T-REX: Vision-Based System for Autonomous Leaf Detection and Grasp Estimation

T-Rex (The Robot for Extracting Leaf Samples) is a gantry-based robotic system developed for autonomous leaf localization, selection, and grasping in greenhouse environments. The system integrates a 6-degree-of-freedom manipulator with a stereo vision pipeline to identify and interact with target leaves. YOLOv8 is used for real-time leaf segmentation, and RAFT-Stereo provides dense depth maps, allowing the reconstruction of 3D leaf masks. These observations are processed through a leaf grasping algorithm that selects the optimal leaf based on clutter, visibility, and distance, and determines a grasp point by analyzing local surface flatness, top-down approachability, and margin from edges. The selected grasp point guides a trajectory executed by ROS-based motion controllers, driving a custom microneedle-equipped end-effector to clamp the leaf and simulate tissue sampling. Experiments conducted with artificial plants under varied poses demonstrate that the T-Rex system can consistently detect, plan, and perform physical interactions with plant-like targets, achieving a grasp success rate of 66.6%. This paper presents the system architecture, implementation, and testing of T-Rex as a step toward plant sampling automation in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).