WO2022129650A1

WO2022129650A1 - Cubic optical sensor for monitoring and studying characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitos, which can be coupled to a catch trap

Info

Publication number: WO2022129650A1
Application number: PCT/ES2021/000030
Authority: WO
Inventors: João Miguel Faria RAPOSO ENCARNAÇÃO; Mark Richard Williams Hallows; Florit PANCRAç VILLALONGA; Bastian FAULHABER
Original assignee: Irideon S.L.
Priority date: 2020-12-14
Filing date: 2021-08-03
Publication date: 2022-06-23
Also published as: BR202021021236U2; ES1266456Y; ES1266456U

Abstract

Disclosed is a cubic optical sensor for monitoring and studying characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitos, which can be coupled to a catch trap that, by means of digital recording, allows flying insects to be observed, studied, classified and counted automatically using signal processing techniques and automatic learning techniques. The sensor is formed by a box (2) and a lid (3) provided with a top air pipe (4) that, by means of a coupling piece (7), connects to any conventional trap (6). According to different embodiments, on each face of the cuboid (8) is mounted an optical emitter panel (32) and/or an optical receiver panel (33) connected to an electronic signal acquisition and communication module (10) and to an external data-processing system. The optical emitter panels (32) and the optical receiver panels (33) are formed by a matrix group of luminescent diodes (24) and photoreceivers (31), respectively.

Description

DESCRIPTION

CUBIC-SHAPED OPTICAL SENSOR FOR SURVEILLANCE AND STUDY OF FLYING INSECTS CHARACTERISTICS,

INCLUDING MOSQUITOES, ATTACH IT TO A CAPTURE TRAP

TECHNICAL OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in general, to systems for classifying and counting flying insects and, in particular, to systems that use an optical sensor to obtain a digital recording of flying insects, which can be used with or as part of, a trap for flying insects, including mosquitoes, used for surveillance of said insects, to allow automatic classification and counting of insects under surveillance by applying signal processing and machine learning techniques.

TECHNICAL SECTOR TO WHICH THE INVENTION RELATES

The invention that is presented affects the Section of Current Necessities of Life of the International Patent Classification (CIP), paragraph of Rural Activities, section of Agriculture, Breeding, Hunting, Capture, Fishing, influencing, from the industrial point of view, in the manufacture of devices for surveillance, study and control of flying insects.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Flying insects are an important part of the web of life, pollinating at least two-thirds of all food consumed by humans, but certain species can be detrimental to human and animal health and can also cause degradation or destruction of the crops.

The activity of honey bees and other pollinating insects is of critical interest in the pollination of food crops; the activity of certain fruit flies is of interest as predators of other species of insect pests and in the control of certain noxious weeds; and the activity of a wide range of insects is of interest in biodiversity studies. On the other hand, many human and animal diseases are caused by viruses or parasites transmitted by flying insects that serve as carriers of the disease.

For example, each year about 700 million people contract mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika, causing more than one million deaths each year. Leishmaniasis is carried by a sand fly, and sleeping sickness in humans and certain livestock diseases are transmitted by the tsetse fly. The common housefly can spread typhus, bacilli, and amoebic dysentery infections to humans through food contamination. The fruit fly can infest a wide range of commercial fruits and vegetables causing degradation and loss.

Conventional methods used to obtain information on the population of flying insects at a given location include the use of compact, portable insect traps placed at suitable locations in the field, in which closely guarded insects are lured into a trap containing a removable catch bag or sticky paper, which must be collected periodically by an operator and subsequently inspected by an entomologist. Suction traps are widely used for mosquito surveillance. in which a suction fan sucks mosquitoes flying near the mouth of the trap into a catch bag. Major manufacturers of such traps include the John W. Hock Company (USA) and Biogents AG (Germany). The labor costs associated with conventional manual collection and sorting and recording of results are high, and errors can occur in each. step. These methods can also suffer from a considerable delay between capturing a target insect and its subsequent collection and identification, which can reduce the effectiveness of control measures. The delay between trapping and harvesting can lead to errors due to insect degradation in the trap or being eaten by predators such as ants.

Various methods have been described in the literature with the aim of providing a Automatic sorting and counting of flying insects to overcome the limitations of conventional manual collection and inspection.

When flying insects such as mosquitoes and flies emit an audible tone as they fly, it has. The use of acoustic microphones to pick up sound has been described, for example, in R. W. Mankin, Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 10(2);302-308 (1994) where the sound produced by flying mosquitoes was studied in the laboratory and in el campo, and in H. Mukundarajan et al. eLife 6:e27854 (2017) where mobile phones were evaluated and used as acoustic sensors for mosquito surveillance.

