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Militarizing Your Backyard With Python and AI

Posted by timothy on from the it-puts-the-squirrel-in-the-bucket dept.

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."

1 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The first law of squirrels by CaptBubba · · 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.