FIP

The group of crop science inaugurated the ‘field phenotyping platform’ (FIP) in Eschikon on June 10 2016. The FIP is a unique prototype for automated, image-based crop analysis and will facilitate research in plant breeding and precision agriculture.

The image below is the actual view of the FIP webcam.

FIP is situated at the Eschikon Field Station of ETH Zurich and was installed in August 2014. A rope suspended carrier system (Spidercam®) holds multiple sensors which can be positioned over individual plots or plants. The current version 2.0 holds 13 RGB machine vision cameras.

We monitor more than thousand individual plots, planted with wheat, oats, peas and soybean. These plots are continuously monitored throughout the growing season. Changes in growth pattern are related to the causal environmental factors such as fluctuating solar radiation, temperature and precipitation.

Enlarged view: FIP Overview — Overview of the FIP area of about 1 ha covered by the system. Three of the poles which carry deflector roles on top and the winch houses at their base are visible.

The FIP serves as platform to develop new concepts for innovation in farming and breeding. A major focus is on technology development, image processing, modelling, and education. The FIP is part of external page EMPHASIS and its national node, the Swiss Plant Phenotyping Network.

Enlarged view: FIP 1.0 sensor head with different cameras and sensing systems — *FIP 1.0 sensor head: RGB and NDVI DSLR camera, laser scanning device, thermal camera, spectrometers and operational camera can take data of the field automatically.*

FIP 2.0 multi-view sensor head with 13 cameras (©2023, Andreas Hund / ETH Zurich, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Take a flight with our FIP sensor head in a 360° video

FMG

Eschikon 33
8315 Lindau