Optical methods have also been described, which have the advantage of not being sensitive to wind noise and ambient sounds, unlike microphones. In the so-called shadow/extinction/bright-field optical configuration, a preferably collimated beam of light is projected onto the flying insect and the shadow created by the body and wings of the insect in flight is detected, while in the so-called scatter/backscatter/dark-field. reflected light is detected and. dispersed by the body and wings of the insect in flight.

For example: Moore et al., Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. 79, Issue 6, p1703-1706 (1986) used a light beam and scattering detector and spectral analysis to identify males and females of two mosquito species Aedes in the lab, Li et al., Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations, The International Federation for Information Processing, vol. 187, vol, 187 (2005) described an optical extinction setup with spectral analysis and artificial neural network methods to classify five species of mosquitoes of both sexes. Brydegaard, PLoS ONE 10(8): e0135231. doi:10.1371/journal pone.0135231 (2015) describe a scattering LIDAR system that tracks the flight path of fruit flies and other insects using a model for the relative strength of odd and even wingbeat armenics in function of the. orientation of the insect with respect to the optical system. Potamitis and Rigakis, IEEE Sensors Journal paper ID X (2016) describe an optical extinction sensor system based on LEDs and photodiodes to study the flight of mosquitoes in an insect cage. Wang et al., Applied Physics B 126:28 (2020) describe an optical backscatter sensor and an optical extinction sensor used individually and then in tandem with a mosquito suction trap, noting that while suction traps are effective at attracting. mosquitoes into the trap, the mosquitoes pass quickly through the detection zone, and if the speed of the suction fan is reduced, the determination of the frequency becomes more accurate but the mosquitoes can then escape from the trap.

Commercial flying insect sensors include the BG-Counter from Biogents AG (Germany), designed for use with the same company's BG-Sentinel suction trap to count mosquitoes entering the trap, but which does not discriminate between mosquito species, sex or age, etc., and the Moskeet smart trap from TrakitNow (India), which is designed for fixed mounting and is considerably larger in physical format and different from standard suction traps used by organisms. mosquito surveillance.

Various antecedents registered in the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office are also known, among which we can mention the following:

- ES-1058722 U Insect trap

- ES-1069217 U Trap for collecting mosquitoes

- ES-1247165 U Device for automatic counting of the number of insects in a trap

- ES-2280425 T3 Device to capture flying insects

- ES-2313134 T3 Device for capturing flying insects and procedure for manufacturing the same

All of them describe traps for capturing flying insects based on their attraction to light or to certain odorous effluvia, with elements where the insects are immobilized or unidirectional steps that prevent the captured insects from being released.

Any of these traps can be considered as a complement to the invention which is described in this document, but in no case are detailed studies and recordings made in real time when the insects fly freely or access a trap through a special transparent conduit. The inventors presenting this document do not know of solutions in the current state of the art that analyze in detail certain characteristics of insects such as speed, direction and instantaneous trajectory, size and optical properties of the wings, beat frequency and other parameters of interest. considering that the invention meets the characteristics of novelty and inventive activity that a patent must have.

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes an optical device intended for digital recording and surveillance of flying insects, including mosquitoes, whose purpose is to classify, count and study a series of characteristics of the insects under surveillance through the application of techniques line processing and machine learning. The device can be used, in isolation, for the study of insects that move freely in front of optical emission and detection panels or in combination with traditional traps, including traps equipped with a suction fan, such as those produced by John W. Hock Company (USA) and Biogents AG (Germany) which are used by mosquito surveillance agencies around the world.

Most conventional optical sensors would not provide good sorting results with such suction traps due to speed; relatively high rate at which the insect passes through the sensor zone and the effect that airflow has on the insect's flight dynamics.

To characterize these insects, the typical acoustic or optical sensors of flying insects make a digital recording of each one of them as they pass through the detection zone, then applying a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to obtain a frequency spectrum of the recording. For good classification of mosquito species, for example, it is convenient to characterize fundamental wingbeat frequencies as low as 250 Hz with a resolution of spectral frequency of at least 25 Hz to discriminate species with closely spaced wing beat frequencies.

