Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Menoufia University, Shebin El Koum 32514, Egypt.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Mar 17;21(6):2112. doi: 10.3390/s21062112.
Understanding the flight characteristics of insect pests is essential for designing effective strategies and programs for their management. In this study, we designed, constructed, and validated the performance of modern flight-testing systems (flight mill and flight tunnel) for studying the flight behavior of red palm weevil (RPW) (Olivier) under a controlled atmosphere. The flight-testing mill consisted of a flight mill, a testing chamber with an automatically controlled microclimate, and a data logging and processing unit. The data logging and processing unit consisted of a USB digital oscilloscope connected with a laptop. We used MATLAB 2020A to implement a graphical user interface (GUI) for real-time sampling and data processing. The flight-testing tunnel was fitted with a horizontal video camera to photograph the insects during flight. The program of Image-Pro plus V 10.0.8 was used for image processing and numerical data analysis to determine weevil tracking. The mean flight speed of RPW was 82.12 ± 8.5 m/min, and the RPW stopped flying at the temperature of 20 °C. The RPW flight speed in the flight tunnel was slightly higher than that on the flight mill. The angular deceleration was 0.797 rad/s, and the centripetal force was 0.0203 N when a RPW tethered to the end of the rotating arm. The calculated moment of inertia of the RPW mass and the flight mill's rotating components was 9.521 × 10 N m. The minimum thrust force needed to rotate the flight mill was 1.98 × 10 N. Therefore, the minimum power required to rotate the flight mill with the mean revolution per min of 58.02 rpm was approximately 2.589 × 10 W. The designed flight-testing systems and their applied software proved productive and useful tools in unveiling essential flight characteristics of test insects in the laboratory.
了解昆虫的飞行特性对于设计有效的管理策略和计划至关重要。在本研究中，我们设计、构建和验证了现代飞行测试系统（飞行测试机和飞行隧道）的性能，用于在控制的大气环境下研究红棕榈象甲（Olivier）的飞行行为。飞行测试机由飞行测试机、带有自动控制微气候的测试室以及数据记录和处理单元组成。数据记录和处理单元由与笔记本电脑相连的 USB 数字示波器组成。我们使用 MATLAB 2020A 实现了用于实时采样和数据处理的图形用户界面（GUI）。飞行测试隧道配备了水平视频摄像机，用于在飞行过程中拍摄昆虫。使用 Image-Pro plus V 10.0.8 程序进行图像处理和数值数据分析，以确定象甲的跟踪。红棕榈象甲的平均飞行速度为 82.12 ± 8.5 m/min，在 20°C 的温度下停止飞行。在飞行隧道中的红棕榈象甲飞行速度略高于飞行测试机上的速度。角减速度为 0.797 rad/s，当红棕榈象甲系在旋转臂末端时，向心力为 0.0203 N。计算得出的红棕榈象甲质量和飞行测试机旋转部件的转动惯量为 9.521 × 10 N m。旋转飞行测试机所需的最小推力为 1.98 × 10 N。因此，以 58.02 rpm 的平均每分钟转数旋转飞行测试机所需的最小功率约为 2.589 × 10 W。设计的飞行测试系统及其应用软件是揭示实验室中测试昆虫基本飞行特性的有效工具。
