Device, system and method for monitoring and reporting the presence of pest eggs and pest larvae

Abstract

A pest monitoring device 11, system and method of monitoring pests comprises a box body, with holes 14 and a QR code 15. Fruits (16, Figure 1C) are placed into the holes 14 of the pest monitoring devi

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates broadly to the field of integrated pest management; more particularly to monitoring and reporting the presence of pest eggs and pest larvae; still more particularly to using a non-electric passive pest monitoring device and a database with graphical interface displayed on a portable device, such as smartphone, to record data for pest monitoring and reporting. BACKGROUND Pests, such as Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella), Oriental Fruit Moth (Grapholita molesta), False Codling Moth (Thaumatotibia leucotreta), Pink Bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Ceratitis capitata), present significant challenges for farming, causing damage to fruits, which can lead to substantial economic loss. Many businesses utilise a variety of monitoring techniques to manage these pests. The purpose of these pest monitoring techniques is not only to detect pest presence but also to comply with agricultural regulations and maintain fruit quality. Even upon complete elimination of pests from growing facilities, however, the pests can often find their way back into the growing facilities. For example, open doors, holes in covering nets, and other ways, may all provide an avenue for access back into the growing facilities. Therefore, even if the pests are eliminated, monitoring of pest presence is an important activity in order to detect the pests in as early stage of their lifecycle as possible. Detecting and monitoring the presence of these pests is conducted in egg, larvae and adult stages of the pest life cycle. Presently, a major challenge to detect and monitor pest presence in the egg and larval stage is caused by the labour-intensive and time-consuming process of visual inspection of fruits. This type of inspection is widely used. However, it requires a long attention span, memory abilities and eyesight to detect the presence of pest eggs of small size, which lay on the surface of fruit or just below it. In the larvae stage, placement of pest larvae inside the fruit can be detected by a small diameter hole on the surface of a fruit. At the same time, the large number of fruits to assess makes it difficult to visually monitor pest presence. In the prior art, insect trap and assembly for capturing and monitoring insects (US6516558B1), improved delta trap (WO2018078638A1), pheromone trap (KR20210112928A), and other traps for insect pests have been developed, which are focused principally on pest capturing and monitoring of pest presence in adult stage of the life cycle. However, these traps are not applicable for detecting and monitoring pest presence on egg and larvae stages. Information systems utilising barcodes associated with pest traps for termites (TW201010605A) are also known to the art. There are also existing solutions that automatically generate reports on pest presence (US20210267187A1, US11523599B2). However, there are no similar methods and systems available for fulfilling the complex tasks of pest monitoring by utilising a pest monitoring device with a QR code, recording results of a physical inspection through the graphical interface to the connected database on a portable device, and generating pest monitoring reports. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention addresses the problems identified in the background by introducing a method and system for recording and reporting data from a pest monitoring device. Each pest monitoring device comprises a box body and a plurality of holes designed to accommodate fruits within them. Each pest monitoring device is equipped with a unique QR code. Each pest monitoring device does not possess trapping or killing functionality and is a non-electric device. The number of pest monitoring devices may vary across different locations and applications. These devices can be used in various environments alongside other pest monitoring devices. Importantly, fruits have to be placed in the holes of the pest monitoring device to attract pests and encourage them to lay eggs. On a day predetermined by the standard farming operational procedures, an individual conducts the physical inspection of a pest monitoring device and fruits that are placed in the holes of the pest monitoring device. Physical inspection includes saving a QR code identifier and a number of detected pests to a database through a graphical interface displayed on a portable device. Optionally, physical inspection may include capturing images of a pest monitoring device and / or fruits. In the database each record consists of a QR code identifier, the number of detected pests, recorded by the individual, and a time stamp, automatically generated by the database. A record may also consist of image data of a pest monitoring device and / or fruits. To generate a pest monitoring report, an individual uses a touchscreen mechanism on a graphical interface that is displayed on a portable device. The report generation process involves filtering records based on various criteria and as a result provides a table of records. Optionally, a pest monitoring report may include the images captured during the physical inspection. While the invention will be described with respect to preferred configuration and with respect to particular devices used therein, it should be understood that the invention is not