A system for attracting pink bollworms, trapping and reporting and a method therefore

Abstract

The present disclosure the based wireless smart trap (system) 100 comprises of three major components viz., control unit 110, trap unit 120, and pole 130. In another embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 110 comprises of 20W solar panel 111 to harvest solar energy for powering the smart trap, 12V rechargeable li-polymer battery 112 to store the energy; battery charge controller 113 to regulate the battery charging; microprocessor based controller 114 embedded in a PCB having wi-fi and Bluetooth communication options to regulate the power supply to trap unit 120 and to receive communication from a mobile device for configuring the parameters required for smart trap operation; LTE / GSM dongle 115 for the transmitting the data received from the trap unit 120 and weather sensor 132 to the cloud server 200 and; LED flash controller 116 to regulate the light intensity of LED flashlight 126 present in the trap unit 120.

Description

A SYSTEM FOR ATTRACTING PINK BOLL WORMS, TRAPPING AND REPORTING AND A METHOD THEREFORETECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a smart monitoring device for insect pest. Specifically, the present invention relates to an artificial intelligence based wireless smart trap for monitoring pink bollworm, a serious threat to cotton crop. Also, the present invention relates to real-time monitoring of a pest over a 5 wider-area and to correlate with weather parameters for delineating the pest population dynamics and pest forewarning models. Further, the smart trap is labour saving, does not cause any harmful effects to beneficial insects, is environmentally friendly, can reduce chemical pesticide usage in cotton cultivation, and thus has wider commercial application prospects in agricultureBACKGROUND

[0002] Insect pests are one of the major limiting factors in cotton production that cause 56-60% reduction in yield. Among the insect pests that infest cotton, the pink bollworm (PBW), Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) is a key pest that cause significant yield and fiber quality loss in cotton. The pest causes 2.8-61.9% loss in seed cotton yield, 2.1-47.10% loss in oil content and 10.70-59.20% loss in normal opening of bolls (Patil, 2003).

[0003] The PBW has four stages in its lifecycle viz., egg, larva, pupa and adult. The adult is a small, grayish-brown moth with a wingspan of about 10-15 mm. The female moth lays eggs on the cotton plants and the emerging larvae feed on flower buds, flowers and bore into bolls. Inside the boll, locules are damaged seeds are destroyed and lint gets stained. The larva pupates before developing into full grown adult moth. It generally takes 4-6 weeks to complete the life cycle and the larval stage is the damaging one to the crop.

[0004] The transgenic Bt cotton technology introduced during 2002 kept the PBW under check for more than a decade, however the pest developed resistance to the Bt genes (Cry 1 Ac + Cry 2 Ab) employed in the transgenic cotton and became a major limiting factor to cotton production again (Naik et al., 2018). The continuous and indiscriminate application of insecticides in cotton has resulted in insecticides resistance and pest resurgence in the recent past. Apart from these negative effects, environmental pollution in terms of accumulation of pesticide residues in soils, adverse effects on natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) and resurgence of minor pests have also been reported in cotton cultivation in India (Kranthi et al. 2002). Eco-friendly pest management strategies are being advocated to negate the undesirableeffects of chemical pesticides. Further farmers are looking for alternative, cheap and effective pest management options in cotton. Further India is a major player in the organic cotton production in the world. The worldwide demand for organically grown fiber also forces the cotton farmers to use ecofriendly and non chemical approaches to manage bollworms and sucking pests in cotton.

[0005] The cryptic behaviour and lifecycle of PBW render it less amenable for the regular pest management practices employing insecticides and or biocontrol agents. The larvae bore into cotton bolls immediately after hatching, remain inside by feeding on seeds and later exit the boll and pupate falling to the soil surface, thus offering a very narrow window of control opportunity by the conventional strategies. Alternative tools like behaviour-modifying chemicals or sex pheromones provide a pragmatic approach in monitoring and managing the internal feeders and cryptic pests. They are considered safe and environmentally friendly because they are species-specific, natural, volatile and dissipate without leaving any unwanted residues.

[0006] These sex pheromones are generally produced in a minuscule amount by females and elicit drastic behavioural and physiological responses in conspecific mates over a long distance. The sex pheromone of PBW, gossyplure, was identified during 1973 and characterized as a mixture of Z, Z- and Z, E- isomers of 7, 11-25 hexadecadienyl acetate. The female moth of PBW releases gossyplure at about 0.2 nanograms per minute for attracting its male counterpart. Since its biosynthesis, gossyplure has become an imperative tool in the integrated management of PBW on cotton crop and has successfully been employed in population monitoring, mass trapping and mating disruption for pest reduction.

