AniMonitor: A Low-Cost Multispectral Imaging Camera for Early Disease Detection and Management in Rice Crops

AniMonitor is a low-cost multispectral imaging system using Raspberry Pi and bandpass-filtered cameras to detect early signs of rice crop disease. It combines NDVI image analysis, machine learning, and a web platform for real-time detection, data capture, and monitoring. A fine-tuned VGG16 convolutional neural network trained on 256 × 256 NDVI composites runs on a Python/Flask back-end and achieves 86.7 % overall accuracy in field trials conducted at PhilRice-UPLB. AniMonitor offers a scalable, farmer-friendly tool that enables early disease detection and supports precision-agriculture initiatives in resource-constrained environments.