As the first step, they collected statistics by measuring plant growth in an artificial soilless system using a 3-D camera and established a relationship between the increase in the total biomass and the expansion of the total surface area of the leaves. Then they captured the increase in the total leaf area using a 2-D camera and built a dynamic plant growth model based on these measurements.
The key distinguishing feature of the new method is that the data are collected using both 3-D and 2-D cameras ‒ an approach that obviates the need for time-consuming multi-parameter calculations. The leaf area and plant biomass data, coupled with an efficient mathematical model, produce accurate results.