# Simultaneously Predicting Multiple Plant Traits from Multiple Sensors via Deformable CNN Regression

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.03205 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.03205/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 6 Dec 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [Grad-CAM: Visual Explanations from Deep Networks via Gradient-based Localization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.02391/) (2016)
- [Feature Pyramid Networks for Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.03144/) (2016)
- [Deformable Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06211/) (2017)
- [Deformable ConvNets v2: More Deformable, Better Results](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.11168/) (2018)
- [Finding Tiny Faces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.04402/) (2016)
- [An Empirical Study of Spatial Attention Mechanisms in Deep Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.05873/) (2019)
- [weedNet: Dense Semantic Weed Classification Using Multispectral Images and MAV for Smart Farming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.03329/) (2017)
- [Fully Convolutional Networks with Sequential Information for Robust Crop and Weed Detection in Precision Farming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.03412/) (2018)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [A workflow for segmenting soil and plant X-ray CT images with deep learning in Googles Colaboratory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.09674/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Trait measurement is critical for the plant breeding and agricultural production pipeline. Typically, a suite of plant traits is measured using laborious manual measurements and then used to train and/or validate higher throughput trait estimation techniques. Here, we introduce a relatively simple convolutional neural network (CNN) model that accepts multiple sensor inputs and predicts multiple continuous trait outputs - i.e. a multi-input, multi-output CNN (MIMO-CNN). Further, we introduce deformable convolutional layers into this network architecture (MIMO-DCNN) to enable the model to adaptively adjust its receptive field, model complex variable geometric transformations in the data, and fine-tune the continuous trait outputs. We examine how the MIMO-CNN and MIMO-DCNN models perform on a multi-input (i.e. RGB and depth images), multi-trait output lettuce dataset from the 2021 Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. Ablation studies were conducted to examine the effect of using single versus multiple inputs, and single versus multiple outputs. The MIMO-DCNN model resulted in a normalized mean squared error (NMSE) of 0.068 - a substantial improvement over the top 2021 leaderboard score of 0.081. Open-source code is provided.