Field Phenotyping Monitoring Systems for High-Throughput: A Survey of Enabling Technologies, Equipment, and Research Challenges

High-throughput phenotype monitoring systems for field crops can not only accelerate the breeding process but also provide important data support for precision agricultural monitoring. Traditional phenotype monitoring methods for field crops relying on artificial sampling and measurement have some disadvantages including low efficiency, strong subjectivity, and single characteristics. To solve these problems, the rapid monitoring, acquisition, and analysis of phenotyping information of field crops have become the focus of current research. The research explores the systematic framing of phenotype monitoring systems for field crops. Focusing on four aspects, namely phenotyping sensors, mobile platforms, control systems, and phenotyping data preprocessing algorithms, the application of the sensor technology, structural design technology of mobile carriers, intelligent control technology, and data processing algorithms to phenotype monitoring systems was assessed. The research status of multi-scale phenotype monitoring products was summarized, and the merits and demerits of various phenotype monitoring systems for field crops in application were discussed. In the meantime, development trends related to phenotype monitoring systems for field crops in aspects including sensor integration, platform optimization, standard unification, and algorithm improvement were proposed.