Created by Johan Bucher, a researcher at Wageningen University and Research, with the input of colleagues Matthijs Brouwer, Rick Hendriksen, Richard Visser, Gerrit Polder, BABETTE is a modular platform designed to capture plant development and growth in much detail. More than just an imaging tool, BABETTE is a comprehensive growth chamber, allowing researchers to analyze plant growth over time in a controlled environment. The system's novel design promises to offer new insights into plant breeding, as a lot of crucial development parts were often missed by observation in the open field, educational applications, and beyond.
Photo right: Johan Bucher
Photo credit: Guy Ackermans
Modular flexibility and expanding applications
BABETTE's modular nature is one of its most significant advantages, as Johan explains. Originally, BABETTE had to be limited in size due to constraints such as fitting through doorways at his office in Wageningen. However, the platform has since evolved into a scalable system. Bucher shared, "The next phase would be either to scale up or to connect it to something like conveyor belts. It's just repeating one trick and expanding it." This scalability means that BABETTE could be adapted to monitor different plant types, even trees, depending on their size.
The system's modularity allows users to customize BABETTE for specific research needs. Whether it's a compact setup for smaller plants or an expanded model for larger specimens, BABETTE's design enables researchers to tailor the platform to their requirements. This flexibility has made it an attractive tool for both research institutes and commercial partners, with one BABETTE already sold and the potential for more on the horizon.
Growth chamber capabilities
BABETTE is more than a mere camera system—it is a fully integrated growth chamber. The platform includes artificial lighting, patented watering systems, and gas exchange technologies. As Johan emphasized, "It's a complete growth cabinet with phenotyping. You put a plant in there, and you can study its development over time in high detail." This level of control allows researchers to simulate various growth conditions, including varying light exposure and nutrient availability, providing an unparalleled opportunity to observe how plants respond to different environmental factors.
One of BABETTE's standout features is its patented watering system, which, as Johan humorously remarked, left him wondering, "Why didn't anyone ever come up with this system?" The chamber is also designed to capture real-time plant responses, with cameras that move around the plant to take high-quality, 3D images. "The cameras move around the object, while the plant is standing still" he explained.
Johan and his BABETTE machine. Photo credit: Guy Ackermans
A time machine for plant growth
Perhaps one of the most compelling aspects of BABETTE is its ability to "rewind" and "fast-forward" plant growth, a feature that Johan fondly refers to as a "time machine." He elaborated on this feature, saying, "You can go forward and backward in time. If you see something on the dark side, you just change the object and forward and backward it again." This capability addresses a common problem in plant research: the inability to revisit key growth stages once an experiment is complete. With BABETTE, researchers can closely monitor plant growth and even re-analyze specific moments in time.
In the context of plant breeding, this ability to capture minute changes over time offers researchers a new level of precision. Breeders can now observe processes that are either too slow or too quick for traditional methods to capture. "It gives more insights and that will help them to understand and target variety/genotype for some trait that they're interested in," said Johan.
A future educational tool
Beyond its applications in research, BABETTE also has the potential to transform plant education. Johan, a former practical teacher, recounted his frustrations when explaining plant growth processes to students on days when weather conditions were less than ideal. The solution came as an augmented reality app that complements BABETTE. "I now have an app that is augmented reality," said Bucher. "For the people that do not understand it, they can see it growing in front of them." With this app, teachers can use BABETTE's time-lapse capabilities to demonstrate plant development in real-time, providing students with a clearer understanding of complex growth processes.
Remaining open and improving
Despite the clear commercial potential of BABETTE, Johan remains committed to keeping the platform open-ended to foster continuous innovation. For him, the focus is not on making BABETTE a commercial success but rather on ensuring that the platform continues to evolve and improve through collaboration and experimentation.
Johan and his team are awaiting a pending patent for the technology.
For more information:
Wageningen University & Research
Johan Bucher, EngD Candidate
[email protected]
www.wur.nl