Post on 24-Dec-2015
Using Computers to Understand (and control) Insects
Eamonn KeoghComputer Science & Engineering Department
University of California - RiversideRiverside, CA 92521eamonn@cs.ucr.edu
ENGR 101
Outline II want to convince you that..
• There is more to computer science than just programming
• Computer science/engineering is incredibly fun and interesting
• Computer science/engineering can be your passport to work anywhere, do anything
Outline IIRough outline
• The Machine Learning Problem (AI)• Machine Learning applied to Malaria/Mosquitoes
Please interrupt me at any time with questions
I am going to show you some problems that were shown to pigeons!
Let us see if you are as smart as a pigeon!
I am going to show you some problems that were shown to pigeons!
Let us see if you are as smart as a pigeon!
Examples of class A
3 4
1.5 5
6 8
2.5 5
Examples of class B
5 2.5
5 2
8 3
4.5 3
Pigeon Problem 1
Examples of class A
3 4
1.5 5
6 8
2.5 5
Examples of class B
5 2.5
5 2
8 3
4.5 3
8 1.5
4.5 7
What class is this object?
What class is this object?
What about this one, A or B?
What about this one, A or B?
Pigeon Problem 1
Examples of class A
3 4
1.5 5
6 8
2.5 5
Examples of class B
5 2.5
5 2
8 3
4.5 3
8 1.5
This is a B!This is a B!Pigeon Problem 1
Here is the rule.If the left bar is smaller than the right bar, it is an A, otherwise it is a B.
Here is the rule.If the left bar is smaller than the right bar, it is an A, otherwise it is a B.
Examples of class A
4 4
5 5
6 6
3 3
Examples of class B
5 2.5
2 5
5 3
2.5 3
8 1.5
7 7
Even I know this oneEven I know this one
Pigeon Problem 2 Oh! This ones hard!
Oh! This ones hard!
Examples of class A
4 4
5 5
6 6
3 3
Examples of class B
5 2.5
2 5
5 3
2.5 3
7 7
Pigeon Problem 2
So this one is an A.So this one is an A.
The rule is as follows, if the two bars are equal sizes, it is an A. Otherwise it is a B.
The rule is as follows, if the two bars are equal sizes, it is an A. Otherwise it is a B.
Examples of class A
4 4
1 5
6 3
3 7
Examples of class B
5 6
7 5
4 8
7 7
6 6
Pigeon Problem 3
This one is really hard!What is this, A or B?
This one is really hard!What is this, A or B?
Examples of class A
4 4
1 5
6 3
3 7
Examples of class B
5 6
7 5
4 8
7 7
6 6
Pigeon Problem 3 It is a B!It is a B!
The rule is as follows, if the square of the sum of the two bars is less than or equal to 100, it is an A. Otherwise it is a B.
The rule is as follows, if the square of the sum of the two bars is less than or equal to 100, it is an A. Otherwise it is a B.
Worst game ever!
Why did we spend so much time with this game?
Worst game ever!
Why did we spend so much time with this game?
This game is an example of a classification problem, one of the most fundamental problems in Artificial Intelligence
This game is an example of a classification problem, one of the most fundamental problems in Artificial Intelligence
Examples of class AJapanese Names
Examples of class BGreek Names
Pigeon Problem XWhat kind of name is this:Japanese or Greek?
What kind of name is this:Japanese or Greek?AYANO
CHIKAKO
CHIYO
CHIYOKO
CHO CHOU
ETSUKO
ABDERUS
CHIYSES
CHARYBDIS
CEPHALUS
CALCHAS CADMUS
Examples of class A
Alan Turing
Examples of class B
Stan Laurel
Pigeon Problem YWho is this?Who is this?
Examples of class A
Loop
Examples of class B
Arch
Pigeon Problem ZWhat kind of fingerprint is this?
What kind of fingerprint is this?
Grasshoppers
KatydidsThe Classification Problem(informal definition)
Given a collection of annotated data.
(In this case five instances Katydids of and five of Grasshoppers)
Decide which class future unlabeled data belongs to.
Katydid or Grasshopper?
Solving the Classification Problem
How do human and other animals solve the classification problem? (for today, we don’t care)
How can we make computers solve the classification problem? This is called machine learning
The first step is a change of representation, a classic computer science trick
Examples of class A
3 4
1.5 5
6 8
2.5 5
Examples of class B
5 2.5
5 2
8 3
4.5 3
Pigeon Problem 1
We can plot the pigeon problems in 2D space
We can plot the pigeon problems in 2D space
Left
Bar
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
Right Bar
Examples of class A
4 4
5 5
6 6
3 3
Examples of class B
5 2.5
2 5
5 3
2.5 3
Pigeon Problem 2
Left
Bar
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
Right Bar
Let me look it up… here it is.. the rule is, if the two bars are equal sizes, it is an A. Otherwise it is a B.
Let me look it up… here it is.. the rule is, if the two bars are equal sizes, it is an A. Otherwise it is a B.
Examples of class A
4 4
1 5
6 3
3 7
Examples of class B
5 6
7 5
4 8
7 7
Pigeon Problem 3
Left
Bar
100
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
102030405060708090
Right Bar
The rule again:if the square of the sum of the two bars is less than or equal to 100, it is an A. Otherwise it is a B.
The rule again:if the square of the sum of the two bars is less than or equal to 100, it is an A. Otherwise it is a B.
Ante
nna
Len
gth
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
Grasshoppers Katydids
Abdomen Length
Simple Linear Classifier
If previously unseen instance above the linethen class is Katydidelse class is Grasshopper
KatydidsGrasshoppers
R.A. Fisher1890-1962
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
100
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
102030405060708090
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
Which of the “Pigeon Problems” can be solved by the Simple Linear Classifier?
