We are incredibly thankful to WILDLABS and Arm for selecting the MothBox for the 2024 WILDLABS Awards.
The MothBox is an automated light trap that attracts and photographs moths and other nocturnal insects. A raspberry pi (mini-computer) controls a super high-resolution camera and lights, so that the MothBox can be deployed and programmed to collect data at a pre-defined schedule. A computer vision model then processes the images and automatically identifies the insects captured by the trap.
Moths are one of the most diverse orders of insects and a great indicator of the overall diversity in an area because moth larva (caterpillars) are often highly specialized, feeding exclusively on single host-plant species, or living in narrow niches like rock faces, moss, or decaying wood. As adults they are important pollinators, and their populations support birds and other small predators. However, despite the diversity and ecological importance of moths, they are seldom included in conservation planning due to the difficulty in including them in monitoring systems. Conventional monitoring of moths involves moth-sheeting or setting out bucket traps, which require many hours of tedious work by scientists with specialized taxonomic knowledge. This is the problem the MothBox and other automated camera traps for insects seek to address.
These are many groups working on automated camera trapping of insects (as is evident from the WILDLABS group), and we intend to continue and strengthen our collaboration with these groups to make insect monitoring more accessible and scalable. What sets the MothBox apart is our focus on a low-cost, low-weight, jungle-proof solution that can easily be deployed en masse by non-scientists in remote tropical locations.
Currently, parts for one complete MothBox cost approximately $450, though we are working on ways to decrease this cost further. The MothBox is fully open source with in-depth documentation on Github: https://github.com/Digital-Naturalism-Laboratories/Mothbox
My partner @hikinghack has been documenting the MothBox project on WILDLABS for a while, see our past posts/updates here:
- Introducing the MothBox: https://wildlabs.net/discussion/cheap-automated-mothbox
- Update 2: https://wildlabs.net/discussion/update-2-cheap-automated-mothbox
- Update 3: https://wildlabs.net/discussion/update-3-cheap-automated-mothbox
- Update 4: https://wildlabs.net/discussion/mothbox-mothbeam-update-4
- Also, checkout the recording of @hikinghack k presenting the MothBox during a wildlabs event back in November: https://wildlabs.net/event/automated-moth-monitoring-you
With the WILDLABS Awards funding this project can really take off. Some of the things we plan on doing in the coming year:
- Adding capacity for a solar panel or additional batteries to extend deployment time.
- Deploy MothBoxes at sites around Panama, doing a national moth inventory and collecting big data for training AI identification models.
- Hire AI and taxonomic experts to create, validate, and refine computer vision models.
- Work with the Panamanian reforestation NGO Pro Eco Azuero to quantify biodiversity uplift associated with native-tree planting and natural regeneration of tropical forests.
We would also like to thank all of the people and organizations that helped get us here: Earthshot Labs for the initial funding to get V1 off the ground, Michigan State University which helped develop a drone-deployable version of the MothBox for the Rainforest XPRIZE competition in Singapore last year, Experiment.com which funded development of V3 of the MothBox, ETH Zurich which provided funds for construction of 11 MothBoxes in late 2023, and of course our partner @mothyash for his valuable insight on moth behaviour and raspberry pi programming.
16 April 2024 4:38pm
It's fun having these start running in the forests!
16 April 2024 10:23pm
Awesome project!! Out of curiosity, is there a cost-per-part list for that $450? Like is there just 1 particular part that blooms the number or is it more just that there are lots of lower-cost components that collectively make up that price?
Adrien Pajot
WILDLABS
Fauna & Flora
18 April 2024 10:39am
Already an update from @hikinghack:
Mothbox v3.2 Updates - Solar, HDR, Wifi Hotspots, and More! | WILDLABS
More cool things surrounding the Mothbox project keep happening! Here’s a recap of cool developments over the past month!New Teammate! Bri Johns wins Fulbright with Dinalab!GOSH’s fantastic community manager, Bri Johns!, just won a fulbright fellowship to work in Panama with Dinalab 2024/2025!Her stated mission is“To research the socio-environmental impacts of an open source and low-cost insect monitor (the Mothbox) that researchers and local community farmers are developing in Panama.”and we are looking forward to serving as a fulbright host institution and developing and holding workshops with her and the awesome reforestation group Pro-Eco Azuero! meeting hubert bri.PNG1919×885 105 KB Remote and On Location WorkWhile the Dinalab crew is scattered around the earth, Andy is doing some remote software development and bug fixes, while Kitty in Panama is running the mothbox through a series of tests to find what will eventually break or malfunction deeper in the field. Hubert is testing some around panama (like one on BCI pictured below!) , and he’s getting ready to head to Peru and test the Mothbox out there! WhatsApp Image 2024-04-04 at 8.10.00 PM1200×1600 85.9 KB (Here’s an image logging into a Dinalab Laptop from Chicago that is then VNC-ing into a jungle raspberry pi ) PXL_20240411_1719517171920×1446 251 KB Here’s kitty putting the mothbox through its paces in Panama signal-2024-04-14-130732_0362048×1536 370 KB Here’s an example analog user sheet the field techs will use with the MothboxesSome cool things we have already fixed or improvedEnabled HDR photo takingThe mothbox can now take bracketed photos to compensate for areas in a photo of potentially different lighting as well as moths that may be shinier or darker than others! WhatsApp Image 2024-03-28 at 11.32.40 PM903×596 129 KB Pi5 compatibilitythe mothbox currently uses Pi4s plus a pitjuice hat that let it turn off and wake itself up automatically.The new Pi5 has a built in clock that lets it do similar work without the expensive 75-100$ pijuice addition! We did some base tests with it and not only does it totally work to schedule itself, we can also take slightly better and quicker photos!Solar Chargingone of our favorite design changes was adding an external adapter for charging without going into the box which can also be used to ADD EXTRA BATTERIES or a SOLAR PANEL!Wifi hotspottingdebuggin a field device can be trickier, especially if you need to connect to it via wifi and there’s no wifi to be found. We found a cool script we adapted for the mothbox that lets it automatically create its own wifi that field techs can connect to! raspberryconnect.comRaspberry Connect - Automated Switching - Access Point or WiFi NetworkActivate an easy Automated WiFi AccessPoint or connect to a local WiFi Network for Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm. The AP is automatically created when you are out. WhatsApp Image 2024-04-14 at 11.23.01 AM1600×1204 226 KB Better Backuping scriptsWe found a linux problem on the RPIs with some mothboxes where external drives might not unmount themselves, and cause photos to not be recorded on new drives. But the latest backupping script double checks all this, and has been working good for us!and get all our open source files on our githubhttps://github.com/Digital-Naturalism-Laboratories/Mothbox
wildlabsnet
Andrew Quitmeyer