Apparatus and method for the detection of wood boring pests

An apparatus for monitoring sounds from within a tree, the apparatus comprising:

• a microphone housing including a needle coupled to a microphone, the microphone recording a sound detected by the needle while inserted within the tree;
• and
• a processing unit coupled to the microphone housing, the processing unit including a processor and a memory, the memory storing computer readable instruction that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
• record, with the microphone, an audio window;
• detect, within the audio window, a plurality of overlapping audio sub-windows;
• calculate a mel spectrogram from the plurality of overlapping audio sub-windows, the mel spectrogram including a matrix of features;
• determining, using a neural network, if each of the plurality of overlapping sub-audio windows includes an indication of an insect being present;
• and
• determining that the number of indications of an insect being present in the plurality of overlapping audio sub-windows exceeds a predetermined threshold, and indicating that the tree has an insect infestation.

A method of detecting insect infestations within a tree, the method comprising:

• inserting a needle of a microphone housing within the tree, the microphone housing including a microphone coupled to the needle;
• recording, with the microphone, an audio window;
• detecting, within the sound sample, a plurality of overlapping audio sub-windows;
• calculating a mel spectrogram from the plurality of overlapping audio sub-windows, the mel spectrogram including a matrix of features;
• determining, using the neural network, if each of the plurality of overlapping sub-audio windows includes an indication of an insect being present;
• and
• determining that the number of indications of an insect being present in the plurality of overlapping audio sub-windows exceeds a predetermined threshold, and indicating that the tree has an insect infestation.