to be constrained by either such configuration or components described herein. Moreover, while particular types of pests are described, such specifics should not be seen as limitations. Rather, the principles of this invention extend to any environment where pest detection is required. Further optional features will become evident to the person skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the invention. DRAWINGS In order that the invention can be more readily understood, reference will now be made by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1A illustrates a perspective view of a pest monitoring device, according to some implementations; Figure 1B illustrates a top view of a upper component of the pest monitoring device, according to some implementations; Figure 1C illustrates a representative perspective view of a pest monitoring device with fruits placed in the holes, according to some implementations; Figure 1D illustrates a top view of a upper component of the pest monitoring device with fruits placed in the holes, according to some implementations; Figure 1E illustrates a perspective view of the pest monitoring device in an inverted position, according to some implementations; Figure 1F represents an example of possible attachment of more than one pest monitoring device to each other, according to some implementations; Figure 2 illustrates a representative block diagram of a portable device, according to some implementations; Figure 3A illustrates a representative block diagram of a database, according to some implementations; Figure 3B illustrates a representative table of records in a database, according to some implementations; Figure 4 illustrates a representative view of the graphical interface for recording results of a single physical inspection, according to some implementations; Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart of the method of pest monitoring, according to some implementations; Figure 6A illustrates a representative view of the graphical interface to generate a pest monitoring report, according to some implementations; Figure 6B illustrates a representative pest monitoring report, according to some implementations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A pest monitoring device 11, shown in Figures 1A to 1F, comprises a box-shaped body, which consists of the upper component 12 and the lower component 13, constructed from wood, plastic, metal, and / or any other hard material or a combination thereof. Each component may take the solid shape of a cylinder, cube, cuboid, or hexagonal prism, including any other 3D shape. The upper component 12 is joined to the lower component 13 at its base. Optionally, more than one pest monitoring device 11 may be attached to each other by the side as shown in Figure 1F. Both components may be symmetrical and identical in size. Alternatively, the two components may differ in size or they may share the same external shape but be hollow on the inside. However, these variations should not affect the functionality of the pest monitoring device 11. The upper component 12, shown in Figure 1B from its top view, contains a plurality of holes 14, with at least one hole and a maximum determined by practical requirements. The arrangement of holes 14 in the upper component may follow a linear pattern or any other design as shown in Figure 1F. Both the depth and diameter of each hole 14 should correspond to the average size of the fruits 16, determined through visual assessment or other methods. Additionally, the upper component 12, shown in Figures 1C and 1D, may feature functional holes 17 designed for positioning the pest monitoring device 11 at an elevated level. The lower component 13, shown in Figure 1E, does not contain holes 14 for fruits 16. This solid base serves as a foundation to prevent the fruits 16 placed in the holes 14 of the upper component 12 from falling out. The lower component 13 may serve as the base for the pest monitoring device 11 to stand upright. Additionally, the lower component 13 may feature functional holes 17 designed for positioning the device at an elevated level. Each pest monitoring device 11 has a QR code 15. The QR code 15 is affixed to the external surface of the pest monitoring device 11. The QR code 15 comprises an image and may include text and / or numbers combined in a QR code identifier and recorded to the database 31 on a portable device 21. The QR code 15 can either be manually created using third-party services or obtained from third-party providers as a “ready-to-use” product. The QR code 15 is affixed using any adhesive material. For practical convenience, the QR code 15 is affixed at the top of the upper component 12, near the holes 14, shown in Figures 1A through 1D. Optionally, the QR code 15 may be affixed to the lower component 13, shown in Figure 1E. Each pest monitoring device 11 does not involve any trapping or killing functionality and operates without any electrical connection. The number of pest monitoring devices 11 may vary across different locations and applications and depends on practical requirements. Pest monitoring devices 11 can be used in various environments alongside other electric and non-electric, as well as active and passive pest monitoring devices such as sticky traps, pheromone delta traps, and others. Portable device 21, shown in Figure 2, may be a smartphone, or any other compact, lightweight, and handheld device. Portable device 21 includes a processor 22 and a display 23 with a touchscreen mechanism 32. Sometimes a portable device 21 may include a camera 24. Processor 22 runs a database 31 stored in memory 25. The portable