Militarizing Your Backyard With Python and AI 112
mikejuk writes "Kurt Grandis took some cutting edge and open source AI tools, Python, an Arduino and a SuperSoaker and built the (almost) perfect squirrel hosing machine. The project involved Open Computer Vision (OpenCV), an a SVM learning procedure that he trained to tell the difference between a squirrel and a non-squirrel. After 'perfecting' the classifier the hardware came next — a SuperSoaker Mark I was used as the 'water cannon.' A pair of servos were used to aim the gun and a third to pull the trigger."
The South Koreans have something similar (Score:3)
...but I'm sure it costs a bit more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5YftEAbmMQ [youtube.com]
By the way, we saw it first in Aliens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQDy-5IQvuU [youtube.com]
Much more appropriate. Gets rid of pirates too. (Score:2)
This looks much more appropriate. Gets rid of pirates and fights neighborhood house fires. Wonder if I can get the insurance company to subsidize this or give me a discount on my rates. Although my rates might go up when it starts dousing the neighborhood children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFU6Kn5qrjw [youtube.com]
See it in action at 16:00 (Score:4, Informative)
Re:See it in action at 16:00 (Score:4, Informative)
Or you can also just watch that section on youtube [youtube.com]
The first law of squirrels (Score:5, Funny)
Squirrels are persistent.
If you have something they want, they will find a way to get it. If it takes you 3 weeks to build a cage to keep them out, they will search for 3 days until they find or make a hole in the cage. If you put the desired item on top of a slippery pole, they will jump from surrounding objects hundreds of times until they finally get there. If you cut down all the trees around the item, they will try going up the pole until they rub all the slippery stuff off. If you put the item on the moon, they will invent the rocket.
So I would advise against this escalation of the arms race against Rodentia. If we build electronic weapons to keep them away they will probably develop electronic countermeasures, and we don't want that.
Re:The first law of squirrels (Score:5, Interesting)
I've had really good luck with a commercial "Squirrel Buster" tube bird feeder which has a spring-suspended cage around the entirety of the tube. They jump on and their fat ass pulls the cage down to where they cannot get the seed. They can see the seed, they can smell the seed, but they cannot eat the seed. They get so pissed off at that thing and it is wonderful.
Grackles however are an entirely different matter and I'd love to have this water gun setup for them. I imagine a large black bird would be pretty easy to target too.
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Allowed? Well, ya know, it's like with driving cars... you need a key to start it, not a license.
(just in case you wondered how to get a car analogy into this topic)
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My perch ring falls off from time to time from their fat asses jumping to it from a distance of falling down on it from the top.
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you will actually have lost in ways that you cannot even comprehend.
And nobody will care about.
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Electrify the vertical part of the pole and keep the feeder away from branches.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWU0bfo-bSY [youtube.com]
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Warfarin bait mixed with peanut butter works a treat on rats and mice....
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Sounds like squirrels are a cheaper alternative than postgrad students. The only problem is trying to express problems such as gene interactions and superconductor formula in terms of "find the shortest path to the nuts". Once that is solved, the nation has solved the problem of a shortage of STEM researchers.
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I've had success using chilli-based sprays against grasshoppers. Put some bright red birds-eyes (similar to tabascos) in a blender with vinegar, and blend until it won't chop the chillies any finer. Let it sit for a day or two, and strain into a sprayer. Then squirt the grasshoppers with it. Poor little things start wiping and wiping at their eyes until they fall off the plant.
I'm also told that putting some dead grasshoppers in the blender with the chillies boosts the effect.
Perhaps the chi
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Has been invented. We call that system "police".
Memory is limited in humans (Score:1)
http://www.pain4glory.com/auto-targeting-turret-sentry-video-8-of-15/ [pain4glory.com]
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Before you try to reproduce this... (Score:5, Informative)
I saw his presentation at PyCon a few weeks ago. During Q&A I asked: "My experience with OpenCV has been that it's nearly impossible to use, poor documentation, documentation of a different version of the API, build issues with the libraries. Was I just on the wrong track, or is this a common experience?"
His answer was that it's true that it's very hard to get OpenCV working.
Also note that after a while the squirrels stopped being annoyed by the water gun and would just sit there while getting sprayed.
He did a very nice job of it though! I particularly like the part about using the bushy tail to tell a squirrel from a bird.
