PlantScreenTM Compact System is conveyor-based integrated robotic solution for high-precision digital plant phenotyping and plant cultivation of small and mid-size scale plants (e.g. Arabidopsis). The transport of plants is carried out on trays with different lid patterns adapted for single or multiple plants. Digital data are acquired typically from top and side views.
The PlantScreenTM Compact System is designed for the automated plant handling, plant imaging and the precise irrigation scheme at the level of individual plant or group of plants. The configuration is optimized for the controlled environment and greenhouse applications and can be customized in terms of throughput and range of integrated digital sensors according to the research needs.
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The platform may incorporate various modules for digital analysis of plant growth dynamics and physiological performance, an acclimatization chamber that may be used to equilibrate plants under controlled conditions, or for plant cultivation, and a transportation system for automated delivery of plants to the imaging stations. An external transportation system and/or loading station can be implemented to move plants between a cultivation area and compartment with imaging stations. Combined weighing/watering station is implemented for precise irrigation or nutrient delivery schemes. Unique bar-code or RFID identifiers are used for plant identification.
A comprehensive PlantScreenTM Software package, with remote accessibility, is used to control all aspects of the transportation and imaging modules, as well as for data acquisition, image analysis and data base configuration. The system is modular and designed so that additional features may be added as the user´s screening requirements evolve.
PlantScreenTM Compact System can be implemented inside of high-capacity growth chambers to allow for program controlled growing conditions, with accurate measurements and regulation of temperature, irradiation cycles and relative humidity. Additional LED lightning solutions can be implemented to improve lighting regime of the plants grown in greenhouse environment. Light and dark adaptation tunnel for plant acclimation prior physiological phenotyping is key feature of our phenotyping platforms.
Adaptation tunnel consists of multichannel LED´s with programmable interface for defining desired light regime and spectral quality. The precise setting of light intensity is programmable in smooth steps, with the maxima of 2000 µmol.m-2.s-1.
High-precission irrigation system is integral part of the system for programable delivery of both water and nutrients to the plants throughout growth and/or measurement cycles. Watering and nutrient delivery may be combined with automated weighing of plants in pots so that specific watering regimes may be programmed in software. These regimes may be used to impose drought stress or waterlogging of varying degrees of severity, imposed rapidly or gradually. Schemes for watering to exact volume, relative volume or predefined weight can be pre-defined for single plants or groups of plants.
Furthermore ccomprehensive suite of environmental sensors (humidity, temperature, light intensity, light quality) is available for the PlantScreenTM Phenotyping Systems. The physiological parameters deduced from the measurements acquired by imaging units can be correlated with the environmental parameters acquired from a number of environmental sensors implemented within the phenotyping unit.
All acquired imaging, environmental and watering/weighing data are stored in an SQL database, processed and available for inspection and further analysis in range of seconds after recording via user-friendly graphical interface. PlantScreenTM Analyser provides tools for data browsing, grouping, analysis, user-defined reprocessing and export. Multiple clients can be connected to the database, with different privileges assigned based on a built-in authentication mechanism. An SMS and mail notification service is integral part of the complete phenotyping system. 24-hour online support service is key component of the PlantScreenTM phenotyping solution.
Key features of IT solution:
All data acquired from imaging sensors are in raw format and processed format stored in an SQL database and are in range of minute after recording available for further analysis. All raw and processed data files are directly accessible and therefore can be easily analysed by user-defined processing scripts.
Range of non-invasive plant imaging technologies was developed for PlantScreenTM Phenotyping Systems to study different aspects of plant growth and physiological performance:
Sensors available for the PlantScreen™ Compact System are:
PlantScreenTM Phenotyping Systems designed for integrative phenotyping on temporal and spatial level are proven in a range of applications across the world:
Furthermore we make our state-of–art phenotyping facilities available for testing and proof-of-concept experiments. Contact us for more information.