RootVision

A window into the root zone.

Roots do most of a plant's work out of sight. RootVision goes in the ground beside the crop and watches them: a column of six cameras behind a clear face, imaging the soil profile on a schedule, season-long, without disturbing a single root.

Technical whitepaper
6cameras down the soil profile
6soil temperature sensors, one per depth
60 dayson a single charge*
WiFi · Cloud · LoRareach it on site or from anywhere

*Up to 60 days at one capture a day. Pre-release figures; final specifications to follow.

How it works

One capture cycle

Everything RootVision does in the field comes down to a cycle it repeats on your schedule, unattended.

01 — WAKE

Asleep until it's time

Between cycles the unit is powered down, its real-time clock holding the next alarm. When the alarm fires it wakes, and its screen says why: right on schedule.

02 — FOCUS

Every camera, in focus, every time

Each camera lights its own LEDs and steps its lens into focus before it shoots, so soil settling or a cold morning doesn't blur the record.

03 — CAPTURE

Six images, top to bottom

The camera LEDs go off and the light panels come on, glowing evenly through the whole clear body. The six cameras capture in turn, from the surface down.

04 — STITCH & SLEEP

One panorama, then back to sleep

The images go to RootSynapse, which stitches them into a single tall panorama of the profile. The unit sets its next alarm and powers down.

The same cycle in RootSynapse: the schedule while it sleeps, the gallery filling in camera by camera, the stitched panorama, then the season's timelapse.

Built for the field

More than a camera

RootVision knows where it is, what the soil temperature is at every depth, and how much charge it has, and it stays in touch however your site is connected.

Soil temperature

A temperature at every camera

Six sensors sit down the back of the unit, one behind each camera, so every image comes with the soil temperature at that depth. RootSynapse plots the history: the shallow sensors swing with the day, the deep ones barely move.

Battery

Weeks in the field on one charge

Two 21700 cells, 4900 mAh in all, and a unit that's powered down between captures: up to 60 days at one capture a day. RootSynapse keeps each unit's charge history, so you know which ones need a visit before they need it.

USB-C

Charge through a sealed port

The USB-C port sits under a screw-down IP67-rated cap. Unscrew it to charge, screw it back on before the unit goes back in the ground. A wired data link over the same port is coming in the next hardware revision.

GPS

Every unit on the map

Each unit finds its own location, and RootSynapse puts it on a map with the rest of your fleet. Know exactly which plot a panorama came from, and find a unit again next season.

WiFi & Cloud

Change settings from anywhere

On site, connect over your WiFi, or straight to the unit's own access point. Off site, send changes through the cloud: the unit picks up its new schedule, camera settings or network the next time it connects, and uploads its images the same way.

LoRa wake

Wake it without waiting for the schedule

A low-power LoRa radio inside every unit listens while the cameras sleep. Call it with a RootBeacon and it wakes on demand, ready for a capture or a settings change, even where there's no WiFi at all.

Meet RootBeacon →
Go deeper

The full technical picture

Optics, power, connectivity and the data pipeline are covered in the RootVision whitepaper.

Read the whitepaper