Re:Before you try to reproduce this... (Score:4, Informative)
His answer was that it's true that it's very hard to get OpenCV working.
It used to be quite bad, but the Willow Robotics people have taken it over, and now it's supposedly better.
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I haven't use the Python interface, but it's only an afternoon project to get the C examples building. Start off with something simple like creating a window loading and image (webcam/avi/jpg/etc). From there it's pretty minimal to run some operators Sobel, Laplace, Canny, etc.
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I particularly like the part about using the bushy tail to tell a squirrel from a bird.
And I started laughing loudly when a slide mentioned "avoiding false positives on neighbor kids".
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How's that a "false" positive?
It's not a bug, it's a feature!
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Also note that after a while the squirrels stopped being annoyed by the water gun and would just sit there while getting sprayed.
I bet it would be a different story if he started loading his SuperSoaker with pepper spray.
UA 571-C sentry guns (Score:2)
...for Everyon! :D
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s/Everyon/Everyone (my bad)
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I reckon Lockheed Martin could sell this exact device for ten million dollars.
Need some kind of disincentive in the water. (Score:5, Interesting)
Add a little ammonia or cat pee, or methyl mercaptan to the water, or maybe some kind of stuff that gets sticky as it dries, to keep the squirrel occupied for a while. Also, since he's mainly interested in keeping them off the feeder, he could mount the gun next to the feeder and fire it remotely, hitting the squirrel at close range with significantly more force and wetness.
I had a friend long ago who had trouble with dogs chasing his bicycle on his regular route to work. By adding a very small percentage of ammonia into a squirt gun, he found that if he squirted the dog right in the face, the dogs weren't hurt, but were stopped instantly in their tracks, and went off to occupy themselves with rubbing their noses and eyes with their front paws. It only took about three trials to stop any dog from bike and car chasing. Lemon juice might work as well. (Plain water did not work.)
If I were more devilish I might suggest nitrogen tri-iodide in the water. I'm not sure that it would work unless in high concentrations, but it might be amusing once it dries on the squirrel - and/or on the roof of the feeder. The experimentalist in me wants to know - purely for the knowledge to be gained, of course!
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"Add a little ammonia or cat pee, or methyl mercaptan to the water, or maybe some kind of stuff that gets sticky as it dries, to keep the squirrel occupied for a while."
Except that it would get all over the feeder and potentially discourage the birds.
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Re:Need some kind of disincentive in the water. (Score:4, Informative)
To expand upon this, capsaicin is apparently the peppers defense against mammals
eating the fruit, since they do not spread the seed as optimally for the plant. Birds do
not sense it, so you could even douse the seed in it as a simpler solution.
Re:Need some kind of disincentive in the water. (Score:4, Informative)
...capsaicin is apparently the peppers defense against mammals eating the fruit, since they do not spread the seed as optimally for the plant. Birds do not sense it,...
Actually, a lot of birds do taste capsaicin - and actively like it. We have a blue-crowned conure who likes peppers in general, especially the seeds, but tends to eat only a little of a sweet pepper. But give her a hot pepper of any sort, and she devours it, then goes looking for more. So at least for this species, hot peppers are a real delicacy.
Conures are native to South America, which is also where hot peppers evolved, so this could explain the good match. Parrots from other continents might not be adapted to hot peppers, and might not taste the capsaicin so well. Thus, our cockatiels (native to Australia) also like peppers of any sort, but don't absolutely love the hot ones like the conure does. They'll usually eat one, and then go on to something else for variety.
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Huh. According to Wikipedia...
The seeds of Capsicum plants are predominantly dispersed by birds. The TRPV1 channel to which capsaicin binds does not respond to capsaicin and related chemicals in birds (avian vs mammalian TRPV1 show functional diversity and selective sensitivity). Chili pepper seeds consumed by birds pass through the digestive tract and can germinate later, but mammals have molar teeth, which destroy seeds and prevent them from germinating. Thus, natural selection may have led to increasing
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I'd never heard of NI3 prior to your post, so I hit up Wikipedia, and found out this important fact: Nitrogen triiodide has no practical commercial value due to its extreme shock sensitivity, making it impossible to store, transport, and utilize for controlled explosions.
Pressurizing it in a squirt gun seems like a bad idea.
