A device and method for non-destructive monitoring of plant root systems in situ

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of plant physiological ecology research, and particularly relates to a plant root in-situ nondestructive monitoring device and method. The present application provides a plant root in-situ nondestructive monitoring device, comprising: an observation tube, which is open at the upper end, closed at the lower end and pre-buried in the soil; a monitoring probe, comprising a probe main body, an image acquisition part and an annular light supplement part, wherein the probe main body is centrally placed in the observation tube, and the image acquisition part and the annular light supplement part are arranged at the lower end of the observation tube. In order to solve the problem that the imaging range of the prior art is limited by the length of the linear slide rail and needs to be spliced and fused twice, the monitoring probe has the centralizing feature through the centralizing appliance, and the image acquisition part monitors the image of the observation tube wall from top to bottom by using the self-weight of the monitoring probe and the traction release of the electric line reel. Compared with the driving mode of the linear slide rail, the imaging range is not limited and does not need to be spliced and fused twice.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of plant physiological ecology research technology, specifically to an in-situ non-destructive monitoring device and method for plant roots, which is particularly suitable for rapid field observation and tube imaging analysis of plant roots. Background Technology

[0002] Roots, as vital organs and tissues of plants, play a crucial role in absorbing water and nutrients from the soil to meet the plant's growth needs. Research on root systems is essential for all disciplines related to plant science, and root ecology is a key element of underground ecology. However, because roots are distributed in the soil, they cannot be directly and quickly observed. Therefore, in-situ, non-destructive root monitoring is crucial for root research.

[0003] Existing technologies, such as CN118018852A, disclose an in-situ root imaging device and method, which includes a probe tube, a main unit disposed inside the probe tube, and a transparent protective cover disposed at the lower end of the probe tube. The main unit and the control module are connected by a cable to achieve panoramic imaging and then stitch them together to form an in-situ root system image.

[0004] The aforementioned existing technology, on the one hand, uses a linear slide rail combined with a fisheye camera to acquire root system images within micro-root canals. However, the imaging range is limited by the length of the linear slide rail, and the maximum size of a single image is limited. To obtain an image of the entire root system within a root canal, secondary stitching and fusion are required, and the root system image of the entire root canal wall cannot be acquired at once.

[0005] On the other hand, the monitoring cycle, monitoring time, and monitoring frequency of plant roots are all affected by the plant's diurnal rhythm and growth cycle (including seedling stage, growth stage, maturity stage, and senescence stage), resulting in long monitoring cycles and correspondingly varying monitoring frequencies. Existing technologies do not disclose the monitoring cycle, monitoring time, and monitoring frequency of plant roots. Furthermore, the air inside the detection tube contains moisture, and due to diurnal temperature differences, changes in ambient temperature, and heat dissipation from the heating element, water mist will form when the air temperature inside the detection tube is lower than the dew point temperature. Existing technologies do not have any preventive measures for water mist, which leads to water mist forming on the inner wall of the tube during long-term monitoring of plant roots, affecting the monitoring imaging effect and failing to provide good imaging quality, thus affecting imaging analysis. Summary of the Invention

[0006] To address the aforementioned shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides an in-situ non-destructive monitoring device and method capable of rapidly monitoring the entire root system image within the inner wall of a pre-embedded observation tube, generating a high-resolution full-size root system image of ≥21.98x100cm in size at a time, while simultaneously recording video within the image acquisition field of view and taking local photographs of the root system at any location. This effectively solves the problems of limited imaging range and water mist formation on the inner wall of the detection tube affecting imaging quality in existing technologies.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution:

[0008] This invention provides an in-situ non-destructive monitoring device for plant roots, comprising:

[0009] The observation tube is open at the top and closed at the bottom, and is pre-buried in the soil.

[0010] A monitoring probe includes a probe body, an image acquisition component, and a ring-shaped supplementary light component. The probe body is centrally located inside an observation tube, and the image acquisition component and the ring-shaped supplementary light component are located at the lower end of the observation tube. A centering device, at least one of which is located around the periphery of the monitoring probe, includes an annular body coaxially fixed to the periphery of the probe body. At least two slots are evenly distributed on the outer side of the annular body, and an encoding wheel is radially elastically installed in the slot. The encoding wheel makes rolling contact with the inner wall of the observation tube.

