion mechanism comprising a funnel, an air pressure source and an outlet, the expulsion mechanism configured to open doors of successive cartridges of the magazine at two opposite ends and provide a wave of air pressure to expel insects from within the cartridge via the outlet for dispersion.
In an embodiment, the magazine expulsion mechanism is slidably mounted for controllable travel along a height of the magazine to reach respective ones of the successive cartridges.
In an embodiment, the magazine expulsion mechanism is at a fixed height and the magazine is mounted for controllable travel to present respective ones of the successive cartridges to the magazine expulsion mechanism.
In an embodiment, the cartridge comprises a plurality of rounded cells.
Embodiments may comprise a suction tube, a sensor, and a pick up robot, the sensor configured to detect pupae or clusters of pupae in the pupa source, and the robot being configured to align the suction tube with the detected pupae or clusters, and the suction tube applying suction when aligned, thereby to pick up pupae from the source to place in a respective cartridge.
According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present invention there is provided apparatus for drawing adult insects or pupae from a source for placing in a cartridge, the apparatus comprising:
Embodiments may comprise a sensor to sense locations of insects or pupae, and a robot arm attached to a first end of the suction tube to direct the suction tube to the sensed locations.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for loading and then expelling insects, comprising:
In an embodiment, the queue is a plurality of queues, and the transport unit is a conveyor, each the queue having a respective conveyor, the apparatus further comprising a transfer unit configured to transport magazines between the queues and from a foremost queue to the expulsion unit.
In an embodiment, the transfer unit is configured to move the magazines between conveyors and from the conveyors to the expulsion unit.
In an embodiment, the cartridges comprise upper doors and lower doors opposite the upper doors, the upper and lower doors being openable by the expulsion mechanism.
In an embodiment, the expulsion mechanism is a magazine expulsion mechanism comprising a funnel, an air pressure source and an outlet, the expulsion mechanism configured to open doors of successive cartridges of the magazine at two opposite ends and provide a wave of air pressure to expel insects from within the cartridge via the outlet for dispersion.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for filling a cartridge with adult insects from an insect source, the apparatus comprising:
In an embodiment, the air pressure source is configured to provide a directable blade of moving air.
In an embodiment, the aiming mechanism uses a camera to direct the aiming at an insect.
In an embodiment, the air pressure source is a suction source provided through the collecting mechanism.
Embodiments may comprise a counting device for counting numbers of the adult insects passing through the collecting device, thereby to supply cartridges with predetermined numbers of insects.
Embodiments may comprise a plurality of cartridges for collecting the insects, and a directing arm configured to move either or both of the output end of the collecting device between the cartridges, and an input end of the collecting device. The input end may be moved to align with insects currently being toppled from within the cage.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a cartridge for holding adult insects, the cartridge comprising openable doors at a first end and at a second end opposite the first end, and at least one feed opening, the feed opening containing a liquid absorbent material held within the feed opening.
Embodiments may comprise a first layer of netting inside the layer of liquid absorbent material.
In an embodiment, the liquid absorbent layer is located between the first layer of netting and one other layer of netting. The netting may hold the layer.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for automatic loading of pupae into cartridges for growing, hatching into adults and dispersal of the adults, comprising:
In an embodiment, the gathering mechanism comprises an air pressure source to blow across the pupa source to concentrate the pupae at the predetermined part for collection.
In an embodiment, the gathering mechanism comprises a net configured to move across the source to concentrate the pupae at the predetermined part for collection.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for loading and then expelling insects, comprising:
In an embodiment, the transport element is a conveyor belt, the conveyor belt extending in a third axis, the third axis being perpendicular to both of the first and second axes.
Embodiments may comprise at least one additional queue of magazines and an additional conveyor belt associated with the at least one additional queue, the conveyor belt configured to transport cartridges from the at least one additional queue to the first conveyor.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for automatic loading of pupae into cartridges for growing, hatching into adults and dispersal of the adults, comprising:
The method may comprise carrying out the draining at a temperature below 10 degrees C. or below 9 degrees C. or below 6 degrees C.
The method may further comprise:
In an embodiment, the automatically feeding is repeated at least once.
According to a ninth aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for filling a cartridge with adult insects from an insect source, the apparatus comprising:
A tenth aspect of the present embodiments relates to placing cartridges directly over the pupa trays and opening doors so that the emerging insects are filled directly into the cartridges. In this aspect there is provided a method for filling cartridges with adult insects, comprising:
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and/or scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the invention, exemplary methods and/or materials are described below. In case of conflict, the patent specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be necessarily limiting.