[0007] Traps baited with pheromone lure can detect the presence and infestation of a pest at an early stage. The trap catch data of PBW adults had been reported to have significant positive correlation with the field damage in terms of cotton boll damage. Trapping data recorded over a wider area provides information on the migration and dispersal of the target pest and also help to detect the entry and progress of an invasive pest. One of the major applications of the pheromone trap data is the fixation of economic threshold levels of a pest damage and to decide on the timing and selection of appropriate control strategies.

[0008] Continuous monitoring of the pest population is one of the essential elements in the pheromone-based pest control system (Witzgall et al., 2010). Traditional monitoring of pheromone-based traps was conducted by manually identifying the species and population of pests on the trap. This approach is labour intensive and time consuming and requires skilled personnel capable of distinguishing different species of pests. These disadvantages hinderpest monitoringin real time operation which can guarantee a specified timing constraint. Early diagnosis of pests, one of the major challenges in the cotton crop, requires automatic monitoring rather than manual monitoring (Boissard et al., 2008).

[0009] By integrating the traditional trapping method with modem communication technology, the trap system is able to provide real-time information on the field conditions and the dynamics of the pest at different monitoring sites. This makes the system especially helpful for large scale monitoring areas, which is a major obstacle for the traditional monitoring methods. The rapid improvement of today’s micro-fabrication technology and embedded systems allows for a tiny electronic sensor to integrate multiple functions, like precise sensation and calculation (Ali et al., 2004). By integrating the latest in sensory chips and microfabrication technology with traditional sensor modules and the pest trapping device, an automated pest and environment monitoring system can be established, together with powerful processing ability. Furthermore, it will reduce the labor cost of collecting environmental data by combining the automated monitoring system with wireless telecommunication technology. By having real-time environmental data available to us we can better understand the variation among cropland areas, increase the effectiveness and the precision of cultivation management and establish a highly reliable pest forecast system (Gschwind et al., 2001). As a result, the automated, wireless pest monitoring system can serve as the major information source for our agriculture development and insure our competitiveness.

[0010] Camera equipped pest monitoring traps were developed and tested mainly in orchard eco system for pests like apple codling moth, Cydia pomonella (Guamieri et al. 2011) European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana (Unlti et al., 2019) Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Shaked et al. 2018), olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Doitsidis et al. 2017), red palm weevil Rhynchophorusferrugineus (Lopez et al., 2012). Image processing techniques and computer vision have been applied for the automatic identification of several insect pests, such as the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (Shimoda et al. 2006), the Queensland fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Liu et al. 2009), and the rice bug Leptocorisa chinensis (Fukatsu et al. 2012). Few attempts were made in cotton to identify pests and diseases using computer vision and Inamdar et al., (2023) developed YOLO based algorithm to detect the damaged cotton boll due to pink bollworm attack with a mean Average Precision (mAP) of 67.1%.

[0011] Therefore, it is desired to overcome the disadvantages, shortcomings, and limitations associated with existing practice to monitor and manage the cotton PBW, anddevelop a smart device for monitoring the PBW that is user friendly, labour saving, suitable for wider area approach to solve the aforementioned problems.

[0012] Following are the refemces of the prior-art referred in the aove paragrpahs:

[0013] Ah, L., Sidek, R., Aris, I., Ali, A., Supaqo, B.S., 2004. Design of a micro-UART for SoC application. Comput. Electric. Eng. 30, 257-268.

[0014] Boissard, P.; Martin, V.; 5 Moisan, S. 2008. A cognitive vision approach to early pest detection in greenhouse crops. Comput. Electron. Agric., 62, 81-93.

[0015] Doitsidis L, Fouskitakis GN, Varikou KN, Rigakis II, Chatzichristofis SA, Papafilippaki AK, Birouraki AE (2017) Remote monitoring of the Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) (Diptera: Tephritidae) population using an automated McPhail trap. Comput Electron Agr 137:69-78.

[0016] Fukatsu T, Watanabe T, Hu H, Yoichi H, Hirafuji M (2012) Field monitoring support system for the occurrence of Leptocorisa chinensis Dallas (Hemiptera: Alydidae) using synthetic attractants, Field Servers, and image analysis. Comput Electron Agr 80:8-16.

[0017] Gschwind, M., Salapura, V., Maurer, D., 2001. FPGA prototyping of a RISC processor core for embedded applications. IEEE Trans. VLSI Syst. 9 (2), 241-250.

[0018] Guamieri A, Maini S, Molari G, Rondelli V. 2011. Automatic trap for moth detection in integrated pest management. Bull Insectology 64(2):247-251 Inamdar R, Bhalerao S R, Shinde G U, Gupta O. 2023. Precision Pest and Disease Detection System using Agricultural Robot. Doi: 10.20944 / preprints202312.0314.vl.

