University of Twente Student Theses
Researching Feasibility of mmWave solutions for Insect Detection Applications.
Suresh Babu, Nithin (2021) Researching Feasibility of mmWave solutions for Insect Detection Applications.
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| Abstract: | Insect populations have been drastically declining in the past due to the effect of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN). Since nocturnal insects utilise light for migrating from one point to another, the presence of ALAN disrupts their path and largely affects their behaviour. Therefore, it becomes essential to monitor insect populations and investigate the effect of ALAN on them. However, despite the importance of ALAN on insects, there is no technology available to monitor this effect on them. Millimeter Wave (mmWave) radar technologies are non-obtrusive, ubiquitous and do not use light. Furthermore, they have shown promising results in detecting smaller targets because of their short wavelengths and have also been known to show robustness in extreme weather conditions. In this thesis, we research the feasibility and investigate the performance of a state of the art mmWave radar in detecting airborne insects successfully by deploying it in urban and suburban environments. The existing detection algorithm present in the radar system is modified and optimised to process radar returns from insect targets. In addition to this, we also develop an algorithm to estimate an approximate size of an insect target, which may be used to identify airborne insects up to a certain degree. We were able to obtain an average precision and recall rate of 70% and 60% respectively in detecting airborne insects in distinct environments. The standard deviation and the error induced in validating the true range with the detected range for small targets placed at multiple distances were observed to be minimal in the range of ± 0.059m and ± 0.012m respectively. Furthermore, the effect of various external parameters on the performance of the mmWave radar system was also studied and analysed. Our study revealed that the mmWave radar shows moderate performance in detecting airborne insects in different environments and introduces ecologists around the world to a new domain of monitoring biodiversity and insect abundance by employing state of the art mmWave radar technology. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science |
| Subject: | 01 general works |
| Programme: | Electrical Engineering MSc (60353) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/89084 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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