GR1009999B - Method for the creation of insect-recording systems for the detection of insect population features - method for the transfer of information from said systems - Google Patents

Abstract

This patent refers to a system of construction, organization and group integration, through joints (8), on a specially shaped stem (1) via various electrical, electronic and mechanical subsystems (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (9) which are needed for the reliable and proper function of an insect recorder in the field of action. This patent also relates, in particular, to the secondary technical characteristics of the subsidiary subsystems (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (9) of the insect recorder (10) which subsystems are necessary for the proper operation of the whole system and enable the manufacture of technically intact, reliable and integrated electronic insect recorders exhibiting built-in flexibility to adjust plural secondary technical features which can be differentiated and programmed at will, as required, in domains under various conditions. Furthermore, the invention relates to a system for the electronic transfer of information recorded and stored by the above subsystems (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (9) of the insect recorder (10).

Description

METHOD OF ASSEMBLING INSECT-LOGGERS

SYSTEMS FOR THE DETECTION OF POPULATIONS

CHARACTERISTICS OF INSECTS AND METHOD

TRANSFER OF INFORMATION FROM INSECT-RECORDERS

DESCRIPTION

The present patent relates to an insect-recording system (10) which helps to calculate the numerical levels and trends thereof in the population of various species of insects growing in various geographical areas, with a special focus on the estimation for the calculation of the population characteristics of the beetle in rural olive crops that are heavily attacked by this insect and that creates great economic damage to the crops

The insect recorder (10) consists of a series of sub-assemblies which "snap" onto a central support structure (1) which provides mounting points (8) for assembly with the constituent sub-assemblies. The subsystems consist of: a subsystem consisting of one or more surfaces with vivid intense coloration, usually of a yellow hue (2), a subsystem that contains a medium impregnated with a specific chemical composition in solid, liquid or gas phase or in the form of a mixture (3), subsystem detection of the presence of an insect within the counting field (4), subsystem of electronic recording of the insect and electronic storage of the insect-record (4), subsystem of trapping and collection of the insect within a storage area (6), subsystem of periodic transmission of the insect-record (5) to a central logger that visits the location of the insect logger, a tethering subsystem (9) for firmly supporting the insect logger on surfaces, and a subsystem for supplying and regulating the electrical energy (7) needed to operate the insect logger (10) ) through a rechargeable battery, or through photovoltaic panels and other necessary electric and proprietary components.

Technical level cons

There are various types of insect recorders which are usually hung on grower trees. They usually consist of transparent containers which are usually colored yellow and contain special liquid chemicals to attract the insects, while also providing open passageways for the insects to enter, where they are trapped and can later be counted by detuning with the naked eye one by one or approximately the total number of insects lying within the container. This approximate sample count is then used by analysts as an "indicative statistical sample" of the general insect population in that area.

Through a network of such insect-recorders or insect-traps it is concluded through a number of "indicative statistical samples" approximately or indicatively the wider distribution of the total insect population in a wider generalized area that dynamically and continuously changes. As a result of these records, measures are subsequently taken by competent authorities or private individuals and a plan is activated to deal with insect populations in the field through extensive programs to suppress the insect infestation, usually through aerial or ground spraying on a large scale for each geographical area. The intensity of insect infestation in crops varies continuously by year and by month and by region, due to variations in microclimate and variation in the density of the various species in the crops that thrive by region.

This mode of insect census presents several weaknesses in the benefit/cost of this way of estimating insect populations for the central service structures involved in crop pest control programs, resulting in continuous failures in dealing with them. The phenomenon of olive groves being attacked by the dako is common, which, despite the observations from the networks of dako traps recorded by dako setters across the territory, creates great damage to the olive fruit, in the order of tens of millions of euros, resulting in the destruction of a large percentage of the crop that many times it reaches rates of 40% per year. This results in and entails huge financial loss to the rural economy and farmers.

Recording multiple times per insect logger is not ascertained and is not sampled in the correct manner. Therefore, the overall picture of the insect infestation per geographical area is inaccurate and consequential and the method of treatment is not successful and moreover many times it takes place with a timed delay. The economic consequences for farm income are large. This issue calls for the need to establish a more reliable system and accurate insect census becomes even more critical and urgent due to the accelerating climate change, which affects the dynamic and unpredictable interacting agricultural ecosystems.

In order to make it easy to count many times the insect-traps are placed in easy-to-access locations, they are placed in inaccessible places and consequently the conclusions from the indicative sampling of the insect-traps resulting from the total insect population should include systematic statistics partiality.

The counts per insect-recorder often do not coincide in time with each other, they are heterochronized, resulting in an inaccurate recording of the insect infestation in the field, since the life cycle of insects is short in duration, for the daco, for example, around 20 days per generation.

Insect recorders must be maintained, cleaned and fed with the appropriate chemicals necessary to be active at regular intervals during the insect reproductive process. This is a process that requires significant human resources, which must be distinguished by consistency, properly trained and monitored by managers, to be reliable the attributed insect-count samples, on which a broad insect-control 'campaign' is based in large geographic scale.