[0011] The rangefinder assembly is used to release the monitoring probe at a constant speed.

[0012] The control component is electrically connected to the rangefinder assembly, the encoder wheel, the annular fill light, and the image acquisition component.

[0013] Furthermore, the rangefinding assembly includes a sleeve, an electric reel, a cable, and an encoder. The sleeve is airtightly fixed to the upper end of the observation tube. The electric reel is fixedly mounted on the upper end of the sleeve. The encoder is fixed to the rotating end of the electric reel. The cable is wound around the electric reel and electrically connected to the probe body.

[0014] Furthermore, the encoder wheel has a shaft at its center, and a follower blade is provided on the shaft and on one side of the encoder wheel. A moisture-absorbing box is fixed on the encoder wheel on the side corresponding to the follower blade and on the outside of the follower blade, and the moisture-absorbing box is filled with moisture-absorbing particles.

[0015] Furthermore, the in-situ non-destructive monitoring device for plant roots also includes a heat insulation component; the heat insulation component includes:

[0016] A heat-conducting plate is fixedly mounted on the heating end of the monitoring probe;

[0017] The contraction capsule, which has a heat-conducting function, is airtightly fixed between the sleeve and the probe body and is located on the periphery of the heat-conducting plate;

[0018] Surface tube, installed on the ground surface;

[0019] Underground cylinders are installed below the ground surface;

[0020] The switching valve is connected to the upper end of the sleeve through a pipeline and communicates with the contraction bladder. The two input ends of the switching valve are respectively connected to the surface cylinder and the underground cylinder through pipelines two and three.

[0021] Furthermore, the insulation component also includes:

[0022] A heating and cooling component is installed on the pipeline and is used to heat and cool the air.

[0023] The surface temperature measuring element is installed inside the surface cylinder;

[0024] The underground temperature measuring device is installed inside the underground cylinder;

[0025] The temperature measuring element is installed inside the observation tube;

[0026] The heating and cooling components, surface temperature measuring components, underground temperature measuring components, and pipe temperature measuring components are all electrically connected to the control component.

[0027] Furthermore, the heating and cooling component includes a housing and a partition plate evenly fixed inside the housing. The partition plate divides the housing into a heating chamber and a cooling chamber. Multiple semiconductor cooling chips are evenly embedded in the partition plate, with the heating side of the semiconductor cooling chips facing the heating chamber and the cooling side facing the cooling chamber. The heating chamber and the cooling chamber are respectively connected to the two output ends of a switching valve through a connecting pipe one. The heating chamber and the cooling chamber are connected to a contraction bladder through a solenoid three-way valve and a connecting pipe two.

[0028] Furthermore, a pressure monitoring element is fixed to the inner wall of the sleeve, the pressure monitoring element is electrically connected to the control component, and the control component is wirelessly connected to an alarm component.

[0029] Furthermore, a water mist monitoring component is provided inside the observation tube. The water mist monitoring component includes a light transmitter and a light receiver fixed to the inner wall of the observation tube at opposite ends. The light transmitter and the light receiver communicate wirelessly with the alarm component through the control component.

[0030] Furthermore, a rain cover is fixedly installed on the top of the sleeve.

[0031] A method for in-situ non-destructive monitoring of plant roots, wherein the method uses the aforementioned in-situ non-destructive monitoring device to perform periodic or intermittent monitoring of an observation tube, comprising the following steps:

[0032] a. The data of the encoding wheel is zeroed by the control component. The monitoring probe is released at a constant speed by the range-finding component so that it moves from top to bottom in the observation tube by its own weight. The encoding wheel emits a pulse signal to the control component for every 1° rotation of the encoding wheel. The control component controls the image acquisition component to acquire a horizontal 360° panoramic image and send it to the control component.

