Virginia Tech
Development of Open-Source Gantry-Plus Robot Systems for Plant Science research
Abstract
dc:description.abstractAffordable and readily available automation options for plant research remain scarce, however with the availability of such a system, many research tasks can be streamlined. In this project, we demonstrate a prototype of such an open-source, low-cost, heterogeneous robotic system called Mini T-Rex. We combine two over-the-counter robots and leverage the ROS2 framework to control this heterogeneous system. This system provides a unique advantage of sensor-to-plant method to capture multi-view images at any angle and distance within the workspace. We demonstrate how making a digital twin in ROS2 can help to control a heterogeneous system via abstracted hardware control. We also talk about I2GROW Oasis which is a robotic system consisting of a remotely controlled robot with the ability to capture top-view images. In this thesis we describe the hardware and software design of both these robotic systems. To use this robotic system, the plants can be grown on a growth bed or a hydroponic system below the Mini T-Rex robot, and the camera will approach the plant without any contact with the plants due to the precise control of the robotic manipulator. We used the system to capture several large data sets of 3D phenotypic data for Solanum lycopersicum, Lactuca sativa, and Thlaspi. In conclusion, we have developed a 9-degree of freedom, fully open-source heterogeneous robotic system capable of multi-view, camera-to plant image capture for plant 3D model reconstruction called Mini T-Rex. We show how to use gantry like robots for phenotyping and create longitudinal datasets by automating these high precision robotic systems.
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Master of Science
- Level thesis:degree_level
- masters
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- Electrical Engineering
- Department dc:contributor.department
- Electrical Engineering
- Grantor dc:publisher
- Virginia Tech
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2024
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Kaundanya, Adwait Anand
- Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair
-
- Ha, Dong S.
- Li, Song
- Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
-
- South, Kaylee Anne
- Zeng, Haibo
Subjects
dc:subject × 7Rights
dc:rights- Statement dc:rights
-
- In Copyright
- Licence dc:rights.uri
- Language dc:language.iso
- en
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Dc Identifier Other
- vt_gsexam:42299
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/123851