Several widely used commercial flying insect traps contain a suction fan that sucks flying insects near the mouth of the trap into the capture zone. Suction traps designed for capturing mosquitoes, for example, usually have an entrance mouth of 8 to 11 cm in diameter and generate an airflow speed of about 3 meters per second, which gives rise to a speed Effective flight speed of 1.5 meters per second inside the trap with mosquitoes flying at 1.5 meters per second against the airflow. For a sensor attached to a mosquito suction trap, providing 25 Hz spectral frequency resolution, with an effective flight speed of 1.5 meters per second, the recorded flight length should be at least 1/25 Hz = 0.04 seconds, which implies that the length of the active detection zone must be at least 0.04 seconds x 1.5 meters per second = 0.06 meters = 6 cm.

For reliable sorting and counting. the sensor must provide a constant amplitude output signal, regardless of the particular flight path of the flying insect through the sensing volume or the particular orientation of the insect with respect to the sensor system. Most of the flying insect sensor systems described in the literature have smaller detection dimensions, or have a sensor response that varies greatly depending on the position and/or orientation of the flying insect relative to the sensor system, which It means that the amplitude of the recorded wave and the power of the spectral components are of limited value in characterizing the flying insect.

In flying insect traps it can also be very advantageous if the sensor provides information about the direction of flight, for example to know if the insect is flying towards the trap, or escaping from the trap, or partially entering and then escaping, or escaping. partially and re-entering, etc. Most of the flying insect sensor systems described in the literature do not provide this type of information.

The present invention overcomes the limitations of the current state of the art and describes a cube-shaped optical flying insect sensor that is particularly designed so that, when used in combination with a suction trap, insects are sucked into a detection zone with a relatively large diameter and length at velocities relatively high. The device is capable of providing; sufficiently high resolution of the fundamental spectral frequency and wingbeat harmonics; a signal amplitude and power of the spectral components relatively stable and independent of the particular flight path through the detection volume and the particular orientation of the insect with respect to the detection system; information on the direction of flight; and both extinction and dispersion signal outputs. All this in order to allow a more robust classification using signal processing and machine learning methods; gender, species-, sex, age and other characteristics of the insect, compared to conventional methods which can be configured in different ways depending on cost and performance requirements.

The research that has led to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 853758. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Twenty-four figures are included, which are considered sufficient for the correct interpretation of the invention.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the case in which the optical sensor for recording flying insects is mounted inside a protective box and connected to a conventional trap for capturing said insects. The following items are noted:

Set

2.- Box

3.- Lid 4.- Upper air duct

5.- Lower air duct

6.- Conventional trap

7.- Coupling

Figure 2

It represents an internal perspective view of the assembly once the lid and trap have been removed.

8.- Cubic optical sensor (cuboid) 10.-Electronic module

11.- Electrical connectors

Figure 3

It shows a perspective view of the cuboid, isolated, having removed the transparent flight behavior that is represented by the dotted line.

9.- Transparent flight tube

9.1.- Axis of symmetry

12.- Side A

13 - Side B

14.- Side C

15.- Side D

16.- Upper plate

17.- Lower plate Figure 4

Shows a front view of the device, with the box in dotted lines, representing the transparent flight duct connected to the upper air duct and the lower air duct in which it is installed, according to study requirements, a spotlight from above and a nadir illumination spotlight.

9.- Transparent flight tube

9.2.- Zenith focus

9.3.- Nadir focus Figure 5

Shows the plan view of a matrix group of collimating lenses.

18.- Group of collimating lenses

19.- Collimator lens

Figure 6 is the profile view of the matrix group of collimating lenses.

Figure 7

Shows the perspective view of the matrix optical deflector that is mounted adjacent to the collimating lens matrix group,

20.- Optical deflector 21.- Window for light passage

22.- Invented pyramid

Figure 8

It is the profile view of the matrix optical deflector. Figure 9

Shows the plan view of the PCBA printed circuit of an emitter panel.

23.- Emitter PCBA printed circuit 24- Light emitting diode

25.- Type A electrical connector

26.- Type B electrical connector

27.- PCBA mounting hole on the optical deflector

28.- PCBA mounting hole on cuboid upper plate 29. PCBA mounting hole on cuboid lower plate

Figure 10

It is the profile view of the PCBA printed circuit of an emitter panel.

figured 11

Shows the plan view of the PCBA printed circuit of a receiving panel. 30.- Receiver PCBA printed circuit

31.- Photoreceptor

figured 12

It is the profile view of the PCBA printed circuit of a receiving panel.

Figure 13 represents separately, in profile view, the elements that make up an optical emitting panel.

32.- Optical emitter panel Figure 14

It represents, in profile view, an optical emitting panel with its elements combined.