Some embodiments of the invention are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of embodiments of the invention. In this regard, the description taken with the drawings makes apparent to those skilled in the art how embodiments of the invention may be practiced.
In the drawings:
The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to automatic handling and sorting of insects for growth and subsequent release and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to such handling that may be scalable to many millions of insects.
There are many articles and protocols addressing the mass production of mosquitoes for SIT (sterile insect technique) projects. However none address any linkage or interface between the mass rearing factory and the field operations, and furthermore, none address automated processing and preparation of the release boxes. Rather, articles usually address different diets, machines for automatic feeding of larva trays, sex separation, mainly during the larva or pupa stage, mainly using mechanical or biological technologies, but also including using automated vision.
The present embodiments may integrate methods and systems from the point the mosquitoes are all eggs, or hatching or hatched as pupa, until the dispersion stage as adults, into a single automated process.
The present embodiments may provide a production line whose output is hundreds of cartridges full of male mosquitoes, ready for release in suitable release devices.
The present embodiments may further include various suitable release devices.
Thus embodiments may provide a semi-automatic rearing facility consisting of a production line that starts with hatching pupae and produces loaded release cartridges with adult insects.
Other embodiments may be fully automatic.
The production line may be integrated with a release system that uses suitable release cartridges, the production line filling the release cartridges suitable for the specific release system.
The current art uses measuring cups in order to measure the number of pupae per box, and one way of feeding is to place cotton balls with sugar water in or above each box.
When a human being manually collects pupa from a tank of water, even if the pupa are spread around in the water tank, then he/she is still able to collect the pupa.
A robotic element may be provided that sucks the water out along with the pupae. However such a solution is problematic, as the suction has to work in such a way that it is directed at the pupae and does not do them damage or otherwise the suction unit may suck only water while the pupae become concentrated at another location, and the automatic process may thus take too much time, instead of optimizing the process.
Furthermore, the present embodiments aim, not just to automatically fill release boxes which are separated from each other, but rather to automatically fill large numbers of release boxes which are connected to each other as part of a large scale integrated release system. The present embodiments face issues such as how to automatically open a cartridge, decide when the cartridge is full, close the cartridge and move on to the next cartridge.
Furthermore, for successful large scale operation, the feeding of the pupae needs to be automated, and the present embodiments may provide a robotic feeding device. Furthermore the magazine holding the cartridges is supplied with a feeding enclosure.
The magazine may also include the elements that make it easy for automatic removal of water that is needed during the pupa stage but is no longer needed after the mosquitoes hatch.
A release mechanism is provided onto which the magazines can be loaded for release.
The input for the rearing facility of the present embodiments may be insect eggs or larvae or pupae, such as mosquito eggs or mosquito larva or mosquito pupa, and there is automatic preparation of the release cartridges. The output of the production line in the facility of the present embodiments is a magazine of cartridges, with a counted number of mosquitoes per cartridge. Depending on the embodiment used, counting may be accurate to around ten percent.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components and/or methods set forth in the following description and/or illustrated in the drawings and/or the Examples. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways.
Referring now to the drawings,
Insects are bred 10 from the egg stage to the pupa stage. At this point, the pupa are in water, typically in breeding tanks or trays. The pupae may be mixed male and female, only male or only female, and the distribution plan may require mixed, only male or only female insects. Thus if the pupae or full grown insects are not suitably sorted for release—box 12—then they need to be sorted using suitable methods that exist in the art—box 14.
Once the insects are sorted, then some adult insects or pupae or other insect related material is then moved into a breeding cage 16, or directly into cartridges 18. The cartridges may be arranged in magazines 20 and provided for release 22.
The magazine may maximize utilization of space by providing at least two columns of cartridges and each cartridge may be obtained and released independently. More than two columns may be provided according to a suitable layout.
Optionally, box 20 may be omitted and the cartridges may be provided as single units rather than in a magazine, say for cases where just a small area is intended to be covered, or where the distribution vehicle is unable to take a complete magazine.
