Team Members & Role: 

Jesus Tejeda: Team Lead

Jason Pettinato: Analysis Lead

Caleb Smith: Design Lead

William Hanson: Evaluation Lead

Benjamin Weedon: Fabrication Lead

Abstract:

This project focuses on the design and fabrication of the Corn Monitoring Robot (CMR), an autonomous phenotyping system designed to enhance the precision and efficiency of data collection on developing corn tassels for the Bartlett Lab. Focused on identifying corn species with early-morning flowering genes, the CMR addresses the critical need for accurate phenotypic data in the context of climate change. Late-flowering tassels are subject to heat stress in high-temperature regions, which can damage or kill pollen. This in turn inhibits fertilization of the corn ovules which hinders the plant’s ability to produce grain. Early-morning flowering corn that can avoid the heat is essential to meet food supply demands in the face of global warming and the expected steep rise in world population by the mid-century. This type of phenotyping is part of a budding yet still niche research field. The current technology used is purpose-built for other private research labs and is not available for purchase. The current method employed by the Bartlett Lab relies on labor-intensive manual observations that can produce inaccurate data: graduate students have to frequent the greenhouse and use a cardboard monopod to take images using an iPhone camera. The CMR autonomously captures RGB and depth data, eliminating the need for researchers to repeatedly visit the greenhouse during experiments. The automation streamlines the data collection process, providing more accurate and efficient analysis thereby facilitating the lab’s research efforts in phenotyping and understanding corn flowering dynamics. The CMR will facilitate vital research conducted by the Bartlett Lab contributing to a broader understanding of crop resilience in the face of changing environmental conditions and yield demands.