Figure 15

It represents, in profile view, an optical receiving panel with its elements assembled.

33.- Optical receiver panel

Figure 16

It shows a plan view of the cuboid (8) illustrating how said optical sensor can provide two simultaneous orthogonal extinction outputs.

24/A.- Light emitting diode of the emitting panel 32/A

24/B.- Light emitting diode of the emitting panel 32/B

31/C.- Photoreceptor of the receiving panel 33/C

31/D.- Photoreceptor of the receiving panel 33/D

20/A.- It is the optical deflector of the emitting panel 32/A

20/D.- It is the optical deflector of the receiving panel 33/D

18/A.- It is the set of collimating lenses of the emitting panel 32/A

18/C.- It is the set of collimating lenses in the receiving panel 33/C

34.- Cone of divergent rays

35.- Col imated beam of light

36.- Mosquito or other flying insect

37.- Shadow of extinction projected on the collimating lens of the receiving panel

33/C 38.- Extinction shadow projected on the collimating lens of the receiving panel 33/D

9.- Transparent flight duct Figure 17

It shows a plan view of the cuboid (8) illustrating how said sensor can provide two optical dispersion outputs with a mutual angle of 90 degrees, in addition to the two extinction outputs shown in figure 16.

39.- Ray of light reflected and/or scattered by the flying insect focused on a photoreceptor of the receiving panel 33/D

Figure 18

It shows a plan view of the cuboid (8) in an alternate configuration with an optical emitter panel on one face of the cube and an optical receiver panel on each of the remaining side faces of the cube. 40.- Ray of light reflected and/or scattered by the flying insect focused on a photoreceptor of the optical receptor panel 33/B

Figure 19

It shows a plan view of the cuboid (8) in an alternative configuration with two optical emitting panels on two opposite lateral faces and two optical receiving panels on the remaining lateral faces.

Figure 20 shows a plan view of the cuboid (8) configured with an optical emitting panel on one side face, a first optical receiving panel on the opposite side to receive the extinction light and a second optical receiving panel on one of the side cameras. remaining to receive scattered light. Figure 21

It shows a plan view of the cuboid (8) represented With an optical emitting panel in a side face, a first optical receiving panel on an orthogonal side face for receiving scattered light, and a second optical receiving panel facing the first optical receiving panel for receiving scattered light from the opposite direction. Figure 22

It shows a plan view of the hub (8) with an optical emitter panel mounted on one side of the cube and an optical receiver panel mounted on the opposite side to provide an extinction view.

Figure 23 shows a plan view of the cuboid (8) with an emitter panel mounted on a side face of the cube and an optical receiver panel mounted on an orthogonal side face to provide a scattering view.

Figure 24

This figure shows us a perspective view of the case of use of the optical sensor in isolation, that is, without its coupling with a trap. Insects move freely as there are no closing walls,

41.- Support frame

42.- Union bar

43.- Glass cover 44.- Antenna

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF MODES OF EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Cubic optical sensor for surveillance and study of the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable or not, to capture traps, whose purpose is to carry out the classification, counting and study of a series of characteristics of ios insects under surveillance through the application of signal processing techniques and of automatic learning that, in the most complete embodiment, preferred by its inventors, is shown as a set (1) of elements (Fig.1) in which a box (2) with a lid (3 ), an upper air duct (4), a lower air duct (5) and a coupling piece (7) that allows the optical sensor group to be connected to a conventional capture trap (6) that has been represented online of dots to imply that it is a complement to the invention without being its object.

As we will see, the optical sensor can be used, in an alternative embodiment, in a totally isolated way in which the insects move freely without being captured.

Inside the box (2) is where the cubic optical sensor (8) is installed, crossed by a transparent flight duct (9) that extends above and below, with the upper air ducts (4 ) and lower (5). In each of said upper (4) and lower (5) ducts, a zenith lighting focus (9.2) and/or a nadir lighting focus (9.3) is installed, respectively, as indicated in (Fig.4).

In (Fig.2) it is observed that inside the box (2) an electronic module for acquisition of lines and communications (10) has been schematically represented, which in turn communicates the lines or results captured with a system external that can provide data processing and access to them through electrical connectors (11), practicable from outside the box (2) to power the system and control peripherals such as the fan of a suction trap.

