IP Library Granted Patent US 12,433,283
Granted Patent B2
US 12,433,283 · App. 18/388,445 · Granted Oct 7, 2025

Lures and sensors for insect trapping

Inventors: Scott A. Ritchie (Queensland, AU); Kyran M. Staunton (Queensland, AU); Wei Xiang (Queensland, AU); Yu Han (Harbin, CN); Nigel Snoad (Woodside, CA); Jianyi Liu (Santa Clara, CA); Jacob Crawford (Berkeley, CA); Mark Desnoyer (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Google LLC
A01M1/106A01M1/023A01M1/026A01M1/04A01M1/145A01M1/2016A01M2200/012
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,433,283
App. No.
18/388,445
Granted
Oct 7, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system includes an acoustic lure and a sensor package disposed within an interior volume of an insect trapping container and a computing device in communication with the acoustic lure and the sensor package configured to instruct the acoustic lure to output an acoustic tone. The computer device is further configured to receive sensor data from the sensor package, the sensor data representative of insects within the interior volume. Responsive to receiving the sensor data, the computing device is configured to instruct an imaging device to capture image data representative of the insects within the interior volume or determine insect count data based on the sensor data. The computing device is configured to then transmit output data to a remote computing system, the output data including at least one of a first portion of the image data or a second portion of the insect count data.

Claims (48)

1. A system, comprising:

an acoustic lure and a sensor package disposed within an interior volume of an insect trapping container, the acoustic lure including a speaker component being positioned at a distance selected to tune one or more properties of a first acoustic tone emitted from an entrance hole of the interior volume and a height above a bottom of the interior volume corresponding to the height of the entrance hole;

a computing device in communication with the acoustic lure and the sensor package, including one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to at least:

instruct the acoustic lure to output the first acoustic tone;

receive sensor data from the sensor package, the sensor data representative of insects within the interior volume;

responsive to receiving the sensor data:

instruct an imaging device to capture image data representative of insects within the interior volume; or

determine insect count data based on the sensor data; and

transmit output data to a remote computing system, the output data comprising at least one of a first portion of the image data or a second portion of the insect count data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more properties of the first acoustic tone are adjusted depending on a type of insect population, the one or more properties comprising a frequency, a volume, or a duration.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor package comprises:

an infra-red sensor transmitter disposed on a first side of the entrance hole of the insect trapping container;

an infra-red sensor receiver disposed on a second side of the entrance hole; and

an optics lens disposed between the entrance hole and the infra-red sensor receiver.

4. The system of claim 1 , further configured to instruct an insect killing component located in the interior volume to emit an insecticide.

5. The system of claim 1 , further configured to receive operational instructions from at least one of the remote computing system or a different remote computing system.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the insect trapping container comprises the bottom, a lid, and at least one wall that together define the interior volume, at least one of the bottom, the lid, or the at least one wall formed from a transparent or translucent material.

7. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more computing systems, cause the one or more computing systems to:

instruct an acoustic lure located within an interior volume of an insect trapping container to output an acoustic tone, the acoustic lure including a speaker component being positioned at a distance selected to tune one or more properties of a first acoustic tone emitted from an entrance hole of the interior volume and a height above a bottom of the interior volume corresponding to the height of the entrance hole;

receive sensor data from a sensor package located within the interior volume of the insect trapping container, the sensor data representative of insects within the interior volume;

responsive to receiving the sensor data:

instruct an imaging device to capture image data representative of insects within the interior volume; or

determine insect count data based on the sensor data; and

transmit output data to a remote computing system, the output data comprising at least one of a first portion of the image data or a second portion of the insect count data.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 7 , wherein the one or more properties of the first acoustic tone are adjusted depending on a type of insect population, the one or more properties comprising a frequency, a volume, or a duration.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 7 , wherein the sensor package comprises:

an infra-red sensor transmitter disposed on a first side of the entrance hole of the insect trapping container;

an infra-red sensor receiver disposed on a second side of the entrance hole; and

an optics lens disposed between the entrance hole and the infra-red sensor receiver.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 7 , further comprising instructions to instruct an insect killing component located in the interior volume to emit an insecticide.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 7 , further comprising instructions to receive operational instructions from at least one of the remote computing system or a different remote computing system.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 7 , wherein the insect trapping container comprises the bottom, a lid, and at least one wall that together define the interior volume, at least one of the bottom, the lid, or the at least one wall formed from a transparent or translucent material.

13. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

accessing a computing device in communication with an acoustic lure and a sensor package, including one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions executable by the computing device;

instructing, by the computing device, the acoustic lure located within an interior volume of an insect trapping container to output an acoustic tone, the acoustic lure including a speaker component being positioned at a distance selected to tune one or more properties of a first acoustic tone emitted from an entrance hole of the interior volume and a height above a bottom of the interior volume corresponding to the height of the entrance hole;

receiving, by the computing device, sensor data from the sensor package located within the interior volume of the insect trapping container, the sensor data representative of insects within the interior volume;

responsive to receiving the sensor data:

instructing, by the computing device, an imaging device to capture image data representative of insects within the interior volume; or

determining, by the computing device, insect count data based on the sensor data; and

transmitting, by the computing device, output data to a remote computing system, the output data comprising at least one of a first portion of the image data or a second portion of the insect count data.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the one or more properties of the first acoustic tone are adjusted depending on a type of insect population, the one or more properties comprising a frequency, a volume, or a duration.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the sensor package comprises:

an infra-red sensor transmitter disposed on a first side of the entrance hole of the insect trapping container;

an infra-red sensor receiver disposed on a second side of the entrance hole; and

an optics lens disposed between the entrance hole and the infra-red sensor receiver.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , further comprising instructing, by the computing device, an insect killing component located in the interior volume to emit an insecticide.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , further comprising receiving, by the computing device, operational instructions from at least one of the remote computing system or a different remote computing system.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the insect trapping container comprises the bottom, a lid, and at least one side wall that together define the interior volume, at least one of the bottom, the lid, or the at least one side wall formed from a transparent or translucent material.

Assignments (6)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 2, 2026
From: VERILY LIFE SCIENCES LLC
To: GOOGLE LLC
Reel/Frame 074612/0400 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 4, 2025
From: VERILY LIFE SCIENCES LLC
To: GOOGLE LLC
Reel/Frame 072163/0845 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 20, 2025
From: JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY
To: VERILY LIFE SCIENCES LLC
Reel/Frame 071169/0906 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 20, 2025
From: SNOAD, NIGEL; LIU, JIANYI; CRAWFORD, JACOB; DESNOYER, MARK
To: VERILY LIFE SCIENCES LLC
Reel/Frame 071170/0077 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 20, 2025
From: RITCHIE, SCOTT; STAUNTON, KYRAN; XIANG, WEI; HAN, YU
To: JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY
Reel/Frame 071325/0141 →
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Recorded Nov 19, 2024
From: VERILY LIFE SCIENCES LLC
To: VERILY LIFE SCIENCES LLC
Reel/Frame 069390/0656 →