The cartridges may be filled with pupae, which are then left to allow the pupae to hatch, followed by release of the adult insects. In an alternative embodiment, adult mosquitoes are transferred into the cartridges. The transfer may take place directly after the adults emerge from the pupa stage and start flying, or the adults may be actively picked during the emergence process and before they start flying.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The pupae are provided in tanks and a tank or tray 38 is provided alongside a magazine 39 of multiple cartridges 40. Filling robot 41 fills each cartridge with a measured quantity of pupae, as will be explained in greater detail below. Closing robot 42 then closes the cartridges. It is possible to have a self-closing mechanism, say a cam-based mechanism that closes all the cartridges in a magazine after they pass a certain point. As illustrated however, an external robot does the closing and this has two main advantages. First of all the frame or magazine has fewer mechanical components, and secondly the robot can be programmed if necessary to vary the parameters of the closing operation, say to close later on or further down the line or more rapidly or more slowly.
Feeding robot 44 then feeds the cartridges in the magazine, as will be explained in greater detail below and the magazines are moved towards storage locations 46.
Reference is now made to
The magazine 50 comprises a frame that holds together a series of cartridges 52. Hence the magazine is also referred to as a frame. In embodiments, the sizes of the cartridges may be changed to enable changes in the number of pupae and adults per each cartridge, thus enabling change in release density on the ground.
Each cartridge 52 has a pair of upper doors or closures 54, 56, which are initially held open. As will be discussed in detail below, an alternative is a normally closed design, wherein the mechanism may actively open the doors. Each door may have a net-covered opening 57 to allow feeding, as will be explained in greater detail below. The cartridges include latches 59 for latching the doors 54 and 56, and central structure 58 in the magazine across the cartridges includes a mechanism for providing magazine level control of the latches, as will be explained in greater detail hereinbelow.
On the underside of magazine 50, the cartridges have drainage holes 60. The drainage holes allow the cartridge to be filled with water when the insects are in the pupa stage, and to be drained when the adult stage is reached. A slope inside the cartridge may be provided in order to ease the drainage of water towards the holes. Holes may be located in one area such as depicted in the drawing, or at a few corners, or even spread all over the floor.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Pupae require to be in water and thus each magazine is placed in a water tray 86. The drainage 60 holes provided in each cartridge ensure that water from the water tray easily fills the cartridges. In order to drain the cartridges, all that is required is to lift the magazine from the water tray, so that air enters from above and water drains away beneath. In addition, a nozzle may be provided to fill the cartridge adequately with water.
Closing robot 88 closes the doors of the cartridges as the magazine passes the position of the closing robot. Feeding robot 90 provides food for each cartridge, as will be explained in greater detail below.
Reference is now made to
Each magazine being filled has a separate pupa tray 102, although in the alternative, a single larger pupa tray could be provided. The embodiment is not limited to the number five, but any number of filling robots may fill magazines in parallel at a pupa filling station of a desired capacity.
After filling, the entire set may move on to the next station. The filling operation is a rate limiting step, whereas closing and feeding can be carried out more quickly, thus there is less need to provide parallel processing at the later stations, but such parallel processing for closing and feeding may be provided if desired.
An advantage of having robotic operation is the ability to scale up, and, as shown in
Once all the magazines at the station are full, the conveyor 80 may move the entire set of magazines to the next station. There is a window of hours to days during which the transition from pupa to adult may occur, depending on the stage at which the pupae have been collected, so that there is little concern that mosquitoes will start to emerge while the closures are still open.
An alternative configuration for parallel processing is one in which several conveyors are provided in parallel.
The process of filling the cartridges using robotics is now explained in greater detail. Referring now to
Reference is now made to
In accordance with a third embodiment, robot 124 holds the ends of the suction tubes and moves the suction tubes 126 to the next available pupa tray or region of pupa concentration in the tray, for example guided by camera which identify the concatenation.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The collection process is designed to provide a specific number of pupae for each filling operation. Thus in an example each cartridge may take a thousand pupae. The idea is that each time the net moves it shifts a thousand pupae. When each thousand pupae have been gathered up and removed from the tray, the net shifts again. Reference is now made to
Given the size of pupa tray 150, which is seen from above, a distance k meters is calculated which holds the requisite number of pupae across a width w. The net 152 may be controlled to move the distance K meters, where the area K−m*W, indicated by reference numeral 154, accommodates the required number of pupae.
When mosquito pupae are under stress they dive in water and then resurface. Thus the process of propagating the net may be particularly slow, so as to minimize any harmful effects on the pupae.
After the required number of pupa are collected, as discussed in greater detail below, then the net may propagate for the same distance again to close the gap which was created after the current removal operation of the pupa from the current pupa tray.
