Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g. – Combined with diverse type radiant energy system – With laser
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-14
2003-11-25
Gregory, Bernarr E. (Department: 3662)
Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g.,
Combined with diverse type radiant energy system
With laser
C342S022000, C342S027000, C342S028000, C342S052000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06653971
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This method and system relates generally to insect and pest control, and particularly to use of radar, laser, and other optical sensors for discrimination between insect pests and beneficial insects Precision kill technologies may be utilized to timely kill or disable airborne biota identified as harmful to protected assets. The method also provides for detection of insect pests or pest activity within the protected volume using traps and miniaturized sensors and telemetry systems, and on crop plants or production animals using laser vibrometry and other laser and optical sensors. In some embodiments, the method can be practiced as a video game wherein remotely located participants control kill devices (lasers, HPM devices, robotic aircraft) against active insect targets or other pests in a real time environment so as to kill or sufficiently disable pests to prevent them from breeding and engaging in destructive activity.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
At present, economic losses in crops and animal products caused by insects and other destructive airborne biota undoubtedly exceed $10 billion annually in the United States alone. It is reported that combined costs of insect damage and control measures exceeded $1.4 billion in cotton production alone in 1997. Insects and other arthropods and biota (e.g., fungal spores, bacteria, viruses) cause direct damage to food, fiber, and animal products and plants, and mosquitoes, flies and the like also transmit diseases which adversly affect humans and other animals and plants. Losses further extend to orchards and forestry products, and ornamental plants and lawns. Costs further associated with insects pests and other harmful biota include costs associated with insect scouting and control measures. Control measures frequently employ pesticides or the like which also kill beneficial insects, leave residues in food and fiber products, and cause environmental and ecological damage from runoff, as well as from waste products resulting from chemical pesticide production processes. In food product production animals, it is often necessary to inject antibiotics and other chemicals in order to control pests (e.g., screw worms, hookworms) which have invaded a body of an animal, and such antibiotics may cause undesirable side effects or leave residues in products derived from animals.
In many cases, pests are developing tolerance to common pesticides and antibiotics, requiring development of more potent and more selective pesticides and antibiotics which in turn become more expensive. More recently, genetic engineering techniques are being used to introduce genes in some crop species which enable plants themselves to manufacture chemicals within plant material which are toxic to certain insects or other pests. Long term effects of residues and byproducts in human diets, and in the global environment, resulting from use of pesticides, antibiotics, and genetic engineering techniques, and loss of genetic diversity in genetically engineered crops (due to the expense in developing multiple transgenic varieties), are matters of considerable concern and debate. Biological controls employing parasites or disease organisms specific to certain insect pests are currently used in some areas, but use of biological controls suffers in many cases from the lack of timely information on populations, behavior, and movement of targeted pests.
In addition to pests, the overall insect and biota population in a crop field, animal production area, or other outdoor and indoor (e.g., barn, slaughterhouse or similar areas) environment includes many beneficial insects, or “beneficials,” such as bees, parasitic wasps, lady bugs, lacewings, geocorid bugs, etc. as well as other biota such as spiders floating on gossamer threads, some fungal sprores and viruses, which are economically important to crops or the ecosystem in general as pollinators or as predators of insect pests. Other insects which may be found in crop fields, animal production areas, and other areas may be neither friend nor foe to a particular crop, but may be important to other crops or in other areas of the ecosystem. These organisms are designated “neutrals” or “background” insects relative to a specific crop where they are neither pests nor beneficials. An entire population of insects and other biota in a given region at a given time may be considered to be composed of pests, beneficials, or neutrals relative to a given crop production activity or other activity (e.g., animal production, recreation). For purposes of this application, this aggregated population is designated as PBN (for pests, beneficials, and neutrals) complex.
Most of the insect species economically important (good or bad) to the production of crops and animal products have an adult stage which is winged and capable of airborne flight. Many fly into crop fields from other nearby host plants and habitats during the growing season when the crop has developed to a stage of their liking, or, in some areas, when the crop is being irrigated and is in a lush condition, and other host plants are drying up. Other insect pests may fly randomly about an animal production environment, such as a feedlot operation, seeking to lay their eggs, or suck blood, causing pain and stress to animals, reducing productivity, and frequently spreading diseases or other parasites. Some, especially moths, may migrate over extremely long distances (hundreds of kilometers), aided by atmospheric winds, to later land in crops and other areas and lay eggs or otherwise cause damage. In many insect species, it is the larval stage of the insect pest which causes the damage. In other species, nymph and adult stages cause the damage and spread diseases, and in some species (e.g., boll weevil), both larval and adult species cause damage.
It is important that control measures (i.e., means of killing, incapacitating, or repelling pests) minimize negative impacts on beneficial insects and other beneficial biota such as bats, most birds, pollen grains for production crops. Also, it is generally desirable, from an ecological viewpoint, that control measures also minimize negative collateral effects on the “neutrals” as well.
Current methods of dealing with most pests in crops involve use of crop entomological or agronomical human scouts who have knowledge, experience, sample collection tools, and sampling techniques to identify which species of pests (including harmful fungal and disease organisms in addition to insect pests), as well as beneficial species (also including some fungal and disease organisms which attack pests), are present, and estimate their relative numbers or concentrations. In order to determine whether insect pest population buildup is occurring, and to determine the need for control measures, or whether control measures are being effective, it is important to estimate actual (by traps, sweep nets, direct observation, etc.) or potential (from egg lays) populations of insect pests as well as populations of their respective predators (beneficials). After considering the populations of specific pests estimated to be present in the field or other environment, and populations of their respective predators, decisions are made concerning application of pesticides or other control measures such as releasing additional predators. Economics of labor-intensive crop scouting generally permit sampling only once per week or so, and then only at relatively few sampling sites within the field environment. In some cases, pest populations are also monitored by the use of baits and traps employing general attractants (sweet substances, putrid substances, ultraviolet light, etc.) or species specific attractants, such as sex attractant pheromone chemical complexes which are generally species specific. Generally, such traps must be manually inspected and emptied to determine the species and numbers of insects trapped. Vicki et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,416) describes a pitfall trap employing vibration detection to detect presence of insects in the trap and suggest
Dent, Jr. William V.
Green Augustus H.
Guice David L.
Clodfelter Mark
Gregory Bernarr E.
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