Wireless Fixed Camera Network for Greenhouse-Based Plant Phenotyping

Methods Mol Biol. 2022:2539:49-56. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2537-8_6.

Abstract

An indoor wireless fixed camera network was developed for an efficient, cost-effective method of extracting informative plant phenotypes in a controlled greenhouse environment. Deployed at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (DDPSC), this fixed camera platform implements rapid and automated plant phenotyping. The platform uses low-cost Raspberry Pi computers and digital cameras to monitor aboveground morphological and developmental plant phenotypes. The Raspberry Pi is a readily programmable, credit card-sized computer board with remote accessibility. A standard camera module connects to the Raspberry Pi computer board and generates eight-megapixel resolution images. With a fixed array, or "bramble," of Raspberry Pi computer boards and camera modules placed strategically in a greenhouse, we can capture automated, high-resolution images for 3D reconstructions of individual plants on timescales ranging from minutes to hours, capturing temporal changes in plant phenotypes.

Keywords: 3D reconstruction; Greenhouse; Image analysis; Imaging; Phenotyping; Raspberry Pi.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Computers*
  • Phenotype
  • Plants* / anatomy & histology