Scientists around the world are studying the effects of various chemicals on root systems under increased stress conditions – for example, the increasingly frequent long-term droughts. Plants defend themselves against drought by various mechanisms, such as storing water in their root systems. The bulkier and more extensive a plant’s root system, the more water it can retain, increasing its chances of survival during prolonged droughts. Therefore, the researchers’ work aims to identify a chemical that significantly stimulates root growth. In order to determine the effect of the chemicals studied on root systems, it is necessary to quantify the extent of the root system. Thus, I have developed a computer vision software for fully automatic processing of root growth over time for different biological environments.

At Palacký University I was recommended by my lecturer for grant project of his colleague who was struggling with automatic root detection in images. I was interested in how the human mind recognizes roots, and ended up implementing own algorithm that uses, for example, brightness or root shape as features.