Reference is now made to
A pump without a propeller is preferably used to suck via pipes 160 so the pupa being transferred are not harmed. There are different of-the-shelf water pumps that do not use propellers. One example uses a Venturi pump. Another example is a pipette, and a further example is a piston. By applying an air pressure source at the entrance to the pipes 160, or to the air chamber of the pipette, flow is controlled and water together with pupa is sucked and poured into a measuring cup 162. The measuring cup is held by at ends 168 of robot arm 170. The piston and pipette likewise has a chamber that is filled and emptied to suck contents from the source and blow the contents into the measuring cup or directly into the cartridge depending on the embodiment.
The measuring cup has an opening on top and bottom. The opening at the bottom is very small, enabling water to drain from the cup, leaving only pupa inside the cup 162. A collector trough 164 collects the drainage water and returns it to the tray. A sensor 166 identifying the held volume is connected to the control unit. Such a sensor may be a capacitive sensor which is mounted at a height representing the required number of mosquitoes (e.g. 1,000 per cartridge). The height may be adjusted. Such sensing may happen at discrete times when there is no suction or falling insects that may interfere with the sensing process. A camera sensor though may enable a continuous measurement.
Reference is now made to
In order not to interfere with the measurements, the filling process may stop every few seconds to enable the taking of a measurement to decide if the cup is full. If the cup is full then the cup empties into the current cartridge and the process is repeated for the next cartridge. If the cup is not full then filling continues, as more pupae are required. In an alternative embodiment the filling action is continuous and measurement is taken while filling is going on.
A control unit controls the robotic arm in accordance with outputs from the sensor to either continue pouring pupae into the cup, or to stop since the required number of pupae has been reached, and empty the cup into the current cartridge.
Once the cup is filled, robotic arm 170 may move the cup above the current cartridge, or cell within the cartridge if the cartridge is of the kind that is divided into cells, turn over the cup and cause the pupae to pour into the cartridge or cell.
Robots with manipulator arms are off-the-shelf components. The magazine is held at well-defined coordinates for filling, so that the required coordinates can be sent to the robot arm which computes the path, using for example reverse kinematics, which the arm may take in order to place the cup above the correct cartridge or cell. That is to say the measuring cup is placed above the center of each cartridge or cell.
In an embodiment, the robot arm may strike a flange during the rotation of the cup for pouring, in order to create an impact that ensures that all of the pupa are emptied more easily from the cup. In another embodiment a nozzle may be placed above the cup which may spray water directly above the opposite cup, thus helping the pupa to fall down into the cartridge.
In
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The embodiment of
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
As an alternative, a closing mechanism may be included on the cartridges themselves. Thus the doors may be connected to actuated hinges, or to hinges operated by a cam system. The robot however allows the cartridges to be more simply constructed.
Thus closing robot 230 comprises a robotic arm able to move in the Z direction 241, that is up and down, and has frames 236 and 238 which may fold inwardly. The frames 236 and 238 are initially open as the magazine enters the closing position which is below the robot. The frames being open enable movement beneath them. Once the magazine reaches the closing position, the magazine may be detected by a sensor located at the station. The sensor stops the conveyor when detecting a magazine at the position and the frames fold in to close the doors. The frames, while already closing the doors then go down along the Z axis to push and latch the doors.
The embodiment of
Reference is now made to
In the present embodiments, robotic feeder 260 has an arm 262 that is able to move over each of the cartridges 264 in magazine 266 which is currently at the feeding station, and spray a liquid which contains the sugar water using a liquid spray or dispensing attachment 268 held in the arm. The liquid spray is inserted into absorbent material in feeding holes in the cartridges as will be described in greater detail hereinbelow. The magazine is typically still in water tray 270. Such a feeding process may be repeated later on, preferably at regular intervals, to keep the adults fed until dispersal, as will be mentioned again hereinbelow.
Reference is now made to
It is also possible to have only one net or even zero nets, in which case the absorbent layer may be attached to the single net and to the cartridge, or simply directly to the cartridge.
Also shown is latch 290 in the open position and locking element 292, which allows the door 280 to be latched shut. The automatic feeding is an optional step increasing the automation level of the process.
There are many kind of liquid dispensing robot attachments which the skilled person may select from. As with the other robots, once on site, the robotic arm may be programmed to find the exact cartridge locations.
Following feeding, the magazine may be taken to a storage location.
