# Optical Caliper for Contactless Measurement of Plant Stem Diameter

## TL;DR

A new non-contact device called the Optical Caliper accurately measures plant stem diameter without affecting plant growth.

## Contribution

The Optical Caliper is a novel contactless stem diameter measurement tool that avoids thigmomorphogenic effects.

## Key findings

- The OC achieves accuracy comparable to digital calipers in controlled tests.
- Field trials show a repeatability of 0.1–0.2 mm on tomato and cucumber stems.
- The OC outperforms traditional methods for soft and variable plant structures.

## Abstract

Precision greenhouse agriculture enhances plant health and crop yields by continuously monitoring key plant parameters. Stem diameter is such a parameter and is monitored to support decisions on plant care. However, traditional contact-based methods induce thigmomorphogenic effects that impact plant growth. Here, we introduce the Optical Caliper (OC), a novel contactless device for precise, non-invasive stem diameter measurement. The OC operates by projecting a collimated light beam to cast a shadow of the stem onto a high-resolution image sensor. The shadow size is a measure for the stem diameter. Controlled laboratory tests show the OC offers an accuracy comparable to that of a Digital Caliper (DC). Field trials on irregular tomato and cucumber stems demonstrate a repeatability of 0.1–0.2 mm. The OC’s non-invasive design and high repeatability exceed the performance of a DC, making it particularly suited for accurately monitoring soft, variable plant structures. Bringing the advantage of avoiding thigmomophogenic effects and thus optimizing crop yield, the OC is a promising tool for high-throughput plant phenotyping and precision agriculture applications.