In (Fig.3) a perspective view of the cubic optical sensor (8) is represented, which in this document we will call "cuboid* (for simplicity), once the upper (4) and lower air ducts have been removed. (5). In said figure it can be seen that the cuboid (8) is made up of an upper plate (16) and a lower plate (17), both equipped with circular windows, centered, to give way to the transparent flight duct (9), on which that the four lateral faces of the cuboid (8) are joined; face A (12), face B (13), face C (14) and face D (15). On these structural faces, some optical panels are governed, which are fundamental pieces in the device of the invention, since they are the ones that serve to illuminate, detect and record all the movements and flight parameters of the insects that access the cuboid (8) through the upper part of the transparent flight conduit (9),

Each of these panels is made up of three main pieces; one, inner side, closer to the transparent flight duct (9), which incorporates a series of collimating lenses, an intermediate one, which acts as a deflector and an outer one that is the printed circuit board PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly),

The internal and intermediate parts are identical in all embodiments of the invention and the external parts, although of identical size and configuration, mount light emitting diodes in some cases and photoreceptors in others.

In (Figs, 13 to 15), you can clearly see the arrangement of these three pieces seen in profile, in the uncoupled position and once coupled.

The different combination of panels on the lateral faces of the cuboid (8) allows various preferred embodiments to be carried out with which various purposes are achieved in the study of insect flight.

The collimating lens group 18 is shown as a matrix group of identical lenses 19, known as Fresnel lenses, as shown in plan views. (Fig.5) and profile (Fig.6). This group of lenses is the same in the optical emitter panels (32) and in the optical receiver panels (33),

The optical deflector (20), also the same in both cases, with a perspective view represented in (Fig.7) and a profile view in (Fig.8), has the same matrix distribution as the group of collimating lenses (18). ) and has a series of inverted pyramids (22) and the same number of windows for the passage of light (21),

As for the PCBA printed circuit boards, they have the same configuration in the emitter (32) and receiver (33) panels with the difference that in the first ones they mount luminescent diodes (24) (Figs. 9 and 10) and in the second mounts photoreceptors (31) (Figs.11 and 12), also having various mounting holes (27, 28 and 29) and electrical connectors (25 and 26), for the communication of the cuboid (8) with the electronic module of acquisition of signals and communications which in turn Communicates the signals or results captured with an external system that may provide data processing and access.

It should be noted that although in the figures the case of matrix groups of four rows and six columns has been represented, embodiments of one, two or more rows and one, two or more columns are also contemplated.

The arrangement of the three main pieces, mentioned above, of an emitting panel (32), represented in (Fig.14), makes it easy to understand that the light emitted by a specific light-emitting diode (24), which passes through the corresponding window to passage of light (21), does not mix with that emitted by the other diodes thanks to the configuration of the inverted pyramidal cells (22) of the deflector. On the other hand, the assembly is done so that each light-emitting diode (24) coincides with the position of the focus of the corresponding collimating lens (19), in such a way that the conical beam of the rays it emits leaves the lens collimator according to a beam of parallel rays. This detail is schematized in the left part of (Fig.14) in which it can be seen that the luminescent diode (24) emits the conical beam of divergent rays (34) which, when passing through the collimating lens (19), it is transformed into a beam of parallel rays or beam of collimated light (35).

In the same way that the position of the luminescent diodes (24) in coincidence with the focus of the corresponding collimating lens (19) has been explained, it is now emphasized that the same thing happens with the photoreceptors (31) that are placed exactly in the focus of their corresponding collimating lenses (19) (Fig.15).This implies that the collimated light beam (35) that falls on each collimating lens (19) of the receiving panel (33), becomes a conical beam converging rays (34) fell this vertex in the corresponding photoreceptor (31).The device of the invention has means of fine adjustment to achieve the coincidence of the foci of the collimating lenses (19) of the emitting panel (32) and of the panel receiver (33) with the light-emitting diodes (24) and the photoreceptors (31).

In accordance with what has just been explained, it is understood that, if there is no obstacle between the emitting panel (32/A) (emitting panel 32 on face A) and the receiving panel (33/C) (receiving panel 33 on face C), as can be seen on the right of the (Fig.16), the signal emitted by the luminescent diode (24/A) arrives unchanged at the photoreceptor (31/C).

On the contrary, in the same (Fig. 16) the interposition of the mosquito (36) in the beam of rays emitted by the luminescent diode (24/A) of the second column is represented, which supposes an alteration of the light signal that reaches the photoreceptor (31/C), of the same column, whose characteristics are transferred to an electronic signal acquisition and communications module which in turn communicates the signals or results captured with an external system that can provide data processing and access to them.