Once the cartridges are loaded and fresh food has been provided, they are moved to initial storage positions for the duration of the pupa hatching process. Placement of the magazines in initial storage may be manual or may use a series of conveyors or robot arms to navigate the magazines to suitable locations. Alternatively robot arms may be used to place the magazines in their storage positions. In any event, because the pupae have not completed hatching, the water trays are still required and any movement of the magazines should not upset the water.
Reference is now made to
As all the pupae are now hatched, the water is no longer needed, and as the tray is removed, all the water in the cartridges is left to drain via drainage holes, to leave no water residue inside the cartridges of the magazine. When the robotic arm 304 lifts up the magazine 306 it may wait for a predefined time (e.g. one minute) in order to enable all the water to drain. If another degree of freedom is available to the robotic arm, it may tilt the magazine slowly to provide a slope to enhance the pouring effect of the water through the drainage holes at the bottom of the magazine closure. The robot arm at location 202 is shown enlarged in
A repeat feeding station 316, shown enlarged in
The cartridge structure including net-covered drainage holes enables draining of the cartridge without the mosquitoes being able to escape. Furthermore the drainage process may be automated.
Once the magazine 306 and water trays 312 are separated, the trays may continue on conveyor 303 to a cleaning station, which may either be manned or robotic. Trays 312 are stored, and later can be reused. Each tray 312 is filled with an empty magazine filled with water, and the magazine is filled with mosquito pupae.
Mounting the empty magazine into the empty tray may be manual, or may be carried out using a robotic arm similar to robotic arm 304, that makes use of two sources—a row of empty magazines and a row of trays, with or still without water. The robotic arm may lift the next empty magazine and place it inside the next empty tank, sending the combination towards the first step in the automatic filling process.
In the above, pupa are poured into the cartridge which has drainage holes on the floor that are protected by netting. Upon emergence the water is drained from the cartridge through the nets. However the cartridge retains pupa shells. Thus, during release, which as described below may depend on air flow through the cartridge, the shells may interfere with the flow of air. Furthermore, adult mosquitoes may cling to any net and thus resist the release process.
Thus a cartridge may be provided that has drainage holes which are not covered by netting. As the cartridge is in the tray, no netting is needed to prevent mosquitoes from escaping. Pupa are poured in and may be in different cells. When the adults have all emerged, the conveyor or other transport means, may take the magazine to a separator station. There the temperature may be low enough, at less than 10 degrees and in the order of 6-9 degrees C., the exact temperature depending on the specific species, that none or very few of the adults move. The cartridge is lifted from the tray so that water and all the shells and other remains stay in the water tray. The adult mosquitoes do not escape due to the low temperature. The cartridge is then placed in a closure tray whose sole purpose is to close the hole or holes at the bottom. The closure tray may be mechanically attached to the cartridge.
Reference is now made to
In the present embodiment the magazine size is fixed to fit the production line and the expelling mechanism is fixed by the cartridge and magazine sizes. Thus in order to be able to release of the order of millions of mosquitoes, thousands of cartridges are required in the release device. A single two-dimensional X-Y frame is not sufficient for the number of cartridges required. Thus cartridges need to be placed in a depth dimension as well, and need suitable handling to provide to the expulsion mechanism.
Reference is now made to
If areas without release are required, then suitable Start and Finish points may be defined and release only occurs after a start point before the first finish point.
Unlike chemical release systems mounted on airplanes and connected to GPS waypoints, the machine and release device of the present embodiments may release a single release cartridge altogether, or every variable number of seconds so that the amount of release can be regulated. This contrasts with current chemical release systems which release the chemicals continuously until they stop.
The duration between each consecutive release may be calibrated and depend on the required density of released insects per square meter, and on the release device (e.g. moving vehicle) speed.
For example if the vehicle is driving at 18 km/hr (5 meter/second), and assuming the firing takes fractions of a second, assuming each cartridge contain 1,000 insects, insects travel on average 100 meters, then the system may be calibrated to fire a cartridge every 20 seconds. Once a cartridge is released, then 20 seconds later the vehicle has moved 100 meters at 5 m/sec. In order to have a coverage of 1,000 insects per ha (10,000 square meter), then the next release position should be at distance of maximum 100 m away parallel to the current firing point.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
A queue 360 of loaded magazines 362, each full of cartridges, extends around the release device 364. Firing mechanism 366 releases all the cartridges one by one of the magazine placed in the firing position at the mechanism 366.
