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Example image with 100% zoom of small insect

The Mothbox is a low-cost, high-performance insect monitor. It features a power efficient and lightweight design that helps field biologists deploy it in the depths of the jungle. Its low cost means you can deploy many devices to study a landscape or build one to study the biodiversity at your home!

All the physical designs, electronics schematics, Pi Scripts, and insect-IDing Artificial Intelligence are provided free and open source, so you can build, share, and improve on these designs yourself!

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Technical details (hardware and software):

Physical Size

  • Weight: 2500 grams
  • Size: 11”L x 7”W x 4”H (box)
  • Target Sizes
    • Standard: 29cm x 20.5cm
    • Dual: 41cm x 29cm
    • Quad XL: 54cm x 41cm

Cost

  • Approximate cost: $375
  • Off-the-shelf parts.

Power

  • Battery: Talentcell PB120B1 – 12V Lithium ion, Rechargeable 142.08Wh 38400mAh
  • Additional Power Inputs:
  • Sleep time: 6 months
  • Runtime: 18 hours continuous (1 minute photography intervals with internal mothbeam)
    • About 85% of the power goes to the UV attractor connected. Lower power UV lights can last longer, higher power lights will reduce its runtime
    • Our standard schedule has 5 hours of runtime per night, which means a normal Mothbox can run for 4 nights before recharging.

Imagery

  • Camera: Arducam 64mp Owlsight OV64A40
  • Image resolution: 9152×6944 (Pi5) 9000×6000 (Pi4)
  • Pixels per mm: 15 (based on standard-sized target distance)

Weatherproofing

  • Fully harsh weather resistant. Has been left outside for >1 month in the rainforest.
  • Probably not submergable (don’t use mothbox underwater, yet)

Microcontroller

  • Microcontroller: Raspberry Pi5 

License

  • MIT License
  • CERN-OHL-W 

Docs: https://mothbox.org/
Software: https://digital-naturalism-laboratories.github.io/Mothbox/docs/processing
Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/2041-210x.70327

Contact:
Andrew Quitmeyer
Andrew.quitmeyer@gmail.com

Kit Quitmeyer
Kathleen.quitmeyer@gmail.com

Developed at: Digital Naturalism Laboratories, Panama