1) Perfect2) Useless3) Pretty Good
Problems that can be solved by a linear classifier are called linearly separable.
Now that we understand what the classification problem is, and one way to solve it, let us switch gears for a while…
What is the Deadliest Animal?(not counting humans!)
What is the Deadliest Animal?
500+ per year
200+ per year10+ per year
300+ per year
1,000,000+ per year
50,000+ per year
What is the Deadliest Animal?
50,000+ per year500+ per year
200+ per year10+ per year
300+ per year
1,000,000+ per year
One penny weights about the same as one thousand mosquitoes
How can something so small be so deadly?
What is Malaria?• Malaria is a disease that involves high
fevers, shaking chills, joint pain, flu-like symptoms. In some cases it can produce coma and death.
• There are more than 225 million cases of malaria each year, killing around 1-million people.
Where does Malaria come from?
Malaria has been known since ancient times.
Many believed it came from “bad air” (Italian: mala aria, “bad air”)
500 years ago, a handful of people believed that insects might be involved in human diseases.
Hortus Sanitatis
(The Garden of Health) 1497
It was Sir Ronald Ross, an British army surgeon working in India, who proved in 1897 that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes.
Sir Ronald Ross received the 1902 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work
(This was somewhat controversial, as many others made similar discoveries around the same time )
Malaria Parasites
1st Vector
Initial Human host Liver
infection
Blood infection
2nd Vector
Next Human host
Malaria Transmission Cycle
We get malaria from mosquitoes
We get malaria from
humans
• There are 3,528 kinds of mosquitoes• Only a handful of species take human blood• Only the females take human blood
• There are 100 trillion mosquitoes alive today
• Mosquitoes have been around for 100 million years
• We know this from fossil records/DNA studies
• Mosquitoes have spread malaria for at least 35 million years• We know this from insects found in amber
The Mosquito
Where does malaria cause problems?
Given that we have known for over one hundred years how Malaria is spread, where is the magic pill or immunization?
For a variety of reasons, a cure or immunization continues to alluded mankind.
However there are some interventions that can help
In the 20th century, smallpox killed 400 million people worldwide, it is now eradicated.
Polio is almost eradicated.
Interventions to Mitigate Malaria • The use of insecticidal treated mosquito nets• Spraying of insecticides (including controversial chemicals such as DDT)• Introduction of fish/turtles/crustaceans to eat mosquito larva• The introduction of dragonflies which eat adult mosquitoes. • Habitat reduction by draining ponds and pools• Use of chemical films to reduce the surface tension of water
(drowning the pupa).• .. and hundreds more proven or tentative ideas
Interventions Cost Money!
• Even cheap solutions have hidden costs• Insecticidal treated mosquito nets are cheap to
make, but…
• To make mosquito nets work, you need educators, incentive programs, maintenance etc
“...aid agencies and non-governmental organizations are quietly grappling with a problem: Data suggest that nearly half of Africans who have access to the nets refuse to sleep under them” (LA Times May-2-2010).
• We need to know where/when the problem is the greatest. Where are the insects? Which insects are they? When did they arrive?
• The classic solution? Use sticky traps– Inaccurate– Costly– Long time lag
Planning interventions requires knowledge
My Work at UCR
• I believe that we can count and classify insects with sensors. The classification problem– Must be cheap– Must be low powered – Must be accurate
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5x 104-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
One second of audio from our sensor. The Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) takes about one tenth of a second to pass the laser.
Background noise Bee begins to cross laser Bee has past though the laser
UCR Wingbeat Sensor
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
Bees
Mosquitos
0 0.5 1 1.5
0 0.5 1 1.5
0 0.5 1 1.5
0 0.5 1 1.5
0 0.5 1 1.5
0 0.5 1 1.5
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
Bees
Mosquitos
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
123456789
Bees
Mosquitos
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
17Bee count
21Mosquito count
2134Housefly count
17Bee count
21Mosquito count
2134Housefly count
Spay the dark red areas at dusk
TimeStamp 12:23:23Probability of: Bee - 0.96Probability of: Housefly - 0.03Probability of: Other - 0.01TimeStamp 12:27:11Probability of: Bee - 0.99:::
Using Pesticides Intelligently
If we are not sure where the insects are…
If we know where the insects are…
High cost (fuel/pesticide)Damage to environment
Low costLittle damage to environment
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Spam Filter
Spam Folder Email Folder
The holy grail of computational
entomology
With a single click of a button, we can take action on our emails/spam.
We can delete, forward, save them etc
17Bee count
21Mosquito count
2134Housefly count
Can we do this with insects?
Can we “delete” mosquitoes(Kill them)
Can we “forward” bees(Make them go North and pollinate almonds etc)
The holy grail of computational
entomology
Controlling Insects with Computers
Insect cyborgs are cool, but not the answer.
We need to be able to control insects at a cost of say 1,000,000 insects per penny.
Controlling Insects with Computers
We already control some insects with technology/computers
We are exploiting the fact that moths evolved without artificial lights.
What else can we exploit?
What else can we exploit?
Now we..
• understand what the classification problem is
• have seen how to solve it with the linear classifier
• have seen how it can be applied to a real problem
I hope I have convinced you that
• There is more to computer science than just programming
• Computer science/engineering is incredibly fun and interesting
• Computer science/engineering can be your passport to work anywhere, do anything
Eamonn KeoghComputer Science & Engineering Department
University of California - RiversideRiverside, CA 92521eamonn@cs.ucr.edu