In (Fig.16), which we have just cited, the first form of embodiment of the invention is schematized, where the plan view of the cuboid (8) is represented. Note that in this embodiment, an optical emitting panel (32) is placed on face A (12), indicated as 32/A, another optical emitting panel (32) on face B (13), indicated, as 32 /B, an optical receiving panel (33) on face C (14), indicated as 33/C and another optical receiving panel (33) on face D (15). designated as 33/D. In addition, the transparent flight conduit (9), through which mosquitoes access and transit (36), is represented in dotted lines.

Insisting on what was indicated above, when a mosquito (36) or other flying insect crosses a beam of collimated light (35), said insect will block some or all of the rays of said beam, causing the corresponding change in the output of the photoreceptor (31). ), this mode of optical attenuation is commonly known as '"optical extinction" and provides information on the frequency and harmonics of the insect's wing beat and on the size of the insect's wings and body.

In the left part, second column, of (Fig.16), the mosquito or other flying insect (36) that flies through the interior of the transparent flight tube (9). will be illuminated by the collimated light beam, projected by the collimating lens of the light emitting diode (24/A), on the optical emitting panel 32/A and also by the third row collimated light beam projected by the collimating lens of the diode luminescent (24/B), in the optical emitting panel 32/B, in which the two light beams have a mutual angle of 90 degrees. As a consequence, the extinction shadow (37) is generated, projected by the mosquito (36). falling on the collimating lens aligned in the collimating lens array of the optical receiver panel 33/C causing the output of the photoreceptor (31/C) to be altered. In the same way the extinction shadow (38), also projected by the mosquito (36), falls on the collimator lens aligned in the array of collimator lenses of the optical receiver panel 33/D, causing the output of the photoreceptor (31/D ), of the third row, suffers alteration.

In this way, the cuboid (8) provides two simultaneous outputs: one. first optical receiving panel output 33/C and a second optical receiving panel output 33/D in which the first optical emitting panel 32/A sees the mosquito at an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the second optical emitting panel 32/ b.

Appropriate analysis of the line of the individual photoreceptors, or groups of photoreceptors of the cuboid (8), allows, in addition, to determine the position, speed, direction and instantaneous trajectory of the flying insect within the limits of the transparent flight conduit (9 ) in multiple instances of time as the insect transits through said conduit.

On the other hand, the device of the invention, using the obtainable instantaneous position, speed and trajectory of the flying insect, within the limits of the transparent flight tube (9), could be configured to activate only the light emitting diodes (24) necessary to illuminate the insect at a given moment including, only, in the treatment of the signal, the outputs of the photoreceptors (31) that receive significant signals of extinction or dispersion of the insect at any moment, in order to reduce the power necessary to activate the luminescent diodes, which is of particular interest when the cuboid (8) is powered by a battery and above all, to improve the signal/noise ratio.

(Fig.17), which is a plan view of the cuboid (8), according to a first embodiment, illustrates the mode of operation to provide two optical dispersion views with a mutual angle of . 90 degrees, in addition to the two extinction views shown in (Fig.16). The elements indicated must be interpreted as indicated below. continuation.

The second column light emitting light emitting diode 24/A in the optical emitting panel 32/A is shown at an instant in time when this light emitting diode turns on.

The light emitting diode (24/B) of the third line of the optical emitting panel 32/B is shown at a time when this light emitting diode is off.

The extinction shadow (37) is the one projected by the mosquito (36), which falls on the optical receiving panel 33/C as described in (Fig.16). The light ray reflected and/or scattered (39) by the mosquito (36), which will be focused on the photoreceptor (31/D) of the third row of the optical receiver panel 33/D, causes the output of said photoreceptor to suffer disturbance. The scatter signal can be automatically analyzed to obtain information about the insect's body and the coloration and brightness of its wings, to complement the information provided by the extinction output.

When the light emitting diode (24/A), of the second column of the optical emitting panel 32/A, is off and the light emitting diode (24/B). in the third row of the optical emitting panel 32/B. is on, the shadow of the extinction will fall on the photoreceptor (31/D) of the third row of the optical receiver panel 33/D and the scattered and reflected light of the insect will be focused on the photoreceptor (31/C) of the second row. optical receiving panel column 33/C. In this way, by alternately activating the light-emitting diodes in the optical emitting panels 32/A and 32/B, the cuboid (8) of the invention offers four different outputs: two extinction views of the flying insect with a mutual angle of 90 degrees and two scattering views of the flying insect with a mutual angle of 90 degrees.

