Colly Smart - developing smart traps for rats

• Grant number: 14/22724-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: July 01, 2015
• End date: March 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Electrical, Magnetic and Electronic Circuits
• Principal Investigator: Marcus de Simoni Craveiro
• Grantee: Marcus de Simoni Craveiro
• Company: Colly Química Indústria e Comércio Ltda. - EPP
• Associated researchers: Glauber Edurado Sapia
• Associated research grant(s): 16/01641-8 - Colly Smart - developing smart traps for rats, AP.PIPE

Abstract

There are people who say that the rat is the worst enemy of the mankind. This reputation is because the rat is the urban pest that causes more diseases and damages since the emergence of the cities. The approach that has given best results in fighting rats, also applied to other urban pests, is the integrated management. The idea is to use different control techniques aligned manner with the plague and the environment and to monitor the level of infestation, taking actions to keep it down. The monitoring of rats is usually done by positioning door-baits with rodenticides and / or tunnels with glue traps in strategic locations in the monitored environment and the pest controller makes periodic visits for verification. But, even if no rat has come into contact with the door-baits or tunnels, the professional has to make the visit to be sure, bearing the costs of unnecessary displacement. Moreover, if a rat is captured, it may be exposed too much time before the visit to happen, preventing more rats of being captured. In addition, any management over the placement of door-baits and tunnels or on catches must be done manually, and is subject to inaccuracies. The objective of this project is to help pest controllers to overcome these difficulties of monitoring by means of door-baits and tunnels equipped with smart sensors able to notify the presence of rats to a central unit in the monitored environment. Following, the central unit sends data to a cloud server, and through a web interface, pest controllers can monitor in real time from any place what is happening in the monitored environment and take the necessary actions, only when necessary. In addition to reducing travel costs, time of visits will be optimized and the entire management of the monitoring will be automatic and precise, bringing improvements to the service as a whole. (AU)