Raspberry Pi Zaps Mosquitoes with Laser Beam

source: Ash Puckett - Toms Hardware

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Don't be fooled by their tiny size or the fact that you can crush one with your hand. Mosquitos are murderers, killing, by some estimates, more than a million people each year by spreading terrible diseases. 

Maker Ildar Rakhmatulin is all too familiar with these killer bugs and decided to do something about it with the help of a Raspberry Pi and a deadly laser. The project relies on artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify and track mosquitoes in real-time. A galvanometer is used to orient the laser before zapping the unsuspecting target. The AI network was trained using a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GPU and Ryzen 5 3600 CPU

To research and develop this project, Rakhmatulin relied on the help of a Raspberry Pi 3 B+. A simple Raspberry Pi Camera module was used to monitor visually for potential mosquitos.

(Image credit: Ildar Rakhmatulin)

Once a mosquito has been identified, the Pi sends a command to the galvanometer to adjust the mirrors and target the mosquito. Once it's in position, the laser is powered, delivering a devastating blast to the insect. It then does a follow-up sweep to make sure the mosquito threat is completely terminated.

Would this work in the real world? There's an interesting discussion on Hacker News, where this was first shared, about whether a 1W laser would be safe if a human was exposed to it. Also, the article claims that the mosquitos were only 300mm away from the laser, which is not exactly far. And this is a pre-printed article with no video showing it in action.