[0033] b. After receiving the image signal from the image acquisition unit, the control component calculates the depth position of the monitoring probe and continuously performs image matching and stitching processing;

[0034] c. After the monitoring probe moves to the preset depth, the control component automatically matches and stitches together a full-size image of the plant root system;

[0035] During steps a to c, the control component can control the image acquisition unit to perform video recording or take pictures to obtain images of the pipe wall at a local location.

[0036] The technical solution provided by this invention has the following advantages compared with the known prior art:

[0037] 1. In one aspect, this invention addresses the problem that the imaging range of existing technologies is limited by the length of linear slide rails, requiring secondary stitching and fusion. The monitoring probe has a centering characteristic through a centerer. In addition, the self-weight of the monitoring probe and the traction release of the electric winding device enable the image acquisition device to monitor the image of the observation tube wall from top to bottom. Compared with the driving method of linear slide rails, the imaging range is not limited and secondary stitching and fusion are not required.

[0038] 2. In another aspect, in order to solve the problem that the presence of humidity inside the tube and the fact that the temperature is lower than the dew point temperature of the air inside the tube cause water mist to form on the inner wall of the observation tube, affecting the imaging quality, the present invention utilizes the vertical movement of the monitoring probe to cause the contraction bladder to expand and contract, thereby forming a pump action. The temperature is increased or decreased according to the temperature value inside the observation tube, ensuring the normal operation of the monitoring probe and maintaining the temperature value inside the observation tube at the dew point temperature of the air inside the observation tube, thus avoiding the formation of water mist on the inner wall of the observation tube and ensuring imaging quality.

[0039] Specifically, the observation tube utilizes natural energy and the heat-insulating properties of the underground soil through surface and underground tubes, and heats or cools the air through heating and cooling components to keep the electrical components inside the tube in optimal working condition, ensuring airtight heating or cooling of the electrical components and saving energy.

[0040] 3. This invention uses a pressure monitoring device to monitor the air pressure inside the observation tube in real time to determine whether the observation tube is in an airtight state, thus avoiding the possibility of external moisture entering the observation tube through leaks and greatly increasing the probability of fogging. When the control component determines that the air pressure value is lower than the preset value, it will use wireless communication to trigger an alarm component to remind researchers to check in time.

[0041] 4. Under normal operating conditions, the light receiver can receive the light emitted by the light emitter. However, once the inner wall of the observation tube fogs up, water molecules will refract the light, and the light receiver will be unable to receive the light. The control component will then use wireless communication to trigger the alarm component to alert researchers to check the situation promptly. Attached Figure Description

[0042] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative effort.

[0043] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 2 This is a top view of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A sectional view of AA;

[0046] Figure 4 for Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of BB;

[0047] Figure 5 for Figure 4 Enlarged view of point C in the middle;

[0048] Figure 6 This is a cross-sectional view of the heating and cooling component of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 7 This invention focuses on showing a cross-sectional view of the water mist monitoring component;

[0050] Figure 8 This is a video recording diagram of the present invention;

[0051] Figure 9 This is an in-situ root system imaging diagram of the present invention;

[0052] Figure 10 This is a partial photograph of the present invention.

[0053] Reference numerals: 1. Observation tube; 2. Monitoring probe; 21. Probe body; 22. Image acquisition component; 23. Ring-shaped supplementary lighting component; 3. Centerer; 31. Ring-shaped body; 32. Slot; 33. Encoding wheel; 34. Follower blade; 35. Moisture absorption box; 4. Retraction and extension ranging assembly; 41. Sleeve; 42. Electric cable reel; 43. Cable; 44. Encoder; 5. Thermal insulation assembly; 51. Contraction bladder; 52. Heating and cooling component; 521. Box body; 522. Divider plate; 523. Semiconductor cooling chip; 53. Surface cylinder; 531. Surface temperature measuring component; 54. Underground cylinder; 541. Underground temperature measuring component; 55. Switching valve; 56. Heat conduction plate; 6. Air pressure monitoring component; 7. Water mist monitoring assembly; 71. Light emitter; 72. Light receiver. Detailed Implementation

[0054] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0055] The present invention will be further described below with reference to embodiments.