Although a specific case of emitter on or off has just been described, it is important to point out that this is one of the important properties of the sensor of the invention, which can be used in additional phases of momentary measurement in which one or more light emitters , are deactivated at a given moment, allowing to subtract automatically determine the amount of backlight and stray light from measurements made when those light emitters are on.

A second embodiment is the one shown in (Fig. 18) which shows us the plan view of the cuboid (8) in an alternative configuration with an emitter panel 32, on face A (12) and optical receiver panels 33, on each of the lateral faces B (13), C (14) and D (15), to provide three simultaneous, orthogonal views: a) an extinction view from the optical receiving panel 33/C; b) a scatter view from receiver panel 33/D; and c) a second scatter view from optical receiver panel 33/B.

The light ray reflected and/or scattered (40) by the mosquito (36), is focused on the photoreceptor (31/B), in the optical receptor panel 33/B, causing the output of said photoreceptor to change.

In this configuration and other configurations, where an optical receiving panel is positioned so that it receives only scattered light, the collimating lens assembly and/or optical deflector of that optical receiving panel may optionally be omitted to allow a greater number of of light rays from the flying insect reach a greater number of photoreceptors from a given position within the transparent flight conduit (9),

A third form of embodiment is represented in (Fig.19) that shows us a plan view of the cuboids (8) in an alternative configuration with optical emitting panels (32). on lateral faces A (12) and C (14), opposite, and optical receiving panels (33) on the remaining lateral faces B (13) and D (15). to provide two scatter views with a mutual angle of 180 degrees.

A fourth form of embodiment is represented in (Fig.20) which shows us a plan view of the cuboid (8) in an alternative configuration that only mounts three emitter/receiver optical panels: the optical emitter panel 32. on the face side A (12), an optical receptor panel (33), on the opposite side C(14), to receive the extinction light and another optical receptor panel (33) on the lateral side D (15) to receive the scattered light. A fifth form of: embodiment is represented in (Fig.21) that shows us a plan view of the cuboid (8) in an alternative configuration that mounts an optical emitting panel (32) on the side face A (12), a optical receiving panel (33) on an orthogonal side face B (13) to receive scattered light and another optical receiving panel (33) on face D (15) oriented towards the optical receiving panel (33) on face B (13) , to receive scattered light from the opposite direction.

A sixth form of embodiment is represented in (Fig.22) that shows us a plan view of the cuboid (8) in an alternative configuration that mounts an optical emitter panel (32) on face A (12), side of the cube. and an optical receiving panel (33) on the opposite side C (14) to provide a view of the extinction.

Finally, a seventh embodiment is represented in (Fig.23) which shows us a plan view of the cuboid (8) in a configuration that mounts an emitter panel (32), on face A (12), lateral hub and an optical receiving panel (33), on the adjoining side face D (15) to provide a scatter view.

The fourth to seventh and other similar alternative embodiments, which are not ruled out, are specially designed to reduce the cost of the cuboid (8) that. in all cases, it includes an electronic signal acquisition and communications module (10) for the acquisition and communication of the signals obtained. So far, several embodiments have been considered in which the optical or cuboid sensor (8) is totally enclosed in the box (2) with access for the various insects or mosquitoes (16) to the transparent flight duct (9), sucked by the existing fan in all types of conventional traps (6). That is to say, the case in which the optical sensor is complemented with a conventional trap (6) has been analyzed. However, the inventors contemplate an eighth embodiment in which the capture trap is dispensed with and an optical sensor with two facing panels is mounted; an optical emitter panel (32) and an optical receiver panel (33), protected with glazed covers (43), with their corresponding support frames (41) joined by connection bars (42), All of this is complemented by the electronic module and wireless transmission media for outdoor operations. As it is free of side walls, which allow the free movement of insects between the two panels of the optical sensor, it is possible to carry out various studies to find out the characteristics of the flying insects that frequent certain areas in the countryside. The schematic assembly of this eighth embodiment is shown in (Fig.24).

The optical sensor of the invention, with its corresponding electronic signal acquisition and communications module, which in turn communicates the signals or results captured with an external system that can provide data processing and access to them, is prepared to be able to study in detail all the events registered in any of its photoreceptors, whether they are analyzed individually or if combinations between them are considered, as has been described in the eight embodiments that have just been listed. This makes it possible to record a very complete range of characteristics of the different flying insects. It is not considered necessary to make the content of this description more extensive so that a person skilled in the art can understand the scope and advantages derived from the invention, as well as develop and put into practice the object of the same. However, it should be understood that the invention has been described according to some preferred embodiments of the same, and may be subject to modifications without this affecting or implying any alteration to the foundation of. said invention, that is, the terms in which this invention has been exposed. should always be taken broadly and not limiting.

