Harmonic Radar Systems for Insect Tracking

***通过使用谐波雷达跟踪昆虫是一个具有挑战性的工程问题，产生以前无法获得的昆虫行为信息。人们迫切需要了解昆虫，一方面是为了提高粮食产量，另一方面是为了应对气候变化带来的入侵物种。蜜蜂的蜂群衰竭失调是推动这项工作的一个非常熟悉的危机。加拿大将从追踪玉米根虫、科罗拉多马铃薯甲虫和蜜蜂中受益，保护我们的农业，同时培养高技能的无线电工程师。对哺乳动物和鸟类的无线电跟踪是司空见惯的，它提供了大量关于它们活动的信息。昆虫通常不能携带传统的无线电发射器，因此需要一种替代的跟踪手段。这就是谐波雷达发挥重要作用的地方，它将无线电系统的复杂性和质量转移到人类操作员的一端，而在另一端（昆虫）留下最简单和最低质量的无线电标签。***三个主要目标中的第一个是实现低于目前3毫克质量的昆虫标签，以便可以跟踪新的和更小的昆虫物种。第二种是发展一种可以在无人驾驶飞行器（UAV）上飞行的低质量基础单元。第三个目标是继续让学生参与高性能无线电和相关技术的设计和开发，以用于重要的生态应用。我们现在制造3mg标签，主要由用于天线和电感的铜涂层钢丝组成。例如，追踪一只2毫克的蚊子需要将标签的质量减少60倍。标签尺寸没有实际的下限，因为人们总能找到需要跟踪的小昆虫。第二个目标来自我收到的许多要求，要求开发一个系统，特别是跟踪蜜蜂。与无人机（UAV）专家的合作将导致谐波雷达系统，该系统既可以从空中扫描一个区域以定位昆虫，也可以在识别昆虫后跟踪昆虫。***最后，学生的硬件和/或软件项目将在操作雷达系统中进行物理测试，以便他们获得非常实用的开发技能以及其他技能，如与他人协调工作，共享设施和相互帮助。谐波雷达从人文角度对学生有吸引力，因为它可以让他们学习和使用高技术的电气工程技能，同时将其应用于全球生态问题。自1999年以来，我们一直在建造谐波雷达系统；在此期间，17名工程专业学生参与了这项研究，这些系统部署在五个国家。********

*** Insect tracking through the use of harmonic radar is a challenging engineering problem yielding previously unavailable behavioral information from insects. The urgency in understanding insects is driven by the need for greater food production while at the same time coping with invasive species enabled by climate change. Colony collapse disorder in honeybees is one very familiar crisis driving this work. Canada will benefit from tracking of the corn rootworm, Colorado potato beetle, and honeybee by protecting our agriculture industry while at the same time producing highly skilled radio engineers. Radio tracking of mammals and birds is commonplace providing a wealth of information on their movements. Insects are generally not capable of carrying conventional radio transmitters and thus an alternative tracking means is required. This is where harmonic radar plays an important role by moving the complexity and mass of the radio system to the human operator end leaving the simplest and lowest mass radio tag at the other, insect, end. *** The first of three main objectives is to achieve insect tags of lower than the current 3 mg mass in order that new and smaller insect species can be tracked. The second is to develop a much lower mass base unit that can be flown on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The third objective is to continue engaging students in the design and development of high performance radio and related technologies for use in important ecological applications. We now fabricate 3 mg tags which are mainly composed of the copper coated steel wire used for the antenna and inductor. Tracking a 2 mg mosquito for example would require a 60 fold reduction in tag mass. There is no practical lower limit to the tag size as one can always find smaller insects needing tracking. The second objective results from numerous requests I have received for development of a system to track honeybees in particular. Collaboration with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) expert will lead to a harmonic radar system that can either scan a region from the air to locate an insect or follow an insect once identified. *** Finally the student's hardware and/or software project is implemented for physical testing in an operating radar system in order that they gain the very practical skills of development along with other skills such as coordinating work with others, sharing facilities and helping each other. Harmonic radar is attractive to students from the humanity perspective in that it allows them to learn and use highly technical electrical engineering skills while applying them to worldwide ecological problems. We have been building harmonic radar systems since 1999; the research has involved 17 engineering students over that time, and the systems are deployed in five countries.********