Mosquito Bats — A Case Study

Siyam Adit
6 min readMar 14, 2023

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meme

Yeah, I know this is what you thought after reading the title. But, wait I got a point. So, let us compare a Mosquito Bat with a Tennis racket or a shuttle racket.

mosquito bat and a tennis racket

Let us start with the tennis racket…

So, Tennis was designed and codified in England in the 1870s…NO FUCK IT. Let's get into the matter.

Tennis Racket Design

A tennis racket

This is the design of a tennis racket. It is made up of a strong material which is useful to smash the tennis ball. A tennis ball consists of a pressurized rubber core covered with high-quality cloth, usually wool mixed with up to 35 percent nylon. To smash the ball coming with a good amount of speed the wires or net of a racket has to be designed to withstand the force.

The handle of a tennis racket should be long enough to hold it with two hands while doing a backhand shot. The grip also is considered a major factor to use the racket effectively. That is why the grips are changeable.

This is the major feature that a tennis racket has.

What is a Mosquito Bat?

A mosquito killer bat, also known as an electric fly swatter, is a handheld device used to kill mosquitoes and other flying insects. It typically has a long handle and a flat, electrically charged surface that is designed to deliver a lethal shock to insects on contact.

The purpose of a mosquito killer bat is to provide a quick and effective way to control flying insects, particularly mosquitoes, which can be a nuisance and a health hazard.

Mosquito killer bats are popular in regions where mosquitoes are common and can be found in homes, offices, and outdoor spaces such as patios and gardens. They are typically battery-operated and can be recharged for multiple uses.

The purpose of a mosquito killer bat is to provide a convenient and effective way to control mosquitoes and other flying insects, helping to reduce their population and the risk of disease transmission.

Features of a Mosquito Bat

So, if a Mosquito killer Bat is used to kill mosquitos, the bat’s common feature must be killing them, right?

Well, of course, yes. But do you know that there are furthermore features that have to be added to make it completely functional?

Let us see what are features to be added…

  1. To kill the mosquitos, the bat must produce electricity to shock them.
  2. If an object has to produce electricity, it has to be powered or charged in this case.
  3. To conduct electricity the material should be made up of metal or other conductors. Also, the user using it should not get affected by the electricity.
  4. There should be an indicator to know whether the bat is working or not.
  5. Ultimately, a well-built bat.

The Comparison

If you think mosquito killer bat is designed and manufactured like a design of a tennis racket because the game is famous you are an idiot.

another meme

Years ago, I thought like that. So, this meme makes sense to me. Anyways,

The features of a mosquito bat and the design of a tennis racket makes a perfect match for the final product. This makes sense, right?

Seems like you need a pictorial representation. Here you go,

The mesh

So, the killer bat needs to conduct electricity. So the mesh is made of steel which can conduct electricity. But it is the only visible part that is made of a conductor. The other parts where the human touch, are made of non-conductor, usually plastics which helps in reducing the manufacturing cost. (you don’t need a picture for this, you already saw above)

Placement of cells

To conduct electricity, the bat has to be charged, and a power source has to be placed. Where would they place it?

It's inside the handle of the racket. The area inside the handle is the only part of the killer bat where we can put the internal hardware parts. Here the Lithium-ion cells can be inserted.

Charging Support

Now, for charging the bat must support the charging facility with universally available charging ports like USB type B cables. Some come with USB Type C. Either type B or type C, people readily have it with them. So if the cable gets damaged users can easily switch to other cables and they are low cost and easily available in the markets. With those cables, users can charge the bat through any device, electric port, laptop/ PC, adaptor, power bank, and other devices.

Night Usage and LED indicators

Mosquitos usually come out when the place is dark. So, users need the bat, when there is low light, evening and night time.

How do the users see the mosquitos and swing the bat at dark times?

How would they know whether the bat is charged, operating or not?

This is where LED indicator lights come as a solution.

Two indicators indicate the function of the device,

  1. There will be one LED indicator that works when the device is charging.
  2. The second one indicates when the device is operated and with that indicator users can also check whether the device is working or not.

When the users need to use the bat in dark places. There is a LED light that is placed above the handle, serving as a torch light.

The Button

Where the button has to be placed?

A mosquito bat is a single-hand operating device. If there was a switch, users find it difficult to switch both hands to ON/OFF the switch. Also if the switch is ON, it would drain the battery from the bat.

The feasible solution for this problem will be providing a button that can be pressed to switch ON the device, and when the button is released the device turns OFF.

The button is placed perfectly where the thumb resides when the bat is being held. The beautiful solution, right?

With the functionality of a mosquito bat, rackets matched a great design to design and manufacture the bats. Every feature of a mosquito bat is almost perfectly compressed with the design of a racket.

The mesh, handle, light indicators, charging ports, battery cells, and even the button to operate is placed in the handle where our thumb resides.

Both serve their purpose when it is swung. Users can try Forehand shots, Backhand shots, and Volley shots but only with mosquitos. LOL

What a great product !!!

I’ll conclude my rants, I thank you for taking the time to read this case study.

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Siyam Adit
Siyam Adit

Written by Siyam Adit

I'm a self taught Product Designer passionate about solving problems in digital products, and create a good User Experience with my solutions.

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