Claims

1. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap that, through digital recording, allows the observation, study, classification and automatic counting of flying insects through the application of signal processing and automatic learning techniques, characterized by consisting of a box (2) and a cover (3), equipped with an upper air duct (4) where an overhead lighting focus (9.2) and a duct lower air (5), where a nadir lighting source (9.3) is installed, which by means of a coupling piece (7), can be connected to any conventional trap (6), having the box (2) with a conduit for transparent flight (9) with a cross section, preferably circular, although it can be square or otherwise, which can be accessed and transited by flying insects, the walls of the tr flight conduit being coaxially surrounded transparent (9) by a structure that constitutes the nucleus of the optical sensor in a cubic or cuboid form (8) existing, in addition, in the box (2), an auxiliary electronic module (10), various wiring, electrical connectors (11) and other accessories. The cuboid (8) is structured with an upper plate (16), a lower plate (17), an A face (12), a B face (13), a C face (14), and a D face (15), mounting on each of said faces, depending on the embodiment, an optical emitter panel (32) or an optical receiver panel (33) electrically connected to an electronic module (10) for signal acquisition and communications which, in turn , communicates the captured signals or results with an external system that can provide data processing and access to them, the optical emitting panels (32) and the optical receiving panels (33) being constituted by a matrix group of collimating lenses ( 18), with collimating lenses (19), by an optical deflector (20), with light passage windows (21) and inverted pyramids (22), a PCBA printed circuit (23), with luminescent diodes (24), in the case of the optical emitting panels (32) and a PCBA printed circuit (30), with photoreceptors (31), in the case of the p optic receptor anels (33). The luminescent diodes (24) as well as the photoreceptors (31) are mounted in coincidence with the respective foci of the collimating lenses (19), with fine adjustment means to achieve a precision focus. Both the light emitting diodes (24) and the photoreceptors (31) are selected to operate at various wavelengths, or in a combination thereof.

2. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized by mounting array groups of collimating lenses, inverted pyramids, light emitting diodes and photoreceptors in arrays one, two or more rows and one, two or more columns.

3. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that the extinction and/or dispersion output signals of the cuboid (8) define characteristics dynamic, morphological and optical characteristics of the insects that transit through the transparent flight conduit (9).

4. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that technically, it is programmed to activate only the light emitting diodes (24) necessary to illuminate the insect at a given time including, only, in the processing of the signal, the outputs of the photoreceptors (31) that receive signals of extinction or dispersal of the insect at any time.

5. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that two optical emitting panels are mounted on the lateral faces of the cuboid (8). 32) adjoining and two optical receiving panels (33) adjoining.

6. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that an optical emitting panel (8) is mounted on the lateral faces of the cuboid (8). 32) and three optical receiving panels (33).

7. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that on the lateral faces of the cuboid (8) there are mount two optical emitting panels (32) on opposite sides and two optical receiving panels (33) on the other two opposite sides,

8. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that a single optical emitter panel (32) and two optical receiver panels (32) are mounted. 33), on adjoining faces, leaving the remaining face free.

9. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that a single optical emitter panel (32) and two optical receiver panels (32) are mounted. 33), on opposite faces, leaving the remaining face free.

10. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that a single optical emitter panel (32) and a single optical receiver panel are mounted (33), on opposite faces, leaving the other two faces free.

11. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that a single optical emitter panel (32) and a single optical receiver panel are mounted (33), on adjoining faces, leaving the other two faces free.

12. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to the first claim, characterized in that the zenith lighting focus (9.2) and the nadir lighting focus (9.3 ) emit light of various wavelengths.

13. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to first claim, characterized by consisting of an optical emitter panel (32), and an optical receiver panel (33), with its corresponding collimating lenses (18), optical deflectors (20) and PCBA printed circuits of emitter (23) and receiver (30) being both panels facing each other and protected with glazed covers (43), mounted on support frames (41) joined together by means of connecting bars (42), having an electronic module (10) and means of wireless communication.

14. Cubic-shaped optical sensor for monitoring and studying the characteristics of flying insects, including mosquitoes, attachable to a capture trap, according to claim thirteen, characterized in that the groups of collimating lenses (18) and the optical deflectors (20) they are matrices of one, two or more rows and one, two or more columns.