Recipient Organization
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONSULTING CORP
2405 NW 66TH CT
GAINESVILLE,FL 32653
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
IC2 proposes to build a low-cost novel ultrasonic sensor optimized for the detection of insects. The product will consists of a MEMS sensor and a complementary wireless data acquisition system embedded in environmentally hardened casing. The sensors will be remote, will optimize power consumption so that they can be powered by a solar panel and a battery, and will transmit data wirelessly. The prototype sensor system and characterization would be the end product of a Phase I. A phase II would allow for the development of a data library of characterized insect noises using wavelet annalysis, an iteration on the prototype, and accompanying validation field work.Many insects produce high frequency noise. The character and quality of this information may be used for the purposes of identification while the amplitude may be used for estimation of population. Dr. Mankin has done many studies that indicate the feasibility of such an approach. IC2 can redesign existing technology it produces for aerospace clients to increase the microphone sensitivity in the 1-50 kHz range and these microphones can be validated on a number of pest species. The army worm moth causes more than 6 billion dollars of damage anually in the US and early detection and identification of ultrasonic signals produced by such an infestation could allow for rapid targetted treatment. The comercialization plan would iniatially target agricultural researchers and entomologist and then use that customer base to refine a cost-effective product that could be widely deployed by farmers
Animal Health Component
20%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
20%
Developmental
60%
Goals / Objectives
IC2's proposal falls in the solicitation's bounds, creating machine-assisted detection foragricultural pests. IC2's proposed solution will provide: (1) a novel acoustic and ultrasonic sensor; (2) data acquisition hardware and software; (3) algorithmic development for pest identification; and (4) the potential for beamforming arrays that localize pests for rapid response.(Note that figures will be missing as they are unsupported in this format.)The Phase I system IC2 proposes consists of two hardware components: a wireless data acquisition system (DAQ) and a high-sensitivity audio and ultrasonic microphone (MIC). In Phase II, IC2 will use the data acquired from the system to create a wavelet library of insect sounds. This wavelet library will become the main tool for rapid identification of insects. The initial wavelet processing algorithms may be developed during Phase I. Dr. Mankin's Group will provide requirements, feedback, and validation and characterization of the device.Subsequently, IC2 will work to reduce the sensor's price point. This will encourage large-scale deployment of the sensors. These sensors may then be used in large arrays which will enable the extraction of locational information with high specificity.The proposed project path is as follows:Phase I: Develop the sensor system and demonstrate that it can detect and record pests.Phase II: Develop the wavelet software for a broad class of pests and implement a next generation sensor that is more compact, more power efficient, and more affordable.Phase III: Deploy an array of sensors that may be used to localize pest populations and further refine sensor development.The end goal of a Phase I, II, and III project would be a deployable ad hoc sensor array that provides information about the species and location of an invertebrate of interest directly to an end user app for farmers or researchers.1.1 Wireless Data Acquisition System (DAQ)The DAQ will re-engineer and expand upon a previously developed IC2 product, the wireless microphone array (wArray) [IC20], pictured below. The wArray system integrates the DAQ and MIC into a single housing.The sensor can interface with the user through Wi-Fi or USB if rapid sensor prototyping is desirable. The proposed DAQ will likely use the underlying ARM processor architecture from wArray.1.2 Acoustic and Ultrasonic Sensor (MIC)The MIC will be a critical engineering component. An engineering challenge inherent in production of microelectromechanical (MEMS) mics is optimizing sensitivity over a broad range. Producing a MEMS microphone with high sensitivity in the acoustic and ultrasonic ranges (1-50 kHz) is novel.1.3 A Wavelet Library and the Necessary Analysis AlgorithmIn Phase I, reliable detection of a small selection of invertebrate noises that test the dynamic frequency range and sensitivity of the sensor will be used for characterization. A minimal version of the wavelet analysis software will be developed concurrently with the sensor system to aid in identification.
Project Methods
The main thrust of this effort is to develop an engineering solution so the methodology and efforts will align somewhat differently than the user guide seems to intend.1. IC2 will adapt a wireless data acquisition system initially built for NASA on top the SAM E54 microcontroller to be the an appropriate data acquisition system for this project.2. IC2 will create and calibrate a novel high sensitivity resonant mode ultrasonic microphone to be the main high resolution sensor on this platform and fabricate at the University of Florida nanotechnology facility.3. (optional) IC2 may add additional sensors to this platform in the Phase I effort (as a Phase I stretch goal), but will surely do this in the Phase II effort. Programming staff will then implement a server and client to exchange data.4. The first version of this device will record to an onboard SD card and turn over all data to interested researchers.The data acquisition protocol for wireless data acquisition system will be modified to fit this new sensor and to transmit the relevant data.5. An environmentally impermeable will be developed for the prototype and this process will lean heavily on a similar process for product that IC2 recently released called wArray.6. Part of the Phase I effort will involve performing data analysis on existing recordings provided by Dr. Richard Mankin in order to determine the feasibility and usefulness of wavelet analysis as a method of unique detection.7. (Phase II) A major portion of the Phase II effort will be to do a certain amount of edge computing for the device variant marketable to farmers and push only notifications about specific pests or potentially interesting uncharacterized signals.To characterize the above efforts,1. IC2 will do sensitivity testing on the novel microphone over various frequencies.2. Next, in house testing will be done with simulated pest sounds. This way the known data sample can be compared to the recorded data response.3. Full system characterization will be done by Dr. Richard Mankin's team where the device will be placed in unprotected outdoor locations to gauge the quality of the housing, the robustness of the data transmission, and the capabilities of the field deployed sensor.