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I'd never heard of NI3 prior to your post, so I hit up Wikipedia, and found out this important fact: Nitrogen triiodide has no practical commercial value due to its extreme shock sensitivity, making it impossible to store, transport, and utilize for controlled explosions.
Pressurizing it in a squirt gun seems like a bad idea.
Only as the dries and forms crystals - no problem while it's in solution...
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Bummer of a failure mode there.
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Ask many geeks about NI3, and they will have at least one story either first or third person about a prank involving NI3. Friction sets it off nicely. At my college someone painted NI3 on the seats in the cafeteria - in thin layers it's basically invisible. After it dried, as everyone sat down for the fancy Sunday dinner, they all got a spanking! :D
In fact, as I note that the squirrels tended to jump to the top of the bird feeder, while birds tend to land on the feeder ledge, one could paint little dots
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Only as the dries and forms crystals - no problem while it's in solution...
Yeah, kind of like what happens as your reservoir in the super soaker gets depleted and forms a film on the inside...
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howdy y'all,
in addition to the chemicals mentioned above, _really_ cheap perfume works quite well. i use it to chase the danged feather rats [aka - pigeons] away from my bedroom window. my neighbor uses it to zap dogs and cats when he finds them mucking around with his plants. doesn't take much usually 4 units of water to one of el cheapo perfume. those pump action swimming pool guns work nicely.
take care,
lee
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I like it. Although it might reduce the enjoyability of the garden - somehow I'm getting images of confusing my garden with a sleazy bar at 2 AM. "Hey honey, who you goin' home with? You got a car? I can make ya feel real good."
Re:Need some kind of disincentive in the water. (Score:4, Interesting)
If I were more devilish I might suggest nitrogen tri-iodide in the water. I'm not sure that it would work unless in high concentrations, but it might be amusing once it dries on the squirrel - and/or on the roof of the feeder. The experimentalist in me wants to know - purely for the knowledge to be gained, of course!
hmmm. have to agree. Nothing like the shocked look on some meathead jock's face when he opened a locker door painted with NI3 in solution [youtube.com]. I saw NI3 demonstrated at a science fair when I was in junior high (during the Nixon administration -- get off my lawn.) Stuff is fucking simple to make, and as long as you keep it in solution, it won't blow up on you. It makes a very loud snapping sound when it detonates, along with a cloud of purplish smoke. We'd paint it on locker doors in the gym and tool chests in the auto shop. Any kind of impact after it dried would detonate it. It was invisible if applied while still in solution, and it took less than 5 seconds after detonation for the residual iodine to sublimate and the residual ammonium iodide to dissolve in our always humid air, so it was practically untraceable. Revenge of the nerds, and better living through chemistry, indeed... :)
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as long as you keep it in solution, it won't blow up on you.
Yeah, but keeping something 100% in solution isn't as easy as it sounds. All it takes is a little residue in the threads of a cap to dry out...
Make it say things like... (Score:5, Funny)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfEpdVqOLXs [youtube.com]
Not quite finished... (Score:2)
NI instead of AI? (Score:5, Funny)
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Do white spaces make real pythons go nuts also?
Targeting (Score:5, Funny)
Why not just use the reptilian version of python and skip the AI?
Probably because its targeting system may not discriminate as well between squirrels, birds and small children.
Prior Art claimed... (Score:3)
Inadequate (Score:3)
With the quickening pace that American municipal law enforcement agencies are militarizing our collective backyards with (but not excluded to) drones, active denial systems, H&K MP5s, chemical warfare, infrared and x-ray fishing expeditions, roadside electrocutions, armored vehicles, 100 mile wide Constitution-free zones, battering rams, DNA and fingerprint databases of innocents, and propaganda/psychological warfare to turn us against one another (e.g., "see something, say something")... whew... I propose we forget about the fucking rodents, and concentrate on the swine, sharks, donkeys, and elephants.
Am I joking? It depends on if you laughed. To paraphrase Lincoln, if I don't laugh, I'll cry.
might be illegal in your jurisdiction (Score:1)
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Don't worry, I have another gun here for PETA in case they complain, just so they don't feel like I ignored them. Oh, quite the opposite!
Like IEEE's Mosquito Laser Cannon (Score:2)
Not so different from a May 2010 pioece in IEEE Spectrum where they built a laser targeting system for backyard mosquitos.
