EARBOX is a tool that allows the capture of normalized images and the extraction of phenotypic variables of interest.
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DEEP LEARNING image analysis
Open source electronics
Available for maize and we are currently working to adapt it to wheat, barley, triticale and sunflower.
Explore how EARBOX system can help you
How does it work ?
PARTOUT
Access to yield components
The EARBOX system is designed to automate and leverage phenotypic measurements of experimental stations.
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Perform more accurate and refined analysis for:
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Multi-site trials
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Genotypic studies
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Crop model calibration
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Characterization of genotypes response to the environments
Data at ear and grains scale
The data are produced at 2 scales: the ear and the grains along the ear.
All data are measured or calculated for each of the 6 images of the ear captured by the system. The 6 images can be considered as repetitions, and averaged to obtain values at the ear scale, and indices (e.g. standard deviation, etc.) concerning their stability around the ear.
For grains, it is possible to make averages according to their "level" (cohort number) from the base of the ear. You can also process grain data according to their position (cm) in relation to the base of the ear.
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Accurate and reliable
Earbox is a tool developed by scientists for scientists.
Our development methodology shows our rigor and our requirement to offer research a useful tool that can feed tomorrow's reflections and experiments. In this logic, the methodologies of phenotypic data extraction are presented in the method article: Earbox, an open tool for high-throughput measurement of the spatial organization of maize ears and inference of novel traits. We scanned and trained the neural network on the widest possible phenotypic diversity, so that it would be able to segment maize kernels regardless of their appearance. We then developed an algorithm to extract in post-processing all the phenotypic data, which were all compared to manual data or via other machines on more than 800 ears.
This project was initiated in partnership with the INRAE of Montpellier (France) and more particularly the LEPSE (Laboratory of ecophysiology of plants under environmental stress) and the experimental station of Mauguio, with whom the EARBOX was defined, tested and validated.
Flexible and evolutive
Very easy to use, the system adapts to your identification methods (by spike or by plot). It reads most barcodes and QR codes thanks to its USB handheld, but you can also use a keyboard.
The code of the acquisition system is totally OPEN (on request), and you can modify or replace it, for your specific applications.
Designed for several species, we have started in 2021 a collaboration with the LARIS (Laboratoire Angevin de Recherche en Ingénierie des Systèmes) of the University of Angers and the French GEVES (Groupe d'étude et de contrôle des variétés et de semences), in order to adapt the system to agronomic species such as wheat, barley, spelt, triticale and sunflower.
The objectives are both to develop analyses for the treatment of the inflorescences of these species, but also to develop analyses for the treatment of the grains dissociated from their inflorescence.