In order to reduce many of the reliability problems mentioned, attempts have been made in the past to develop electronic insect recorders, which in real time will continuously transmit their numerical measurement to a centrally located electronic server (computer server) through a combination of electronic systems of wireless networks, antennas , mobile telephony, installed in the field. This approach requires the creation and installation of large-scale tele-community networks in the field, through which recording information can be transferred from the insect loggers centrally to a hub in the network for further processing of the data. At the same time, this technical treatment creates the need to integrate expensive two-way telecommunication subsystems into the electromechanical mechanisms of the insect recorders themselves. Thus, the installation cost increases excessively, indicatively it can reach hundreds of euros, if one takes into account that in addition to the electronic spare parts required to operate the insect recorders wirelessly, there is the cost of maintaining the networks from the natural wear and tear to which they are subject, as they are constantly exposed in the field to adverse weather conditions from exposure to different temperatures, humidity, wind intensities, dust, sandstorms, animal infestations, etc. This approach is therefore not functional as far as dealing with the technical issues it seeks to resolve and at the same time it is economically unprofitable to use on a large scale, with high installation costs and required technical support, and it is also prone to malfunctions if partial problems occur in a part of the wireless networks in which the electronic insect loggers are installed.

Purpose and scope of the present invention

The purpose of the present invention is to present a system which records the population characteristics of insects in the field of action in a practical and economical manner to enable the use of electronic insect recorders on a large scale. This is achieved by digitally storing the insect recordings locally on the active insect logger (1) and then transferring them to be stored electronically on another nearby locally accessible digital medium, which is driven from time to time to the site where the insect is located.

In this way it becomes possible to record insect populations on a wide scale in a flexible, efficient and economical way.

The invention also refers to a system for building and arranging an insect counter through articulated subsystems on a central body with a special morphology (1) that standardizes the construction of the insect recorders and can provide a diversity of technical characteristics in the composition of the constituent subsystems.

The system is shown by way of example in the following figures:

Figure 1: Illustrates the principle of operation of the system for the transfer of information from field-of-field insect recorders to close-approaching means carrying electronic storage capabilities of the transferred information

Figure 2: Illustrates an exploded view of insect-logger subsystems

Figure 3: Illustrates Alternative Articulated Layout of Insect-Recorder Subsystems

Disclosure of the invention

To make the widespread placement and use of electronic insect recorders practical, a different approach is needed that attempts to provide solutions in a simpler way, that works more reliably as an integrated system of comprehensive insect recording in the field, and at the same time achieves this with a very more economical way, which allows easy and cheap replacement of subsystems if there is a malfunction, and all of the above without affecting the entire effort of the insect-recorder.

The present invention attempts to solve in a more economic and technically more efficient way the above problems faced by electronic insect recorders.

First of all, a standardized electronic-mechanical trunk (1) is systematized on which, with individual subsystems systematically arranged, the individual operator can at will structure and give different characteristics to the insect recorders or insect traps depending on the species of insects under investigation or the genus of insect whose population characteristics are sought to be investigated. It is an archetype, a standard, which standardizes the insect registration process and can be specialized in most variations, as far as, for example, it concerns the specific chemical substances it uses per insect-population, the way to verify the species of the insect, the verification of the measurement of the insect - recorder, and the simultaneous identification of the time of the insect-recording. At the same time, it has cheap electronic subsystems for digital storage of insect counts, and subsystems for discontinuous wireless short-range transmission of them to a central electronic storage medium located nearby, after receiving a suitable electronic signal of low electrical power, including a geolocation subsystem for recording the location in which it is located through the Global Positioning System - GPS. In addition, it uses the brightness of the environment for the functions of its subsystems and is self-sufficient in the production of electrical power, as required for its operation in all the climatic and weather conditions that prevail in many parts of the planet, where conditions of long sunshine or prolonged cloudiness prevail, or combined luminance states.

To achieve the technical integration and operation on a large scale of very wide necessary wireless networks in the field of applications, significant hardware-technical investments are required, which makes the extensive use of electronic insect recorders economically unprofitable under the current state of the art. The state of the art with the present invention is significantly enhanced because it avoids the creation of extensive networks of electronic facilities to incorporate two-way tele-communication capabilities into the field of application. This is solved by the possibility given to each insect-recorder to transfer on command all the information it has recorded periodically, thus acting independently as a unit in the field, through a programmatic related process, transmitting electronically all the history of the insect recording it has stored in another, nearby approaching and located electronic means of information storage, whose visit an operator schedules and activates at regular intervals.

Advantages

The offered system enables the automated recording of insect population characteristics and trends in the field of application, under various conditions, in an easy, reliable, practical and economical way.

The system allows fast insect-recording on a large geographical scale, with little worker intervention, which is what is required for insect species that vary drastically from region to region, and have rapid rates of reproduction acting actively and dynamically within the field of action.