[0019] Liu Y, Zhang J, Richards M, Pham B, Roe P, Clarke A (2009) Towards continuous surveillance of fruit flies using sensor networks and machine vision. In: 2009 5th International conference on wireless communications, networking and mobile computing, p. 1-5.

[0020] Lopez O, Rach MM, Migallon H, Malumbres M, Bonastre A, Serrano J (2012) Monitoring pest insect traps by means of low-power image sensor technologies. Sensors 12(11): 15801— 15819.

[0021] Naik V. C., Kumbhare S., Kranthi S., Satija U., Kranthi K.R. Field-evolved resistance of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders)(Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), to transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton expressing crystal lAc (Cry 1 Ac) and Cry2Ab in India. Pest Manag. Sci. 2018;74:2544-2554.

[0022] Patil, S.B., 2003. Studies on management of cotton pink bollworm Pectionophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) (Ph.D. 5 thesis). University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.

[0023] Shaked B, Amore A, loannou C, Valdes F, Alorda B, Papanastasiou S, Goldshtein E, Shenderey C, Leza M, Pontikakos C, Perdikis D, Tsiligiridis T, Tabilio MR, Sciarretta A, Barcelo C, Athanassiou C, Miranda MA, Alchanatis V, Papadopoulos N, Nestel D (2018) Electronic traps for detection and population monitoring of adult fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae). J Appl Entomol 142( 1— 2):43— 51.

[0024] Shimoda N, Kataoka T, Okamoto H, Terawaki M, Hata SI (2006) Automatic pest counting system using image processing technique. J Japan Soc Agric Mach JSAM 68(3):59— 64

[0025] Unlii L, Akdemir B, Ogiir E, §ahin I (2019) Remote monitoring of European Grapevine Moth, Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) population using camera-based pheromone traps in vineyards. Turkish J A F Sci Tech 7(4):652-657.

[0026] Witzgall, P.; Kirsch, P.; Cork, A. 2010. Sex pheromones and their impact on pest management. J. Chem. Ecol., 36, 80-100.OBJECTS OF INVENTION

[0027] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, that at least one embodiment herein satisfy are as listed herein below.

[0028] An objective of the present invention is to develop a real time automated pest monitoring system with wireless transmission for monitoring the arrival and density of pink bollworm moths in cotton fields.

[0029] Another objective of the present invention is to develop image processing algorithms by artificial intelligence for the detection and counting of PBW moths attracted and caught in pheromone traps.

[0030] Another objective of the present invention is to integrate weather sensors in the pheromone trap to further delineate on the insect population dynamics studies, developing pest modelling and forewarning application to monitor and provide alert on PBW incidence in cotton.

[0031] Another objective of the present invention is to develop a smart trap suitable for area wide pest monitoring and automated reporting to tackle the pest of national importance like the cotton PBW and thus has wider commercial application prospects in agriculture.SUMMARY

[0032] The present invention relates to an artificial intelligence based wirelesssmart trap for monitoring pink bollworm in cotton crop. The standalone, self-powered wireless smarttrap provides real-time information on pest infestation along with weather parameters in cotton crop field.

[0033] In an aspect, the Al based wireless smart trap has three components viz. trap unit, control unit and pole unit. The trap unit comprises of pheromone septa to attract the insect; sticky liner to trap the insect; camera module to record trapped insect as image file and a single board computer with a wi-fi / Bluetooth module to process and transmit the image.

[0034] In another aspect, the control unit comprises of solar panel, rechargeable li- polymer battery; PCB with battery recharge controller and timer for regulating the trap unit and GSM / wi-fi / Bluetooth module for communication. The pole unit comprises of galvanized iron pole, trap holder with height adjustment provision, weather sensor in shield enclosure and weather holder with height adjustment provision.

[0035] In another aspect, the PBW status in cotton crop is monitored by wireless smart trap fitted with RGB imaging sensor and a weather sensor. The trap catch of PBW adult moths is recorded as an image and transmitted to a remote server via GSM communication network along with weather parameters recorded simultaneously at set interval. The remote server receives the information and stores it in a cloud storage device. The machine learning algorithm developed and integrated in the remote server identifies the PBW adult moth and counts the number of moths trapped in each of the time stamped image. The server then sends the information to the client (farmer / end user) as PBW insect count, trapped PBW insect image along with weather parameters. The information reaches the end user through mobile phone and desktop computer. A android based mobile application and a Windows based desktop application is developed to access the information on the trap catch in real-time.

[0036] In another aspect, the wireless smart trap enables the end user for an area wide pest monitoring. A network of Al wireless smart traps can provide area-wide pest arrival data to map using geographical information system (GIS). The trap catch data in correlation with weather parameters in a wider area provides additional information for insect population dynamics studies, thus enable the scientists to develop pest modelling and forewarning for a pest of national importance like PBW in cotton.

