Neutralization of Mosquito Larvae with Acoustic Larvasonic

Mosquitos kill the greatest number of people in the world every year [Gates Foundation 2017]. Most modern solutions for mosquitos involve pesticides that generate resistance in the mosquito population over time and cause problems for human health. The LarvaSonic Acoustic Larvicide is a sound-based mosquito larva killing device designed to be mounted in bodies of water, that is harmless to humans and other life. The LarvaSonic operates by distributing energy into water at resonate frequencies to the larvae thorax, killing the mosquito larva, and thus the kill distance is limited by the attenuation of water. A proposed solution that improves the kill efficiency and coverage in large bodies of water is a robot boat equipped with a LarvaSonic device. Such a device was developed by interfacing autopilot software with GPS data as well with numerous safety features. We proceeded to test different boat patterns based on Markov’s theories, in a body of water, recording efficiency. A boustrophedon path proved to be the most efficient path for treating a large body of water with larva mosquitoes. This LarvaSonic mounted autonomous boat at present time should not replace conventional larvicides, but rather strengthen the tool base we already have.