A coalition of American companies wants to save endangered butterflies using drones.
A few days ago I wrote about the American army’s plans to implement modern combat drones controlled by AI – the topic of this entry will again be drones from the US, but with a completely different purpose. Due to growing tensions in the international arena, we forget that these small devices do not have to be intended to cause destruction – quite the opposite. They can benefit the environment, and more specifically, help protect endangered butterfly species that have a significant impact on the United States ecosystem.
Butterflies on the verge of extinction
The Danaid is a butterfly from the Nymphalidae family, commonly called the monarch. Its range is quite wide, as it can be found from Canada to Argentina, but it is the northern regions of the USA that owe it the most. Butterflies tend to migrate south in autumn, acting as pollinators during their migration. Unfortunately, the number of representatives of this species is rapidly decreasing, and the reason for this phenomenon is, among other things, the intensive use of insecticides by farmers.
The migratory tribute population at the beginning of the year was just over 233,000. individuals, and this is only 5% of the number from the 1980s. Such a serious reduction disrupts the ecosystem, and the butterflies themselves are teetering on the verge of extinction, which is why researchers decided to implement innovative methods that will save these useful insects from extinction. Drones, supported by artificial intelligence, come to the rescue.
Drones for detecting plants
The Danaid lays its eggs primarily in milkweed, an edible plant historically used by native Indians. The plant is necessary not only because the larvae use it as food, but also because it contains poisonous milky sap, which effectively repels predators. The problem is that milkweed in the USA is also disappearing, which, combined with the drastically decreasing butterfly population, may lead to a small ecological disaster on a local scale.
However, Botlink, a drone software company, believes that all is not lost. The entity established cooperation with Simple Business Automation and the Belgian AI company Radix to create POLLi, a milkweed monitoring system. Researchers developed a special program for detecting plants and implemented it in drones using high-resolution cameras. In this way, machines were created that could map space and detect areas where milkweed occurs.
What we’ve created truly provides a cost-effective solution that helps people capture, collect and evaluate data at a level they haven’t been able to do before. There are so many different things you can do with this tool. It will help with the sustainability of various species and will also benefit many insects and pollinators.
POLLi aims to help researchers connect these two endangered species and ensure the sustainability of the American ecosystem. However, this is not the only use of drones and dedicated software. The companies believe POLLi can be adapted for use in the transportation and defense sectors.
Stock image from Depositphotos
Source: antyweb.pl
