Travel in time with BABETTE, a 4D plant scanning platform

EngD Defence

Summary

Studying plant developmental traits is often time-consuming and labour-intensive. Traditionally, plant development is monitored by using a large number of plants or by sequentially sowing and cultivating sets of plants. However, crucial developmental events at specific time points may still be missed. These missed observations may occur due to a fixed or an unsuitable angle of observation, trait development occurring outside working hours, or traits developing over extended periods. Over the years, efforts to address these limitations have incorporated digital phenotyping and time-lapse photography. In this thesis, the design and construction of a platform that enables the continuous scanning of a single plant over time while maintaining controlled growth conditions is described. This platform, named BABETTE Pro (Bucher And Brouwers Environment for Time Traverse Experiments), captures images from multiple angles which are processed to create a 3D reconstruction of the plant. Subsequently, time-series data of the reconstructed plants are blended to generate a reconstruction of a four-dimensional (4D) plant. This reconstructed 4D plant enables the observation of plant development traits over time from any desired angle, providing unprecedented insights into plant growth and development.