I just read an article in Wired about a robot designed by the Virginia Military Institute that can troll around your yard recognize and collect ticks. The ticks are then placed inside the robots denim skirt, which ticks cling to naturally. The fabric of the skirt is soaked in permethrin, which means that little insect’s disease carrying days are over.
The robot goes all around the yard, recharging after every lap, while emitting carbon-dioxide to attract our little bloodsucking friends. It seems to be pretty effective. According to the article, students released 75 ticks into the test area. During an eight hour test the robot collected 72 of them. Super cool, eh?