The startup Tornyol has introduced an innovative 40-gram drone designed to detect and eliminate mosquitoes using advanced echolocation, Y Combinator reported. After confirming the prototype’s effectiveness, the project secured $28,000 in funding from investors including Scott Alexander, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, and several prominent X (Twitter) users.
Global Problem, Tiny Solution
The developers emphasized that mosquitoes pose one of the most serious health threats worldwide. Each year, approximately 700,000 people die due to mosquito-borne diseases, with another 700 million infected. In total, around 4 billion people live in regions at risk of illnesses such as dengue fever.
How the Drone Works
The miniature drones operate in pairs with a base station and patrol designated areas autonomously. They detect mosquitoes using a combination of ultrasonic transmitters and a phased antenna array capable of generating a detailed spectrogram of wingbeats.
“Every time a mosquito flaps its wings, it creates an irregular Doppler effect. By measuring this variable Doppler shift, we obtain a two-dimensional image unique to each mosquito species. Then we determine the type and sex of the insect in front of us,” the Tornyol team explained.
Precision Detection Through Doppler Analysis
The drone’s echolocation system uses the unique Doppler signature of a mosquito’s wing movement to distinguish species and even identify gender — crucial for targeting females, which transmit diseases through bites. This combination of bioacoustics and AI-based signal processing represents a significant advance in precision pest control technology.
Future Applications
Tornyol’s developers plan to scale the system for use in tropical and subtropical regions, where the spread of malaria and dengue remains critical. The startup hopes its low-cost, energy-efficient drones can become part of a broader effort to reduce mosquito-borne deaths worldwide.
