Andrew Quitmeyer

Andrew Quitmeyer

Sep 11, 2024

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Mothbox Updates v4.12

We have been super busy deploying another dozen mothboxes around panama while also adding cool new features! So i have a backlog of updates to post about!



So here's a bunch of cool tweaks and updates we made:



**The Mothbox can support 4 different types of targets now!**

https://digital-naturalism-laboratories.github.io/Mothbox/docs/building/target/

-Standard Target (about A4 size, can capture moths less than 1mm)


-Dual target


-Quad target


-Just sit it in front of a white wall/sheet



**The Runtime is DOUBLED**


This is some of the biggest news. We include a cheap 12V regulator (like $10) in the design now because we realized that a lot of L-ion batteries that say they are 12V actually spend 80% of their lifespan around 11V. Which means some things like our UV lights start dimming. But by adding this $10 bit we get some amazing features like:


* The lights stay on for 4 days instead of 2! (about 21 hours of constant run time)

* The lights have a uniform illumination throughout their life (no dimming on last day)

* wiring the ring lights is wayyy easier because you can chop their regulator off!


**We have a full post-processing AI+Human workflow!**


Thanks the Beetlepalooza, we teamed up with some awesome folks to make some scripts for pyBioCLIP that let us analyze our moths super quickly to a specific taxon+physical region. Then we are able to visualize this data in a fiftyone UI that lets humans correct and sort or add labels, to then analyze it deeper taxonomically! it rules


Check it out


https://github.com/Digital-Naturalism-Laboratories/bucket-o-bugs




**We also did a bunch of lens tests for the mothbox, like adding a wide-angle lens. Didn't really like it.**


Too distorted on the edges




**There is a unified scheduling script for pi4 pi5**


The github now has a single "Scheduler.py" script that can work for a Pi4 (with pijuice) or Pi5!



**We use internal UV lights now**


We share how to make a internal UV light so everything is nice and tidy and protected in the field, along with more elegant designs for connected any external UV light too!

https://digital-naturalism-laboratories.github.io/Mothbox/docs/building/attractor/



**The Documentation is much cleaner in general**

https://github.com/Digital-Naturalism-Laboratories/Mothbox


There's even an instructable!

https://www.instructables.com/Mothbox-DIY-Insect-Camera/




** @leeborg got brought in to help clean up all our Pi python scripts so they are much more human readable and organized!**

https://github.com/Digital-Naturalism-Laboratories/Mothbox

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About This Project

Moths and other night-active insects are entrapped by UV light, a feature useful to study them. However, photographing hundreds of insects at moth light sheet is time-consuming and limits our ability to study them. We are prototyping an automatic insect monitoring tool. By making a low-cost, open-source, and jungle-proof design, we can use it to test how different habitat restoration efforts improve nocturnal insect diversity and help prioritize more effective conservation strategies.

Blast off!

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