Although as illustrated the expulsion unit may move up and down, an embodiment may have an expulsion unit that is fixed and the magazine moves up and down instead to line up the different cartridges one by one with the expulsion unit.
Once all cartridges in the current magazine are empty they are moved on to rejoin the back of the queue, and empty magazines eventually take up all three storage walls.
At the beginning all the cartridges are full, and the first full magazine enters the firing mechanism and all magazines move one place forward in the direction of arrows 368 towards the firing mechanism, leaving an empty place 370 adjacent to the firing station.
Once empty the current magazine is moved to the empty space and the next magazine enters the firing mechanism.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
In the above, the current magazine sits in the firing position and the release or expulsion mechanism moves up and down to open the cartridges and expel the insects from the individual cartridges. In an alternative embodiment, instead of having the firing unit travel on the Z axis (and possibly on the X-Y axis) in order to move between cartridges, it is possible to have the firing unit fixed, and have the entire frame move up and down, right and left, to locate a different cartridge each time in front of the firing unit. Thus, instead of moving the firing unit, the frame moves but the basic principle is the same. The frame moves into the firing position and then moves up and down say by means of a robotic arm.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The left and right rails may be controlled independently to provide two half expulsion mechanisms, to be used individually or in parallel so as to regulate the output at any given time.
The receiving funnels 412 may move towards the cartridge and their structure engages the latch 416, opening the cartridge doors as they arrive. The receiving funnels may be able to move back and forth along rails 444 and 446 against the slide 440.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The outer element 474 rides on rails 488 and 489 on slider 490 which in turn slides on support column 492. Expulsion pipes 494 receive expelled insects from funnels 496 which in turn receive insects from the current cartridge, which are blown out by air from the inner element 472.
It is noted that in embodiments the left rails 476, 488 and the right rails 477, 489, may be moved independently, to provide two independent propulsion systems. The propulsion systems may be mounted to the respective rails via mounting brackets 498.
It is further noted that instead of a blower at the inner element, a suction unit may be provided at the outer part, or a combination of the two could be used for additional dispersal power.
Reference is now made to
A slide limiter 508 retains the sliding mechanism within the confines of the magazine.
In the previous embodiments, the cartridges were loaded with pupae which subsequently hatched into adults in the cartridge. Reference is now made to
Inverted funnel 520 is placed on pupa tray 522 which holds the pupae. A blower 524 provides an air current from one end to blow air towards transport pipe 526. The inverted funnel sits over the tray 522 during the period that the pupae are expected to hatch and mosquitoes slowly emerge in their instar form. The instars begin to fly and are picked up by the air current and blown via the transport tube 526 to the current cartridge.
At the far end of the pipe 526, a robot arm 528, or a simple X-Y gantry, positions the pipe end 530 over the current cartridge. When the current cartridge is filled, the pipe end is then moved to the next cartridge in the magazine 532. A sensor 534 along the pipe may detect passing mosquitoes and provide a count to determine when each cartridge is full. The sensor may be a camera, such as a CCD based camera, or may be a capacitive bridge or any other suitable option known to the skilled person that is able to provide a count of passing mosquitoes.
Once the pipe end 530 is positioned above the correct cartridge, a connection is made to the cartridge to operate the latches and the cartridge doors open if not already open. Thus a direct flow of insects into the cartridge is enabled. Once the pipe 526 and cartridge are connected, the blower 524 is turned on and starts puffing emerging mosquitoes. Counter 534 counts the number of live mosquitoes flowing through the pipe. Once the required number is reached, the blower stops. The pipe is disconnected from the cartridge, and the cartridge doors close to prevent escape of the adult mosquitoes. The pipe is then connected to the next cartridge, the blower is turned on again and the process repeats until all cartridges in the magazine 532 are full.
Counting the number of mosquitoes moving through the pipe may be carried out using one or more video cameras looking at the pipe 526 from various angles, the pipe being transparent, at least where the counting is carried out.
Another option for counting is to have a capacitive sensor surrounding the pipe. The capacitive sensor may read any interference within the pipe itself. Hence if two insects pass exactly at the same time at the same position they may be counted as one, although this is a fairly unlikely event. In order to decrease the chances of miscounting, an additional capacitive sensor may be placed at a different location on the pipe, and the probability is reduced of the insects passing both sensors together.