The system saves time and creates reliable samples of insect populations to more effectively address the effects of insect infestation from field or other field spray programs.

The system provides the possibility of composing, assembling and articulating on the insect recorders specialized sub-systems with special technical characteristics and capabilities each, as required by the field of action.

Generally about protection

The present invention is in no way limited to the embodiment described and illustrated in the drawings, but can be implemented in many forms and dimensions without leaving the scope of protection of the invention.

In the implementation of the invention, the materials used as well as the dimensions of the individual elements can be according to the requirements of the particular construction.

In each claim, where technical features are mentioned and followed by reference numbers, they are included only to increase the comprehensibility of the claims and in this way the reference numbers do not affect the consideration of the elements, which are identified by example with them.

Claims (10)

Ax. 1. The recording of population characteristics of insects in the fields, consisting in the current state of the art of a single closed container containing special chemicals to attract and trap the insects with small diameter openings dug in the surface of the container to enter the insects within it so that one can enumerate them, it technologically evolves with a system of architectural arrangement as far as the spatial structure and assembly of those specialized mechanical, electrical or electromechanical subsystems are concerned (2) (3) (4) (5) ( 6) (7) (9) which are necessary to achieve the accurate recording and collection of information on the population characteristics of insects in their field of action, and which consists of a basic trunk (1) of a single length or with laterally attached extensions, in various geometric formations, where this arrangement can be differentiated morphologically in a variety of ways, i.e which are adapted, supported, integrated, articulated those subsystems (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (9) which are necessary for recording the insects that approach it. Ax. 2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 characterized in that the articulated sub-systems may include: the insect attraction sub-system, which may consist of an articulated member painted or coated with a bright bright color (2) which it can be of a yellow hue or it can be a part of the articulation system (1) painted with a strong bright color of a yellow hue, or it can be achieved in a variant by a special subsystem (3) equipped with the appropriate mechanical-electronic equipment which has an appropriate promoted by a mechanism at regular intervals a film of suitable thickness, coated with special chemical coatings in order to attract various insects, or can alternatively be achieved by a special subsystem (3) containing solutions of special chemical substances of different composition, in liquid or solid form or to bring the chemicals incorporated into other media in the form of em wetted absorbents, Ax. 3. Method as stated in Claim 1 characterized by the fact that the articulated sub-systems may include: sub-system for recording (4) and description of the insects which is equipped with the appropriate mechano-electronic equipment in a specified arrangement since the insects have trapped in a closed and designated interior space isolated from the external environment, as well as a subsystem in which all the insects (6) counted by the insect recorder are stored in order to enable and confirm quality control to confirm the results of the process of recording the population characteristics of insects by the insect-recorder (10), Ax. 4. Method as stated in Claim 1 characterized in that the articulated sub-systems may include: specially articulated sub-system which protects the insect recorder (10) from special weather conditions that may potentially prevail in the field of action, articulated special subsystem which transmits the GPS position of the enzo-logger (10), articulated special subsystem which integrates information about the weather conditions prevailing in the field, as well as articulated special subsystem which communicates with satellites and transmits to them after programming and appropriate remote commands the built-in population information of the insect logger (10) for the insects, Ax. 5. Method as stated in Claim 1 characterized in that the articulated subsystems may include: articulated or non-articulated subsystem with a special mechanism to provide available attachment points (9) to ensure static support and stability from external dominant forces exerted in the field of action on the constituent subsystems through the contact points on various surfaces that hold it in the field, with the way of articulation (8) of the subsystems can take all possible forms and be done with all the various methods technically available in the state of the art for attaching parts, such as for example: by means of threads or by welding or by magnetic attraction or by belts or by wires or by screws or by wedges or by means of springs or by welding or by welding, where certain of the subsystems (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (9) can be integrated into the central stem (1) and be present in the final arrangement of the insect-recorder (10) more than once each, Ax. 6. A method as set forth in Claim 1 characterized in that: the insect attraction subsystem (2) (3) can additionally be achieved with high brightness, which is produced by optical fibers, without the need for an electrical power supply. Ax. 7. Method as stated in Claim 1 characterized in that: the electrical consumption of the articulated subsystems is provided by means of a rechargeable battery, or by means of photovoltaic panels (7). Ax. 8. Method as stated in Claim 1 characterized in that: the transfer of the time series of the recording of the insects stored in the insect recorder (10) can be carried out electronically wirelessly or by wire from a special subsystem (5) to another external one located nearby electro-mechanical equipment, equipped with the corresponding and appropriate mechanical-electronic equipment. Ax. 9. Method as stated in Claim 1 characterized in that: the hinge system (1) together with all hinged sub-systems (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (9) can same means to self-move, equipped with a special transport subsystem articulated on it for this purpose equipped with the appropriate mechanisms, to be able to be driven to another point in the field of action after a command or after integrated programming. Ax. 10. Method as mentioned in the insect-recorder (10) concerns crops. Claim 1, characterized in that: type of oil-inflicting