Active sensing to characterize the heterogeneity of plant stress

Abstract

While most phenotyping platforms rely primarily on image-based measurements, advanced plant characterization requires the integration of active physiological sensing modali- ties such as chlorophyll fluorescence. We present an autonomous robotic platform designed to perform targeted fluorescence measurements on plant leaves. The system combines 3D plant reconstruction, geometric analysis, and motion planning to localize suitable measurement points and generate collision-free trajectories for a robotic manipulator. A dense 3D model of the plant is reconstructed from multi-view data and used to extract candidate leaf surfaces based on orientation, accessibility, and sensing constraints. These targets are then integrated into a task-level planning framework that guides the end-effector to precise contact or near-contact configurations required for point-based fluorescence acquisition. The platform enables automated, repeatable, and spatially resolved physiological measurements that go beyond passive imaging. By tightly coupling perception, geometric reasoning, and manipulation, the proposed system provides a robotics-driven approach to high-resolution plant phenotyping and opens new directions for autonomous agricultural inspection and plant-aware manipulation.

Plant phenotyping relevance

植物葉の蛍光を自律ロボットで空間的・反復的に取得するプラットフォームを開発しており、植物表現型の取得手法が研究の中心です。

Code and data availability

The paper states its code is publicly available in the authors' SonyCSLParis GitHub repository (Plant3DImager), which implements the phenotyping perception and motion-planning pipeline. The exact full URL is split across a line break in the supplied text, so the verifiable allowed URL prefix is used.