[0037] In another aspect, the smart trap is suitable monitoring of the target pest at multilocation, does not cause any harmful effects to beneficial insects, is environmentally friendly, can reduce chemical pesticide usage in cotton cultivation, and thus has wider commercial application prospects in agriculture.

[0038] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments,along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0039] The specifications of the present disclosure are accompanied with drawings of the system and method to aid in better understanding of the said invention. The drawings are in no way limitations of the present disclosure, rather are meant to illustrate the ideal embodiments of the said disclosure.

[0040] In the figures, similar components and / or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.

[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates the orthographic views of the Al based wireless smart Trap (front and side), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 2 illustrates the Isometric views of the Al based wireless smart Trap (front, top and side), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 3 illustrates the orthographic views of the trap, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] FIG. 4 illustrates the orthographic views of the Al based wireless smart Trap (front and side), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure

[0045] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of processes in real time monitoring of PBW in cotton, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for attracting pink bollworms from a cotton field, trapping them to protect cotton crops therefrom, and thereby reporting the trapped pink bollworms.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such details as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure as defined by the appended claims.

[0048] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details.

[0049] If the specification states a component or feature “may”, ’’can”, ’’could”, or “might” be included or have a characteristic, that particular component or feature is not required to be included or have that characteristic.

[0050] As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0051] Following are the part names and associated numerals used in the drawigns to explain the working of the invention:PART NAMES PART NUMBERSystem 100Control unit 110Solar panel (20 W) 111Battery (Rechargeable Li -polymer battery 12 v) 112Battery charge controller 113Microprocessor / control PCB 114Transceiver (LTE / GSM dongle) 115LED flash controller 116Trap unit 120Single broad computer housing 121Trap housing 122Sticky liner 123Pheromone septa 124Camera 125LED flashlight 126Pole 130Trap unit holder with height adjustment provision 131Weather sensor in shield enclosure 132Weather sensor holder with adjustment provision 133Al detection and data processing in cloud 200 Information delivery to the end user 300 Android application for mobile based delivery 301 Windows application for PC based delivery 302

[0052] The system described is an advanced trapping mechanism designed to monitor and manage pink bollworm infestations in cotton fields. The system includes a trap unit (120) mounted on a pole (130), an adjustable features and automation, pheromone specifics, camera placement and operation.

[0053] Trap Unit (120) Mounted on a Pole (130):

[0054] Trap Housing (122): This is the enclosure that holds the components of the trap. It is mounted on a pole, which can be adjusted in height to optimize the trap's effectiveness.

[0055] Pheromone Septa (124): Inside the trap housing, there is a pheromone septa that releases specific chemicals (pheromones) to attract pink bollworms. The pheromones can include sex pheromones like Gossyplure, which mimic the natural scent emitted by female pink bollworms to attract males. The idea is to lure the bollworms into the trap.

[0056] Sticky Liner (123): The inner walls of the trap housing are lined with a sticky substance. Once the bollworms are attracted by the pheromones and enter the trap, they get stuck to this sticky liner and are unable to escape.

[0057] Camera (125): A camera is installed on one of the inner walls of the trap housing. Its purpose is to intermittently capture images of the trapped bollworms. This allows for remote monitoring and helps in assessing the infestation level without manual inspection. The camera is equipped with a transceiver (121) to transmit the captured images.

[0058] Control Unit (110) on the Pole (130):

[0059] Power Generation and Storage:

[0060] Solar Panel (111): A solar panel is used to harvest solar energy, making the system self-sufficient in terms of power.

[0061] Battery (112) & Battery Charge Controller (113): The generated energy is stored in a battery, and a charge controller ensures that the battery is charged optimally without overcharging or undercharging.

[0062] Power Supply Management:

[0063] Controller (114): This regulates the power supply to the camera and transceiver in the trap unit. It ensures that the devices receive adequate power for their operation.

[0064] Environmental Monitoring:

[0065] Sensors: The control unit may include various sensors that capture real-time data related to environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, or other weather parameters. These sensors might also monitor the operational status of the pole and trap unit.

[0066] Communication :

[0067] Transceiver (115): This transceiver communicates with the sensors and the camera, collecting real-time data and images. It then transmits this information to a remotely located device (200), such as a computer or smartphone, where the data can be analyzed.

[0068] Adjustable Features and Automation:

[0069] Height Adjustment: The system can automatically adjust the height of the trap unit based on the real-time data collected by the sensors. This feature ensures that the trap is positioned at an optimal height to maximize its effectiveness in attracting and trapping pink bollworms.

