Military robot deploys CO2 to lure ticks to their doom

The Tick Rover travels along a hose that emits CO2.

(Credit: Virginia Military Institute)

Ticks are repulsive, blood-sucking, disease-carrying parasites that can do serious harm to people. They deserve no less than robotic death from above.

Thank the Maker, then, that researchers at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) have developed a tick-slaying robot that uses carbon dioxide to pretend it’s an animal.

The prospect of a blood meal leads the arachnids to their doom. The robot kills 75 to 100 percent of the ticks in its path.

“The only thing more successful is chemical spray,” Jim Squire, professor of electrical and computer engineering and project manager, said in a release.

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