General information on the Arabidopsis WIWAM phenotyping system.
WIWAM is an imaging platform developed by SMO and VIB for high-throughput phenotyping of Arabidopsis plants.
The robot is capable of handling a large number of plants simultaneously and measuring a variety of plant growth parameters at regular time intervals.The standard platform consists of a table with a capacity of 396 pots, and a robotic arm, which moves individual pots regularly to separate stations for imaging, weighing and watering. Phenotyping is performed by an image analysis script that extracts rosette growth features such as the compactness, perimeter and stockiness of each plant automatically. The image sequences allow constructing reliable growth curves over time. WIWAM replaces labor-intensive manual work, saving time and costs. Because the growth conditions are standardized and larger sets of plants can be screened, the robot also allows for obtaining statistically more significant results. In addition, the image analysis provides information which are overlooked by the naked eye. In our lab the WIWAM is mainly used to investigate rosette growth under mild drought conditions, but it can be applied to a whole range of biological questions. Currently, we are looking into the possibility to commercialize this plant phenotyping robot. Furthermore, the WIWAM setup can be tailored to meet your specific needs.
{module Wiwam - arabidopsis - gallery}
WIWAM is an imaging platform developed by SMO and VIB for high-throughput phenotyping of Arabidopsis plants.
The robot is capable of handling a large number of plants simultaneously and measuring a variety of plant growth parameters at regular time intervals.The standard platform consists of a table with a capacity of 396 pots, and a robotic arm, which moves individual pots regularly to separate stations for imaging, weighing and watering. Phenotyping is performed by an image analysis script that extracts rosette growth features such as the compactness, perimeter and stockiness of each plant automatically. The image sequences allow constructing reliable growth curves over time. WIWAM replaces labor-intensive manual work, saving time and costs. Because the growth conditions are standardized and larger sets of plants can be screened, the robot also allows for obtaining statistically more significant results. In addition, the image analysis provides information which are overlooked by the naked eye. In our lab the WIWAM is mainly used to investigate rosette growth under mild drought conditions, but it can be applied to a whole range of biological questions. Currently, we are looking into the possibility to commercialize this plant phenotyping robot. Furthermore, the WIWAM setup can be tailored to meet your specific needs.
{module Wiwam - arabidopsis - gallery}