[0070] Weather Sensor (132, 133): A weather sensor mounted on the pole in a shielded enclosure records environmental data such as temperature, humidity, and possibly wind speed. The height of this sensor can also be adjusted to ensure accurate readings.

[0071] Pheromone Specifics: Pheromone Types: The pheromone septa can contain sex pheromones, such as Gossyplure, which are specifically designed to attract adult pink bollworms, especially the males. This targeted approach increases the likelihood of trapping the pests effectively.

[0072] Camera Placement and Operation: Camera Placement: The camera is strategically placed on the inner wall that does not have a sticky liner, preventing it from being obstructed or damaged by the trapped bollworms. This ensures that the camera can function correctly and capture clear images.

[0073] Working Example: Imagine a cotton field where this trapping system is deployed. The trap unit is mounted on poles throughout the field. As male pink bollworms detect the pheromones emitted by the septa, they are drawn towards the traps. Upon entering the trap housing, they get stuck to the sticky liner. The camera intermittently takes images of the trapped bollworms, and the system transmits these images along with environmental data to a farmer's mobile device.

[0074] The farmer can monitor the infestation levels remotely and make informed decisions about pest control measures, such as applying insecticides or deploying more traps. The automatic height adjustment ensures that the traps remain effective even as the cotton plants grow taller or environmental conditions change.

[0075] This system provides an efficient and automated way to manage pink bollworminfestations, reducing the need for manual inspection and helping protect cotton crops from damage.

[0076] In a general embodiment, the present invention relates to an artificial intelligence based wireless smart trap 100 suitable for real-time, area wide monitoring of pink bollworm in cotton crop. The user-friendly, portable, deployable self-powered, wireless smart trap provides information on pest infestation and weather data in cotton crop to the end user like farmers, extension workers, researchers. Further, the smart trap is labour saving, environmentally friendly, can reduce chemical pesticide usage and thus has wider commercial application prospects in agriculture. The proposed smart trap disclosed in the present disclosure overcomes the drawbacks, shortcomings, and limitations associated with the conventional trap in monitoring the cotton PBW.

[0077] In an embodiment, the Al based wireless smart trap 100 as shown in FIG. 1 and 2 comprises of three major components viz., control unit 110, trap unit 120, and pole 130.

[0078] In another embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 110 comprises of 20W solar panel 111 to harvest solar energy for powering the smart trap, 12V rechargeable li- polymer battery 112 to store the energy; battery charge controller 113 to regulate the battery charging; microprocessor based controller 114 embedded in a PCB having wi-fi and Bluetooth communication options to regulate the power supply to trap unit 120 and to receive communication from a mobile device for configuring the parameters required for smart trap operation; LTE / GSM dongle 115 for the transmitting the data received from the trap unit 120 and weather sensor 132 to the cloud server 200 and; LED flash controller 116 to regulate the light intensity of LED flashlight 126 present in the trap unit 120 as shown in the FIG. 4.

[0079] In another embodiment of the present invention, the trap unit 120, as shown in FIG. 3, comprises of pheromone septa 124 (size 14 mm x 30 mm) containing sex-pheromone of the PBW, gossyplure, chemically known as 7,11 -hexadecadienyl acetate loaded in the amount of 2 mg in a septa; a sticky liner 123 (size 210 mm x 30 297 mm) with glue for trapping the PBW adult moths attracted to the sexpheromone; camera module 125 (5 megapixel image sensor; Lunch CCD size; 160 degree angle of view; 2.35 aperture (F); 3.15mm focal length; 25mm x 24 mm dimension and adjustable focus distance); LED flashlight 126 (3W power; 600 700LM Intensity Luminous; 6000-6500K color temperature) for recording the image during night hours; single board computer housing 121 containing a single board computer model Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W; having 1GHz quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A53 CPU; 512MB SDRAM; 2.4GHz 802.11 b / g / n wireless LAN; Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), onboard antenna; CSI-2 camera connector; microSD card slot;Mini HDMI port and micro USB 5 OTG port; 65mm x 30mm size) and trap housing 122 of delta shape made of sun board with 350 mm x 255 mm bottom and 120 mm height.

[0080] In another embodiment of the present invention, the pole unit 130 comprises of galvanized iron pole (60 mm dia, 2400 mm height); Trap unit holder with height adjustment provision 131 for holding the trap unit 120 and to adjust the height of the trap unit as the cotton crop grows so as to maintain a height of 300 mm above the cotton crop canopy to have better trap catch of PBW moths; weather sensor in shield enclosure 132 (BME280 sensor module to record atmospheric temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure in location of the installed smart trap) and weather sensor holder with height adjustment provision 133.