What we really need is the marriage of both products -- a laser canon that automatically tracks and vaporizes squirrels. And starlings. And grackles. And cowbirds...
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Hmm... Here's the missing link:
IEEE Mosquito Laser [ieee.org]
Lock(e)-on-squirrel Molecular Disintegrator Device (Score:2)
Peter Wiggin, you here? Proposing to use a Little Doctor device on sentient Sciuridae? (And BTW we thought your display name was Locke rather than RandCraw...) ;-) As if your brother hadn't been enough trouble lately... [slashdot.org] Now what's Val up to next?
Launch them over the fence (Score:2)
I actually like squirrels (Score:1)
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Re:PITA Time? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:PITA Time? (Score:5, Funny)
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Possum is "the other white meat". Squirrel is the other other white meat.
Re:PITA Time? (Score:5, Funny)
Nooooo...
PORK is the other white meat. Babies are the other other white meat.
I want my baby back baby back baby back baby back baby back baby back ribs. *Chili's* Baby back ribs.
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Submit?
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thatsthejoke.jpg
Pain In The A-er, posterior.
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No, no no. PITA is the kind of bread you wrap your roasted squirrel meat in. _PETA_ is what you're thinking of.
Not sure the real PETA would be against this. They'd probably want one set up on the premises to help them reduce the number of staff needed to euthanize 97% of all the animals brought in.
Re:PITA Time? (Score:5, Interesting)
Now watch PITA call animal cruelty on this dude.
I don't know where this dude lives, but here in Washington state the Eastern Gray squirrel is an invasive non-native species, even though they're pretty much everywhere. They've largely displaced our native squirrel population. In most places you can kill them without problem - you're doing the local ecology a favor, after all - although it's always possible some wacko fringe element will protest the killing. I don't know about locales like Seattle, though; I wouldn't put it past them to have laws against killing animals considered "cute".
Anyway if this guy gets dinged, maybe he just needs to replace the Super Soaker with a .12 gauge...
Re:PITA Time? (Score:5, Funny)
Anyway if this guy gets dinged, maybe he just needs to replace the Super Soaker with a .12 gauge...
And shoot the PETA people?
I approve of this message!
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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I wonder whether I find it funny or frightening that this is at 5, informative...
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What's worse, where's my Obligatory Xkcd Reference? Shotguns are nice, mind you, but I found them somewhat lacking in comparison with kilowatt laser [xkcd.com].
Re:PITA Time? (Score:5, Insightful)
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It's what kept YOU alive when you were a smelling, ingrateful bag of isht, stupid :-)
The ultimate 12 gauge (Score:2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ebtj1jR7c [youtube.com]
with "dragons breath".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RP4FjODPDFA#t=262s [youtube.com]
Better, add a belt feed.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9zR5HTtaCI [youtube.com]
US Marines used sawed-off shotguns in the Pacific war, for dealing with Japanese Banzai attacks.
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I don't know where this dude lives
North Carolina, IIRC. Mentioned in the video right after the part where the squirrels get hosed down... didn't watch the rest.
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North Carolina, IIRC. Mentioned in the video right after the part where the squirrels get hosed down... didn't watch the rest.
Be careful dude! I realize people will, on occasion, accidentally read the linked articles here - but you're not supposed to admit it publicly!
Have you no shame?
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When I was an undergrad at UMN, I used to sit outside and eat my lunch in the summers on Northrop mall. One summer, we had a particularly nasty yellowjacket season, and of course they swarmed the trash cans looking for bits of sandwiches and what not. I saw one of those fat grey mother fuckers go head down into a trash can, no doubt expecting to get his grey ass even fatter. ABout 10 seconds went by, then a high pitched screeching chattering, as if a gatling gun loaded with nails grazed a chalkboard. And
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Depends on how seriously you want the squirrel DEAD.
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invasive non-native species [...]. In most places you can kill them without problem - you're doing the local ecology a favor
A native American could tell the same thing for you!
Re:PITA Time? (Score:5, Funny)
PITA?
People for the Intelligent Targeting of Animals?
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Dude, guns are just cool. Did you take a look at the mechanics of an AK47? Now that's brilliance! Simple, sleek and so easy to make, very few moving parts and still self powering.
Sure, it has the nasty side effect of killing people standing at the wrong end of it. But hey, just be careful with it and you sure have a great, nifty tech toy there.