[0056] Example: Refer to Figures 1 to 10 A non-destructive in-situ monitoring device for plant roots includes an observation tube 1, a monitoring probe 2, a centering device 3, a retraction and extension ranging component 4, and a control component. Under the guidance of the centering device 3, the monitoring probe 2 is driven by the control component to move vertically within the observation tube 1 to perform panoramic root monitoring imaging of the plant roots outside the observation tube 1.

[0057] Among them, the observation tube 1 is open at the top and closed at the bottom and is pre-buried in the soil, and a diffuse reflector is provided at the bottom of the observation tube 1;

[0058] The monitoring probe 2 includes a probe body 21, an image acquisition unit 22, and a ring-shaped supplementary light unit 23. The probe body 21 is centrally located inside the observation tube 1. The image acquisition unit 22 and the ring-shaped supplementary light unit 23 are located at the lower end of the observation tube 1. Specifically, the image acquisition unit 22 is a high-definition camera with a wide viewing angle. The image acquisition unit 22 is covered with a glass cover for physical protection. The ring-shaped supplementary light unit 23 is located outside the image acquisition unit 22 and can be a ring-shaped white light-emitting diode or other light-emitting components with ring-shaped supplementary light effect. It is turned on during root monitoring to provide the light environment required for monitoring.

[0059] At least one centering device 3 is provided and located around the monitoring probe 2. The centering device 3 and the monitoring probe 2 can be installed by a threaded connection. Preferably, there are two centering devices 3, which are arranged above and below the monitoring probe 2 to provide two-point restraint, making the vertical movement of the monitoring probe 2 more stable. The centering device 3 includes an annular body 31 coaxially fixed around the probe body 21. At least two slots 32 are evenly provided on the outer side of the annular body 31. Encoding wheels 33 are radially elastically installed in the slots 32. The number of slots 32 and encoding wheels 33 is the same and they are distributed in a ring array on the outer side of the probe body 21. Preferably, there are 2-4 slots 32 and encoding wheels 33. The radial elastic installation of the encoding wheels 33 keeps the encoding wheels 33 in rolling contact with the inner wall of the observation tube 1. The elastic structure is a common existing technology and is not shown in the figure.

[0060] The rangefinder assembly 4 is used to uniformly pull and release the monitoring probe. The rangefinder assembly 4 includes a sleeve 41, an electric reel 42, a cable 43, and an encoder 44. The sleeve 41 is airtightly fixed to the upper end of the observation tube 1. The electric reel 42 is fixedly installed at the upper end of the sleeve 41. The electric reel 42 includes a bracket, a reel, a rotating shaft fixedly inserted in the reel, and a motor that drives the rotating shaft. The motor is installed on the side of the bracket. The rotating shaft is rotatably connected to the bracket. The encoder 44 is fixed to the rotating end of the electric reel 42. The cable 43 is wound on the electric reel 42 and electrically connected to the probe body 21. The cable 43 passes through the sleeve 41. The cable 43 is released by the electric reel 42. The monitoring probe 2 moves downward under the combined action of its own weight and the centering effect of the centering device 3 to perform root monitoring.

[0061] The control component (not shown in the figure) is electrically connected to the rangefinder assembly (electric reel 42, cable 43), encoder wheel 33, ring light 23, and image acquisition component 22. The control component is electrically connected to the monitoring probe 2 via cable 43 to output root monitoring images. The control component can be a control host or other control components that can be used for manual interaction and real-time image display. The control component has a built-in lithium battery and supplies power to the electrical components in this invention via cables.

[0062] Based on the above, the present invention provides a method for in-situ non-destructive monitoring of plant roots. The method uses a plant root in-situ non-destructive monitoring device to perform periodic or intermittent monitoring of the observation tube 1, and includes the following steps:

[0063] a. The data of the encoder wheel 33 is zeroed by the control component, and the monitoring probe 2 is released at a constant speed by the rangefinding component, that is, the cable 43 is released at a constant speed by the electric cable reel 42. The monitoring probe 2 moves from top to bottom in the observation tube 1 by its own weight. The encoder wheel 33 emits a pulse signal to the control component for every 1° rotation. The control component controls the image acquisition unit 22 to acquire a horizontal 360° panoramic image and send it to the control component. Figure 9 The image shown is an in-situ root system imaging image acquired by the image acquisition device 22 provided in this embodiment;