[0081] In another embodiment of the present invention, the processes of real time monitoring of PBW in cotton is depicted as a flow chart as shown in FIG. 5.

[0082] The pheromone septa release the sex pheromone, gossyplure at a constant rate over a period of 30 days. The PBW adult moth attracted by the pheromone, reaches the smart trap and get entrapped into the sticky liner. The glue applied the sticky liner is strong enough to immobilse the moth and the insects get killed in few hours’ time.

[0083] The microprocessor 114 kept in the control unit 110 triggers the camera module 125, LED flashlight 126 and Raspberry PI board kept inside the single board computer housing 121 at pre-defined time intervals (e.g. at every hour). The image recorded by the camera module 125, i.e., the image of sticky liner 123 with trapped adult moths of PBW, is saved in the memory module of Raspberry PI board. Simultaneously, the microprocessor 114 triggers the weather sensor 132 kept in the pole unit 130 and the information on atmospheric temperature, humidity and barometric pressure corresponding to the time trap catch is recorded and transmitted to Raspberry PI board via the wi-fi module embedded in the control unit PCB. The combined information (trapped insects’ image + weather data) is processed by the Raspberry PI and transmitted to cloud server 200 via the LTE / GSM dongle 115 kept inside the control unit 110.

[0084] In another embodiment of the present invention, the information received from the Al based wireless smart trap 100 (trapped insects’ image + weather data) is stored in the cloud server 200. The YOLO based machine learning algorithm (developed as part of this invention disclosure) embedded in the cloud server, identifies the target insect i.e., the adult moth of PBW with a detection accuracy of 96.6% and counts the number of trapped PBW adult moths. The machine learning algorithm is trained to count only the PBW adults and ignore non target organisms like ants, spiders and other air borne flying insects that accidentally got trapped in the sticky liner 123.

[0085] In another embodiment of the present invention, a deep learning model for detection and counting the adult moth of PBW is developed using YOLOv3, object detection tool. A dataset with total of 1500 images of sticky liners with trapped PBW adult moths were prepared for the training the model. PBW adult moths in dataset to be carefully labeled using Labelling, an open-source package for image labeling. Next, the labeled dataset is trained with Y0L0v3, an object detection model. The detection model was validated using 200 images of sticky liners having trapped PBW adult moths and found to be detecting the PBW moth with a 96.6 per cent accuracy.

[0086] In another embodiment of the present invention, the cloud server 200 stores the data on the PBW insect count along with the corresponding source image and weather data. The information containing insect count + image + weather data is transmitted to the end user through mobile and desktop computer. An android based mobile application 301 and windows based desktop application 302 were developed to deliver the information to the end user like farmers, agriculture extension functionaries, researchers etc.

[0087] In an exemplary implementation, the android based mobile application 301 and the windows based desktop application 302 can be used to remotely monitor and control the trap assembly whough wired or wireless communication.

[0088] In another embodiment of the present invention, the Al based wireless smart trap 100 enables the end user for an area wide pest monitoring. For a pest of national importance like cotton PBW, the pest occurrence need to be monitored for deciding the timely pest control action at a district / state / national level.

[0089] In another embodiment of the present invention, the trap catch data along with weather parameters in a wider area provides additional information for insect population dynamics, thus enable the scientists to develop pest modelling and forewarning for a key pest like cotton PBW.

[0090] In another embodiment of the present invention, the smart trap is suitable monitoring of the target pest at multilocation, does not cause any harmful effects to beneficial insects, is environmentally friendly, can reduce chemical pesticide usage in cotton cultivation, and thus has wider commercial application prospects in agriculture.

[0091] Accordingly, to summarize the invention, the present invention povides a trapping system for attracting pink bollworms from a cotton field, trapping them to protect cotton crops therefrom, and thereby reporting the trapped pink bollworms. The system includes a trap unit (120) adjustably mounted on a pole (130).

[0092] The trap unit has a trap housing (122) that holds a pheromone septa (124) havingone or more pink bollworm attracting pheromones included therein. The pheromones that attracts the pink bollworms towards it.

[0093] The trap unit has a sticky liner (123) provided on one or more inner walls of the trap housing (122) and nearby the pheromone septa (124). The sticky liner (123) traps the pink bollworms while they enter in the trap housing (122).

[0094] The trap unit has a camera (125) mounted on at least one inner wall of the trap housing (122). The camera configured to intermittently capture images of the trapped pink bollworms inside the trap housing (122). The camera further incldues a transceiver (121) to transmit the captured images of the trapped the pink bollworms.

[0095] In an exemplary embodiment, the pole (130) has a control unit (110) mounted thereon. The control unit (110) is operatively coupled to the trap unit (120) such that the control unit (110) is adapted to generate electrical energy and provide the generated electrical energy to the camera (125) and the transceiver (121) of the trap unit (120).

