From its inception, the Mothbox was (and always will be) a fully open hardware and software project that anyone is free to use and build or modify themselves. Its core development was made possible through much volunteer work by Digital Naturalism Laboratories. Its continued development has been made possible through a series of small to large grants from different organizations.
Inspiration
Hubert’s initial inspiration came from a paper by Bjerge et al, “An Automated Light Trap to Monitor Moths (Lepidoptera) Using Computer Vision-Based Tracking and Deep Learning.” Sensors 2021 . We sought to make a robust DIY version that would be easy to use and function in the harsh tropics.
V1
2023 Q1
$3,000 USD
One of the first sponsorships this project recieved was from Earthshot Labs who had briefly hired Hubert to help design a way to do multi-modal biodiversity assays of the reforestation project in the Azuero Penninsula in Panama. They gave Dinalab ~$3000 USD to purchase parts and work on designing an automated insect monitoring system.
We made a fully functional prototype that held lots of promise (and also exposed us to the many design difficulties that would be encountered by such a project.) This first version used a Raspberry pi, some relays, a large ring light, some $6 USB black light bars, and some tupperware.
It functioned and took high resolution photos of nocturnal insects.
V2
2023 Q2
$3,000 USD
Despite Earthshot labs going defunct in early 2023, the success of our first prototype drew the attention of Phoebe Zarnetske’s group from Michigan State University. They were working on automated devices for insect monitoring for the Xprize competition in Singapore, 2023. They hired dinalab again for about 3K to purchase parts and design a new version that was meant to be deployed by a drone. This meant we had to design the project to be much much more compact and durable.
It featured a clear box design with as many internally shielded parts as possible along with a backlit board.
It allowed us to test out a variety of UV attracting Lights and ways of lighting the subjects.
It also started showing us just some of the power of this device, when, on one of our deployments in Azuero, it attracted a praying mantis that scientists on iNaturalist noted is an undescribed species!
V3
2023 Q3-4
$16,000 USD
In late 2023 we recieved an Experiment.com micro-grant for 10K for continued development of the mothbox with Moth researcher Yash Sondhi. This money was put towards the development of a more robust version of the mothbox. Dr. Daisy Dent also contributed 6k of her lab money to sponsor more development and testing of the Mothbox.
The v3 featured more refined lazer cut components that could be quickly assembled and dissasembled in the field. It used a Pi4 and Pijuice for scheduling its power.
V4
2024 Q1 -2025 Q1
$70,000 USD
We began deploying v3 Mothboxes in western panama in conjunction with Hubert’s biodiversity reserach with Pro-eco azuero and Ponterra. We also applied to and won the top tier of the Wildlab’s 2024 grants. This gave us 60K to develop, test and document the mothbox to take the project to the next level in global use as a ubiquitous tool. Daisy Dent also contributed another 7k from her lab’s funds to help further develop the Mothbox’s hardware and software.
Bri Johns, Dinalab’s visiting Fulbright researcher is also joining the project to help facilitate the V4 development of the mothbox by also leading community workshops in Panama to train folks on its use and development. Yash Sondhi is also hiring Andy from Dinalab to run a workshop with scientists at Georgia Tech to build an armada of mothboxes to deploy in other locations.
The v4 has many features that improved upon previous versiions such as
- works with Pi 5 without a pijuice (or backwards compatible with a Pijuice and Pi4 combination)
- works with Hawkeye 64mp cameras or newer Owlsight cameras
- Automatically generates unique, human readable names for each Mothbox in English, Spanish, or Spanglish combinations
- Parts costs has been reduced by over 30%
- 60% less custom materials to produce in its design
- tougher parts, and fewer breakable parts
- much quicker construction (1-2 hours)
- Easier to carry
- Lighter weight
- clearer documentation
- Improved power management in the software
- Ability to function as its own hotspot for debugging
- Refined options for UV attractants (Mothbeam, external or internal attractors)
Mothbeam
The Mothbeam is an open-source ultra-low cost Lepiled alternative. It developed in parallel with the Mothbox after Led Designer, Mortiz Buttlar, heard of the Mothbox and offered to contribute his expertise. He developed an ultra low cost set of modular PCBs that could be waterproofed and cooled when manufactured with low cost methods. It’s not a partially standalone project as well as integrated into the Mothbox as a UV attractor.