We have built a PhenoAIxpert HT for the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in Yangling, Shaanxi, China

A widespread system type for plant phenotyping is combining imaging cabinets with conveyors. LemnaTec has built many Scanalyzers in greenhouses or growth rooms where conveyor belts transport plants towards imaging stations and back. Such Conveyor Scanalyzers are succeeded by the PhenoAIxpert HT that brings automated phenotyping to the next level.

The new PhenoAIxpert HT not only can carry pots for imaging the plants’ shoots, but it can carry rhizoboxes for combined root and shoot imaging, too. With these comprehensive imaging capabilities, whole-plant phenotyping is enabled. All images can be processed with the LemnaTec phenotyping software, that delivers a broad range of parameters on the plants’ dimensions, morphology, and physiology.

Our new PhenoAIxpert HT introduces innovative conveying technology that reduces the footprint of such installations and makes plant movements smoother so that unwanted vibrations are omitted. The innovative transporting technology is a vertically standing conveyor where plant carriers hang at the side instead of standing on a belt system. To pass through imaging cabinets, we only need one stretch instead of a rectangular imaging loop, so that the footprint is minimized. With plant carriers at the side of the conveyer, contamination of the moving parts is reduced, because plant and soil body are not above, but next to the moving system. The movements are much smoother compared to classical belt systems because motors can ramp carefully, and there are no stoppers.

The PhenoAIxpert HT for the Northwest A&F University was assembled and tested in our facilities and is now ready for delivery to the customer. The photograph shows the system during the testing phase.