In an embodiment, the funnel may be moved, say by a robot arm, to different locations to catch the insects being knocked down by the air blade.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Specifically when the desired number of mosquitoes has been supplied to one of the cartridges, as identified by a controller connected to the counter 620, the controller switches off the blower so that the supply of mosquitoes stops, and immediately afterwards the robotic arm may move up and extract the pipe end from the current cartridge. The cartridge opening consequently closes, and the controller commands the robotic arm to move the pipe end to the next cartridge position, enter the magazine and connect to the next cartridge. Then the controller may send a command to the blower to start blowing emerging mosquitoes once again and the process repeats itself until all cartridges are fully loaded.
The counting may use a capacitive sensor and commercially available sensors shaped as a hollow frame, enable the identification of moving objects through the frame, even if the moving object is within a pipe.
As discussed in greater detail above, if two or more mosquitoes pass the sensor together they may be miscounted as one, hence additional sensors may be used.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The opening of the individual release boxes as they reach the release mechanism may be as follows:
As illustrated, the cartridges are connected to each other, forming a long chain of connected cartridges.
The system of
The release process may be as follows:
Reference is now made to
The cartridge propagating system may comprise a turning shaft with a motor (not depicted) which turns an axis 726 and propagates the cartridges forward.
The first empty connector unit 728 seen above would be connected to the chain 702 so it is pulled and in sync with the motorized propagating system.
Reference is now made to
The mechanism, which is similar to those used in ammunition systems, may push or pull the actual cartridges as opposed to pulling etc. on the connector which connects between the cartridges. Because the cartridges are connected, then upon forwarding a cartridge to the propagating system, the forwarded cartridge pulls the other cartridges that are connected behind it.
The doors of the cartridges may be opened in sync with operation of the blowing element, blowing the mosquitoes out of the cartridge, when the blowing element is in front of the cartridges.
Reference is now made to
In
In order to open the input door exactly when the blower is in front of the cartridge, the mechanism may either actively push the opening mechanism, or the opening mechanism may sense the proximity of the blower unit, using any suitable proximity sensor known in the art 754, and then actively open the doors with the sequence mentioned above.
In
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Such a belt system makes it easy to increase and add more cartridges and thus the number of release mosquitoes per operation.
A belt system can be flexible as to the length of each cartridge. The type of material that can be used in the cartridge is flexible and the tube itself can be plastic, aluminum or even cardboard.
The belt of cartridges can then be uploaded into a vehicle. As an alternative, a conveyor can be used propagate the cartridges.
In the present embodiments, the doors may automatically close after leaving the expulsion mechanism, and hence, any unreleased mosquitoes cannot now escape inside the vehicle, which is a great advantage when dealing with hundreds of such release cartridges.
When reaching the release position, as mentioned above, the two doors are opened, the blower may puff the mosquitoes outside, and a preferred air speed is 8-12 m/sec for a cartridge diameter size of 40 mm and a preferred number of 1,000-2,000 mosquitoes for a 80-100 cm long cartridge.
By the end of the release process, all cartridges will have been through the release position, and will thus be empty of mosquitoes. The last cartridge may be still at the release position, or the entire chain may have been moved forward or backwards allowing a new cartridge belt to be loaded.
In another embodiment, the cartridges may be released from the clips as soon as they pass the release position, simply falling into the second box or any other suitable collection mechanism.
In another embodiment, also using a belt of cartridges, it is possible to move the blowing element along the cartridges and puff the mosquitoes inside them one after the other.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
In any of the cases, the placing of the cartridges may be widthwise on the back of a vehicle or truck. The back to back case allows for spraying out the insects on each side of the truck.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
As shown in
Funnel 926 may direct the air flow from the blower 710 right into the cartridge.
Reference is now made to
Within 24-48 hours, the cartridges are moved away, and the lower door is then closed. The entire cartridge is dry, and adult mosquitoes are inside ready for release
It is expected that during the life of a patent maturing from this application many relevant dispersion technologies and robotics technologies will be developed and the scopes of the corresponding terms are intended to include all such new technologies a priori.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “having” and their conjugates mean “including but not limited to”.
The term “consisting of” means “including and limited to”.
As used herein, the singular form “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the invention. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment is inoperative without those elements.
Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.
All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention. To the extent that section headings are used, they should not be construed as necessarily limiting.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IL2018/050080 | 1/22/2018 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62449050 | Jan 2017 | US | |
| 62458065 | Feb 2017 | US | |
| 62529057 | Jul 2017 | US | |
| 62533242 | Jul 2017 | US |