device 21 may have a network connection 26. The database 31 may also be stored on an external storage 27 accessible by the processor 22. Database 31, shown in Figure 3A, stores records 33 about physical inspections of pest monitoring devices 11. An individual saves a record 33 in the database 31 using a touchscreen mechanism 32, within a graphical interface 41 that is displayed on a portable device 21. As shown in Figure 3B, each record 33 consists of data fields obtained from a single physical inspection visit to a pest monitoring device 11, specifically, QR code identifier 35 and number of detected pests 36, recorded by an individual. Additionally, each record 33 consists of a timestamp 34, automatically generated by the database 31. Optionally, the database 31 may include image data 37, saved by an individual, as well as any other data fields if they are technically available. Data fields can be used to track the corresponding record 33 in the database 31. The minimum number of records 33 in the database 31 is one, but the maximum number of records is unlimited, and for demonstrative purposes, this is represented by ‘n’ in Figure 3A. Additionally, database 31 may include other database functions, such as generating reports, among others. The database 31 can reside on a portable device 21 with reports being generated locally and, optionally, transmitted to other devices through network connection 27. Graphical interface 41, shown in Figure 4, is connected to the database 31 and displayed on a portable device 21. The data entry to the graphical interface 41 is facilitated through the use of a touchscreen mechanism 32, an integral part of a portable device 21, and recorded in the database 31. As shown in Figure 5, the initial placement of fruits 51 involves an activity in which an individual places fruits 16 into the holes 14 of the pest monitoring device 11, as also depicted in Figures 10 and 1D. The fruits 16 serve to attract pests and encourage them to lay eggs. The number of fruits 16, as well as schedule for placing fruits 51, conducting physical inspections 52, and generating a pest monitoring report 53 is predetermined by an individual and the standard farming operational procedures. On a predetermined day, the individual returns to the pest monitoring device 11 and conducts a physical inspection 52. Physical inspection 52 of a pest monitoring device 11 includes manually recording a QR code 15 of the pest monitoring device 11 using a touchscreen mechanism 32, within a graphical interface 41 that is displayed on a portable device 21. As a result, a saved QR code identifier 35 is stored in database 31. Optionally, recording a QR code 15 may be conducted semi-manually by scanning it with the camera 24 of a portable device 21. The method of recording a QR code 15 does not have any further impact on the stored QR code identifier 35 in the database 31. Physical inspection 52 must also include a visual assessment of a fruit 16 placed in a hole 14. Upon visual assessment of the fruit 16, the number of detected pests 36 is saved in the database 31 using a touchscreen mechanism 32, within a graphical interface 41 that is displayed on a portable device 21. A pest is considered to be detected if either a pest egg or pest larvae have been identified on the surface or inside the fruit 16. The number of detected pests 36 expresses the count of pests identified, as assessed visually by an individual. The number of detected pests 36 can be zero, one, or any other positive whole number. The number of detected pests 36 is preferably recorded to the database 31 at the moment of the inspection. Optionally, the number of detected pests 36 can be recorded at a later time if immediate recording is not feasible or necessary. Optionally, visual assessment of the fruits 16 may be conducted with an additional tool, such as a magnification lens, that can be either handheld or attached to a portable device. The magnification lens is not considered a part of the invention. Optionally, physical inspection 52 may include capturing an image of a pest monitoring device 11 or fruit 16 placed in the hole 14 using the camera 24 on a portable device 21. An individual may save the image data 37 to the database 31 using a touchscreen mechanism 32, within a graphical interface 41 that is displayed on a portable device 21. Alternatively, physical inspection 52 may include other activities, such as recording additional data fields to the database 31, if they are predefined by standard farming operational procedures and if there is technical availability. Upon saving a record 33 to the database 31, an individual can generate a pest monitoring report 53 by aggregating the records 33 stored in the database 31 using a touchscreen mechanism 32 within a graphical interface 41, shown in Figure 6A, displayed on a portable device 21. The report generation 53 involves filtering records 33 based on criteria such as the ascending or descending order of date stamps 34, the order of numbers and letters in QR code identifiers 35, or other available criteria. The pest monitoring report 61, shown in Figure 6B, provides a table of records 33 over a given period, set by an individual. Optionally, a pest monitoring report 61 may include the image data 37, saved during physical inspection 52, images or any other representative information about images such as hyperlinks. This can offer a more detailed visual reference for the pest situation. The pest monitoring report 61 can be generated and displayed directly on the portable device 21. Optionally, the pest monitoring report 61 can be transferred through network connection 26 to external storage 27 and processed on a different device. