Development of Open-Source Gantry-Plus Robot Systems for Plant Science research
| dc.contributor.author | Kaundanya, Adwait Anand | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Ha, Dong S. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Li, Song | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | South, Kaylee Anne | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Zeng, Haibo | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Electrical Engineering | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-12-20T09:00:49Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2024-12-20T09:00:49Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-12-19 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | Affordable 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. | en |
| dc.description.abstractgeneral | Robotics are being widely used for automating tasks that are monotonous and require high precision. However, developing such application specific robots in itself is a complicated and tedious task. Having different aspects like mechanical design, robot fabrication, software design makes it difficult for any individual or small groups to develop such robots. In order to facilitate plant researchers who may not have any experience in designing robots, we have developed a general robotic system that can be easily assembled and adapted for applications. In this thesis, we discuss how this robotic system can be made using over the counter robots and discuss how the software makes it intelligent enough such that it can navigate the course without any collisions and control the robots as if they are part of one system rather than two different robots that are controlled individually. This enables using the vendor provided software rather than designing the entire robot from scratch. We also show another robot kits, the FarmBot, which can be assembled and adapted to particular use case of monitoring hydroponically growing crops. We demonstrate how this robot can be used as part of complex systems and how it can be automated to collect images to monitor plant growth. We describe in detail of how a user can go from computer aided design (CAD) to hardware control of the robot, and how this system can be used for phenotyping of plants namely early girl tomato, lettuce, and pennycress. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Science | en |
| dc.format.medium | ETD | en |
| dc.identifier.other | vt_gsexam:42299 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10919/123851 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | ROS2 | en |
| dc.subject | MoveIt2 | en |
| dc.subject | motion planning | en |
| dc.subject | FarmBot | en |
| dc.subject | plant phenotyping | en |
| dc.subject | 3D reconstruction | en |
| dc.subject | robotics | en |
| dc.title | Development of Open-Source Gantry-Plus Robot Systems for Plant Science research | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Electrical Engineering | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science | en |
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