Development of a semi-automatic 3D modeling system for phenotyping morphological traits in plants

Investigation of morphological traits (phenotyping) in plants is an essential process in most of plant science and breeding. However, the slow advance of plant phenotyping technologies has become a bottleneck that prevents increased accuracy in trials. Thus, we have developed an automatic 3D modeling system to increase accuracy in plant phenotyping. This system enables us to acquire a 3D model of a whole plant automatically. 3D model data enable us to measure shape values with high accuracy, and an automated measuring method enables high-throughput measurement. A 3D reconstruction method, optimized by developing an automated system, is needed for whole plant shapes. This paper describes our system concept and the development of a 3D reconstruction method for an automated phenotyping system.