{"id":67875,"date":"2022-09-29T20:32:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T17:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=67875"},"modified":"2025-09-07T08:58:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T05:58:08","slug":"scientists-develop-a-laser-ai-turret-to-kill-cockroaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/scientists-develop-a-laser-ai-turret-to-kill-cockroaches\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists develop a laser AI turret to kill cockroaches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A team of researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/00305316.2022.2121777\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">tested<\/a> a laser device for detecting and neutralising insects, automated with computer-vision technology.<\/p>\n<p>The system, developed by Heriot-Watt University researcher Ildar Rakhmatulin, is based on Nvidia&#8217;s Jetson Nano mini-computer.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;This solution has allowed me to employ deep-learning technologies with higher accuracy in object detection,&#8221; the researcher noted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The mini-computer processes the digital signal from two cameras mounted on the turret to determine the cockroach&#8217;s position. It then sends this information to a <span data-descr=\"high-sensitivity device for measuring the magnitude of small direct currents\" class=\"old_tooltip\">galvanometer<\/span>, which steers the laser to strike the target.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/MWK04V65bRWGq1TwDiOrKiYkYfslk0o0XjDlcwoXUNkTvjBWJ9G8o8iqqFQ_eD8kPvfEo-bkMhbnygUdr56o9vYayPzph0MEdLsc0Lpg7HIsGtrUo7FVMHFQ4oP5exHMRr2oZxk7fwhaF81-Dtyobh9gU90_Bq9GNAA_tMMTToSbJn_7BiWHqBsg\" alt=\"Scientists develop a laser AI turret to kill cockroaches\"\/><figcaption>A schematic of the laser turret for cockroach extermination. Data: Oriental Insects.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The researchers tested the device at different laser power levels. It was found that at low intensity the emission influences cockroach behaviour, causing them to respond to light. A higher-powered laser is capable of killing the insect.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/VwZunUqHbiU\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>According to Rakhmatulin, all the required components cost no more than $250. He <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/Ildaron\/Laser_control\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">published<\/a> the data used, the assembly instructions, and the project&#8217;s source code on GitHub.<\/p>\n<p>While the prototype is fit for academic research, the device requires refinement before deployment.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers noted that a smaller laser dot proved more effective at destroying cockroaches, though difficult to implement experimentally. It would also be useful to control the regions of insect impact, according to the paper.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers recommended not to use the AI turret at home.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;This is somewhat dangerous \u2014 the laser could harm not only cockroaches but also eyes,&#8221; warned Rakhmatulin.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In July, researchers at Rice University turned dead spiders into robots capable of grasping small objects.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2021, scientists created an AI algorithm for recognising tiger mosquitoes in photographs.<\/p>\n<p>Follow ForkLog AI on Telegram: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/forklogAI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"> ForkLog AI<\/a> \u2014 all the news from the world of AI!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A team of researchers tested a laser device for detecting and neutralising insects, automated with computer-vision technology<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[438,167],"class_list":["post-67875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-research"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"58","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67877,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67875\/revisions\/67877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}