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the above embodiments may be varied in many different respects without departing from the scope of the present invention, that is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Updated in accordance with the letter from 12 April 20241. WITHDRAWN2. WITHDRAWN3. WITHDRAWN4. WITHDRAWN5. A method for monitoring pest activity and reporting pest presence using a portable device, the method comprising:using a portable device, equipped with a processor to execute a stored database from memory, and a display featuring a touchscreen interface for data input;inputting using a touchscreen interface a QR code identifier located on a pest monitoring device, wherein the QR code contains unique identification data for the pest monitoring device;inputting using a touchscreen interface results of a visual assessment into the database, wherein the visual assessment is conducted on fruits placed within the pest monitoring device to determine the presence of pests;recording data, including the QR code identifier and visual assessment results, into a record within the database using the touchscreen interface;automatically generating a pest monitoring report upon entry of the QR code identifier and visual assessment results, where the report aggregates data from the database to provide analysis of pest presence;displaying the generated report on the portable device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the QR code identifier on a pest monitoring device is scanned and inputted using a camera equipped on the portable device.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising capturing images of the pest monitoring device and / or the fruits placed within the pest monitoring device using a camera equipped on the portable device, and subsequently inputting these images to a record within the database.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising transmitting the pest monitoring report generated by the portable device to an external device over a network connection.Application No: GB2312027.2Examiner: Mrs Margaret PhillipsClaims searched: 1-4Date of search: 29 January 2024Patents Act 1977: Search Report under Section 17Documents considered to be relevant:Category Relevant to claims Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance X 1 -4 UK Design Registration 6295938 (PETIOLE LTD) Published 22 July 2023 A 1-4 US 5573760 A (THORNE et al) See fig 1 and associated description A 1-4 US 2023 / 210101 Al (NGUYEN et al) See fig 1 and associated description A 1 -4 US 7719429 B2 (bARBER et al) Fig 8 and associated description.Categories:X Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive A Document indicating technological background and / or state step of the art. Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if P Document published on or after the declared priority date but combined with one or more other documents of same category'. before the filing date of this invention. & Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after, but with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Field of Search:International Classification:Subclass Subgroup Valid From AO IM 0001 / 02 01 / 01 / 2006 AO IM 0031 / 00 01 / 01 / 2006 G06Q 0050 / 02 01 / 01 / 2024Application No: GB2312027.2Examiner: Mrs Margaret PhillipsClaims searched: 1-4Date of search: 29 January 2024Patents Act 1977: Search Report under Section 17Documents considered to be relevant:Category Relevant to claims Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance X 1 -4 UK Design Registration 6295938 (PETIOLE LTD) Published 22 July 2023 A 1-4 US 5573760 A (THORNE et al) See fig 1 and associated description A 1-4 US 2023 / 210101 Al (NGUYEN et al) See fig 1 and associated description A 1 -4 US 7719429 B2 (bARBER et al) Fig 8 and associated description.Categories:X Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive A Document indicating technological background and / or state step of the art. Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if P Document published on or after the declared priority date but combined with one or more other documents of same category'. before the filing date of this invention. & Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after, but with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Field of Search:International Classification:Subclass Subgroup Valid From AO IM 0001 / 02 01 / 01 / 2006 AO IM 0031 / 00 01 / 01 / 2006 G06Q 0050 / 02 01 / 01 / 2024Application No: GB2312027.2Examiner: Mrs Margaret PhillipsClaims searched: 5-8Date of search: 11 October 2024Patents Act 1977Further Search Report under Section 17Documents considered to be relevant:Category Relevant to claims Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance Y 5-8 UK Design Registration 6295938 (PETIOLE LTD) Published 22 July 2023 Y 5-8 US 7719429 B2 (BARBER et al) Fig 8 and associated description.Categories:X Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive step A Document indicating technological background and / or state of the art. Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if p Document published on or after the declared priority date but combined with one or more other documents of same category. before the filing date of this invention. & Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after, but with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Field of Search:International Classification:Subclass Subgroup Valid From AO IM 0001 / 02 01 / 01 / 2006 AO IM 0031 / 00 01 / 01 / 2006 G06Q 0050 / 02 01 / 01 / 2024

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