Drone-Enabled Non-Invasive Ultrasound Method for Rodent Deterrence

Unmanned aerial vehicles open new possibilities for developing technologies that support more sustainable and efficient agriculture. This paper presents a non-invasive method for repelling rodents from crop fields using ultrasound. The proposed system is implemented as a spherical-cap ultrasound loudspeaker array consisting of eight transducers, mounted on a drone that overflies the field while emitting sound in the 20–70 kHz range. The hardware design includes both the loudspeaker array and a custom printed circuit board hosting power amplifiers and a signal generator tailored to drive multiple ultrasonic transducers. In parallel, a genetic algorithm is used to compute flight paths that maximize coverage and increase the probability of driving rodents away from the protected area. As part of the validation phase, artificial intelligence models for rodent detection using a thermal camera are developed to provide quantitative feedback on system performance. The complete prototype is evaluated through a series of experiments conducted both in controlled laboratory conditions and in the field. Field trials highlight which parts of the concept are already effective and identify open challenges that need to be addressed in future work to move from a research prototype toward a deployable product.