[0096] In another exemplary embodiment, the control unit (110) has a solar panel (111) to harvest solar energy for generating the electrical energy, a battery (112) to store the generated energy, a battery charge controller (113) to regulate charging of the battery (112), a controller (114) to regulate the power supply to trap unit (120) while providing the generated electrical energy to the camera (125) and the transceiver (121) of the trap unit (120), one or more sensors configured to capture real-time data associated with the pole, the trap unit, and a real-time environmental condition, and a transceiver.

[0097] The transceiver (115) is communicably coupled to the one or more sensors and to the camera. The transceiver (115) is configured to receive the real-time data and the captured images of the trapped the pink bollworms from the camera, and transmit the real-time data and the captured images to a remotely located device (200).

[0098] In another exmepalry embodiment, the pole (130) has a weather sensor in a shield enclosure (132) to record weather parameters, and a weather sensor holder with height adjustment provision (133) to adjust height of the weather sensor on the pole. The recorded weather parameters are provided to the transceiver (115) as the real-time data.

[0099] In another exmepalry embodiment, the controller (114) is adapted to automatically adjust the height of the trap unit (120) based on the capture real-time data.

[0100] In another exemplary embodiment, the pheromone septa (124) contain sexpheromone and / or Gossyplure to attract adults of pink bollworms.

[0101] In another exemplary embodiment, the camera is mounted on the at least one inner wall that do not include the non-sticky liner (123).

[0102] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method (600) for attracting pink bollworms from a cotton field, trapping them to protect cotton crops therefrom, and thereby reporting the trapped pink boll worms.

[0103] At step 602, a trap unit (120) is adjustably mounted on a pole (130). The trap unit has a trap housing (122).

[0104] At step 604, a pheromone septa (124) having one or more pink bollworm attracting pheromones is provided in the trap housing (122). The pheromones that attracts the pink bollworms towards it.

[0105] At step 606, a sticky liner (123) is provided on one or more inner walls of the trap housing (122) and nearby the pheromone septa (124). The sticky liner (123) traps the pink bollworms while they enter in the trap housing (122)

[0106] At step 608, a camera (125) is mounted on at least one inner wall of the trap housing (122). The camera is configured to intermittently capture images of the trapped pink bollworms inside the trap housing (122), and the camera comprises a transceiver (122) to transmit the captured images of the trapped the pink bollworms.

[0107] In an exemplary embodiment, the pole (130) has a control unit (110) mounted thereon. The control unit (110) is operatively coupled to the trap unit (120) such that the control unit (110) is adapted to generate electrical energy and provide the generated electrical energy to the camera (125) and the transceiver (121) of the trap unit (120).

[0108] In another exemplary embodiment, the control unit (110) has a solar panel (111) to harvest solar energy for generating the electrical energy, a battery (112) to store the generated energy, a battery charge controller (113) to regulate charging of the battery (112), a controller (114) to regulate the power supply to trap unit (120) while providing the generated electrical energy to the camera (125) and the transceiver (121) of the trap unit (120), one or more sensors configured to capture real-time data associated with the pole, the trap unit, and a real-time environmental condition, and a transceiver.

[0109] The transceiver (115) is communicably coupled to the one or more sensors and to the camera. The transceiver (115) is configured to receive the real-time data and the captured images of the trapped the pink bollworms from the camera, and transmit the real-time data and the captured images to a remotely located device (200).

[0110] In another exmepalry embodiment, the pole (130) has a weather sensor in a shield enclosure (132) to record weather parameters, and a weather sensor holder with height adjustment provision (133) to adjust height of the weather sensor on the pole. The recorded weather parameters are provided to the transceiver (115) as the real-time data.[oni] In another exmepalry embodiment, the controller (114) is adapted to automatically adjust the height of the trap unit (120) based on the capture real-time data.

[0112] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0113] The present invention provides a wireless smart trap for a real time monitoring of pink bollworm in cotton that is eco-friendly, labour saving, and user friendly thus has wider commercial application prospects in agriculture.

[0114] The present invention provides a smart trap for area wide pest monitoring, as it is imperative to monitor a pest of national importance to provide timely forecast and advisories for the cotton farmers.

[0115] The present invention provides additional information on weather parameters in addition to the pest monitoring data that helps to decipher the insect population dynamics and enable the pest control researchers to develop pest modelling and forewarning for a pest of national importance like PBW in cotton.

[0116] The present invention facilitates a timely pest management intervention in cotton and thus offers a reduction in the amount of chemical pesticide spray and subsequent decrease in the adverse effect of pesticides on predators, parasitoids, non-target organisms and a decrease in cost of cultivation due to the reduction in number of pesticide sprays.

