Washington (Web Desk): The elimination of mosquitoes may become possible in the future with the help of artificial intelligence-powered micro drones. A US technology startup has started working on extremely small drones that can fly in the air, identify mosquitoes and other insects, and target them.
The American startup Tornyol has received support from the well-known technology program Y Combinator. The company says that this advanced technology could reduce the cost of mosquito control by up to 100 times compared to existing methods.
According to the company, in the future, groups of these micro drones will be able to automatically track mosquitoes in urban areas, reducing reliance on chemical sprays and traditional methods that harm the environment.
On July 14, company co-founder Alex Toussaint released a video showing a micro drone flying in a controlled environment and successfully targeting an insect. However, a moth was used instead of a mosquito in this experiment, meaning the technology is still in its early testing phase.
The company plans to develop drones weighing around 40 grams that can detect mosquitoes using smartphone-like microphones, ultrasonic sensors, and artificial intelligence-based systems.
A special ability of these drones is that they emit ultrasonic waves and analyze the returning sounds. Based on the specific Doppler sound produced by the movement of mosquito wings, they attempt to distinguish mosquitoes from other flying insects.
According to the company's engineers, in the future, just 10 micro drones could help reduce the mosquito population in an area of approximately one square kilometer. However, experts say the true success of this technology can only be determined after further experiments and testing in real-world environments.