3.1 Overview
A multi-faceted approach for acquiring and processing data in a low-cost
and accessible manner is paramount towards predictive biology.
Understanding the phenome to genome relationship requires discovering
new genes through uncharacterized phenotypes (Figure 1a). Using several
open source and commercial products, such as Allied Vision cameras and
the hobbyist microcontroller Arduino, OPEN Leaf characterizes phenotypes
at a macro and micro scale by quantifying growth by area and color of
the whole plant and specific leaves. OPEN Leaf was designed to be
affordable, accessible, and open source from the beginning. Images can
be synced to the cloud service CyVerse to perform image
processing. The communication platform Slack has integration for
remote communication with the machine (Figure 1b).