Improving Hydroponic Systems by Using ARUCO Markers for Leaf Detection: Focus on Tomato Plants

Over the past few years, overpopulation has become a major issue, raising the demand for basic agricultural necessities. Even with the introduction of closed-environment systems aiming to provide an alternative for space requirements, the initial setup costs for such systems are high, which serves as a barrier for farmers and industries to set up a profitable system. Hydroponics is a soil-less cultivation method that aims to replace the soil in agriculture. In traditional soil-based agriculture, plants obtain their nutrients from the soil, which acts as a reservoir for essential minerals, physical support, and water retention. However, soil contains undesirable components that reduce plant growth efficiency by absorbing plant nutrients. This makes it unpredictable, even in a controlled environment. Compared to its water counterpart, the water medium provides numerous advantages, such as water conservation, efficient nutrient delivery, reduced pest and disease risk, faster growth, reduced environmental impact, and much more. Hence, by eliminating soil, this work eliminates unpredictability and creates a better-controlled environment that performs better than its soil counterpart. However, the initial setup costs of hydroponic systems can often be prohibitive for small-scale farmers or resource-constrained communities. This research work aims to grow tomato plants hydroponically so that tomatoes are available regardless of the season. We use a combination of Nutrient Film Technique (NFT), Deep Water Culture (DWT) to analyze the growth of tomatoes in outdoor weather and other environmental conditions in southern India. Further, ARUCO markers are used for leaf identification and also to estimate the distance, pose and coordinates of the leaves by image processing technique. This serves as a method to achieve optimal leaf picture from the environment.