Claims

We Claim:

1. A trapping system for attracting pink bollworms from a cotton field, trapping them to protect cotton crops therefrom, and thereby reporting the trapped pink bollworms, the system comprising: a trap unit (120) adjustably mounted on a pole (130), wherein the trap unit comprises a trap housing (122) holding: a pheromone septa (124) having one or more pink bollworm attracting pheromones included therein, the pheromones that attracts the pink bollworms towards it; a sticky liner (123) provided on one or more inner walls of the trap housing (122) and nearby the pheromone septa (124), wherein the sticky liner (123) traps the pink bollworms while they enter in the trap housing (122); a camera (125) mounted on at least one inner wall of the trap housing (122), the camera configured to intermittently capture images of the trapped pink boll worms inside the trap housing (122), and the camera comprises a transceiver (121) to transmit the captured images of the trapped the pink bollworms.

2. The trapping system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pole (130) comprises a control unit (110) mounted thereon, and the control unit (110) operatively coupled to the trap unit (120) such that the control unit (110) is adapted to generate electrical energy and provide the generated electrical energy to the camera (125) and the transceiver (121) of the trap unit (120).

3. The trapping system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (110) comprises: a solar panel (111) to harvest solar energy for generating the electrical energy; a battery (112) to store the generated energy; a battery charge controller (113) to regulate charging of the battery (112); a controller (114) to regulate the power supply to trap unit (120) while providing the generated electrical energy to the camera (125) and the transceiver (121) of the trap unit (120); one or more sensors configured to capture real-time data associated with the pole, the trap unit, and a real-time environmental condition;a transceiver (115) communicably coupled to the one or more sensors and to the camera, wherein the transceiver (115) configured to: receive the real-time data and the captured images of the trapped the pink bollworms from the camera; and transmit the real-time data and the captured images to a remotely located device (200).

4. The trapping system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the pole (130) comprises a weather sensor in a shield enclosure (132) to record weather parameters, and a weather sensor holder with height adjustment provision (133) to adjust height of the weather sensor on the pole, wherein the recorded weather parameters are provided to the transceiver (115) as the real-time data.

5. The trapping system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the controller (114) is adapted to automatically adjust the height of the trap unit (120) based on the capture real-time data.

6. The trapping system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pheromone septa (124) contain sex-pheromone and / or Gossyplure to attract adults of pink bollworms.

7. The trapping system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the camera is mounted on the at least one inner wall that do not include the non-sticky liner (123).

8. A trapping method (600) for attracting pink bollworms from a cotton field, trapping them to protect cotton crops therefrom, and thereby reporting the trapped pink bollworms, the method comprising: mounting (602) adjustably a trap unit (120) on a pole (130) wherein the trap unit comprises a trap housing (122); providing (604) a pheromone septa (124) having one or more pink bollworm attracting pheromones in the trap housing (122), the pheromones that attracts the pink bollworms towards it; providing (606) a sticky liner (123) on one or more inner walls of the trap housing (122) and nearby the pheromone septa (124), wherein the sticky liner (123) traps the pink bollworms while they enter in the trap housing (122);mounting (608) a camera (125) on at least one inner wall of the trap housing (122), the camera configured to intermittently capture images of the trapped pink bollworms inside the trap housing (122), and the camera comprises a transceiver (122) to transmit the captured images of the trapped the pink bollworms.

9. The trapping method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the pole (130) comprises a control unit (110) mounted thereon, and the control unit (110) operatively coupled to the trap unit (120) such that the control unit (110) is adapted to generate electrical energy and provide the generated electrical energy to the camera (125) and the transceiver (121) of the trap unit (120).

10. The trapping method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the control unit (110) comprises: a solar panel (111) to harvest solar energy for generating the electrical energy; a battery (112) to store the generated energy; a battery charge controller (113) to regulate charging of the battery (112); a controller (114) to regulate the power supply to trap unit (120) while providing the generated electrical energy to the camera (125) and the transceiver (121) of the trap unit (120); one or more sensors configured to capture real-time data associated with the pole, the trap unit, and a real-time environmental condition; a transceiver (115) communicably coupled to the one or more sensors and to the camera, wherein the transceiver (115) configured to: receive the real-time data and the captured images of the trapped the pink bollworms from the camera; and transmit the real-time data and the captured images to a remotely located device (200); and wherein the pole (130) comprises a weather sensor in a shield enclosure (132) to record weather parameters, and a weather sensor holder with height adjustment provision (133) to adjust height of the weather sensor on the pole, wherein the recorded weather parameters are provided to the transceiver (115) as the real-time data; and the controller (114) is adapted to automatically adjust the height of the trap unit (120) based on the capture real-time data.

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