Comments on: Ticks beware: RC Truck Hacked for Pest Control

By: Berti

Berti — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:16:46 +0000

I suspect a problem with having it run 3 months at a time, but seeing that at this point you are just estimating and with a collection rate of more than 80% of ticks in the perimeter, I suspect letting the attraction cycle run longer to attract more ticks would do the trick. Smart application of fuzzy logic, too. Where did you get the idea?

By: William

William — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:16:46 +0000

Bert, yes, I’m interested in knowing how they came up with the idea too.

It would also be cool if you could devise some way of monitoring how many ticks you’ve picked up. That way you could dynamically adjust your search pattern.

By: Justin Woulfe, Barry Hammond,

Justin Woulfe, Barry Hammond, — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:16:46 +0000

To clarify a few points, the Tick Rover succesfully collected 96% of the ticks during a test at Old Dominion University. The robot wouldn’t run for three months at a time, the three months is just a window during which two stages of the tick life cycle are active. Actual running time would be bout a day per site. Check out the IEEE Potentials article for a more in depth analysis, or contact one of us for more info thru the ECE dept at VMI. The research project originated from a request from Dr. Dan Sonenshine at ODU to develop a way to collect ticks without having grad students dragging the sheet. We simply brainstormed and designed from the concept. Future work includes building a shed in which the robot can be recharged, cleaned, etc. all autonomously which will include way to keep track of the tick density per site.

By: Alexandra Grabbe

Alexandra Grabbe — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:16:46 +0000

I caught Lyme disease last summer and have been hoping someone will invent a machine like the mosquito magnet to kill the ticks around my bed & breakfast. I sincerely hope some business will have the sense to purchase this idea and commercialize it. I would like one!

By: max

max — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:16:46 +0000

Great idea. If you can implement it without placing a tube all around your lawn that emits chemoattractant, you’ll be all set. Perhaps the little bot can perform both functions – emit the atrractant on first path, collect on the second, or do both simultaneously.

The alternative to bot following a tube can be placement of corner beacons throughout the property, and manually setting the bot’s path on the initial run – just the way you’d drive the toy truck from point to point.

By: momotarosan

momotarosan — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:16:46 +0000

now I can see the maker the Roomba coming up with a lawn version copycat…a small propane cartridge and a robot that will slowing cover the entire lawn automatically

By: Willie

Willie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:16:46 +0000

If you really need to get rid of ticks on a permanent basis and can’t get your hands on one of these nice robots then try guinea:

http://www.guineafowl.com/fritsfarm/guineas/

they are smaller than chickens and really noisy, but do the trick of tick elimination quite well.