[0064] b. After receiving the image signal from the image acquisition unit 22, the control component calculates the depth position of the monitoring probe 2 and continuously performs image matching and stitching processing;

[0065] c. After the monitoring probe 2 moves to the preset depth, the control component automatically matches and stitches together a full-size image of the plant root system;

[0066] During steps a to c, the control component can control the image acquisition unit 22 to perform video recording or photography to obtain images of the pipe wall at local locations, such as... Figure 8 and 10The images shown are a video recording and a partial photograph acquired by the image acquisition device 22 provided in this embodiment.

[0067] The device and method of this invention enable in-situ non-destructive imaging of plant roots, acquiring a full-size image of the entire root canal in one go. It can also record video of the inner wall of the observation tube 1 and take pictures of local roots at any location. This invention integrates tube wall observation, video recording, local photography, and automatic stitching functions. By controlling the movement of the image acquisition component 22 within the observation tube 1, it comprehensively, quickly, clearly, and non-destructively acquires the real-time growth status of plant roots. The entire monitoring process is simple and fast to operate, greatly improving the efficiency of acquiring root images in the field and avoiding the workload and errors of secondary image stitching and fusion.

[0068] Furthermore, due to the long monitoring cycle of plant roots, the monitoring frequency will be adjusted accordingly, and the monitoring time is uncertain. Therefore, creating a good fog-free monitoring environment inside observation tube 1 is crucial for plant root monitoring. It should be noted that the necessary conditions for water mist to form on the inner wall of observation tube 1 are sufficient moisture content inside the tube (moisture content in the air is positively correlated with dew point temperature) and an air temperature inside the tube lower than the dew point temperature. To avoid water mist formation on the inner wall of observation tube 1 and affecting image quality, the following settings are implemented:

[0069] To ensure that the entire monitoring environment inside the observation tube 1 is sealed, moisture from the external environment is prevented from entering the tube and causing high humidity inside the tube. Specifically, the cable 43 is always airtightly moved with the sleeve 41 during the winding process; the sleeve 41 is airtightly fixed to the observation tube 1 in a dry environment with a relative humidity of less than 30% during the process of airtightly fixing. This ensures that very little moisture enters the observation tube 1 during the installation of the entire observation tube 1.

[0070] When there is little moisture inside the pipe, the dew point temperature at which water vapor forms on the inner wall of the pipe depends on the current air temperature and relative humidity. According to the Magnus-Tetens formula, the dew point temperature (Td) is calculated as follows: Given a = 17.67℃, b = 243.5℃, and assuming the internal temperature T = 20℃ and relative humidity RH = 30%, calculate the saturated water vapor pressure. e = 0.3·23.35 ≈ 7.005 hPa, dew point temperature Td ≈ 2℃, and the safe temperature can be set to Td + 3℃ ≈ 5℃.

[0071] The encoder wheel 33 has a central shaft. To facilitate the vertical movement of the monitoring probe 2, a follower blade 34 is mounted on the shaft and on one side of the encoder wheel 33. A moisture-absorbing box 35 is fixed to the encoder wheel 33 on the opposite side of the follower blade 34 and on the outer side of the follower blade 34. The moisture-absorbing box 35 is filled with moisture-absorbing particles, such as silica gel, activated carbon, or other materials with water-absorbing properties. During the vertical movement of the monitoring probe 2 within the observation tube 1, the encoder wheel 33 moves axially along the inner wall of the observation tube 1 within the slot 32. During this movement, the follower blade 34 rotates, turbulently turbulently moving the air within the observation tube 1, causing moisture in the air to continuously enter the moisture-absorbing box 35. The moisture-absorbing particles in the moisture-absorbing box 35 have strong water-retention properties and will not separate after absorbing water for a certain period of time. This design ensures that the relative humidity within the observation tube 1 remains below 30%.

[0072] Since the observation tube 1 contains electrical components (including the probe body 21, image acquisition component 22, ring lighting component 23, etc.), after creating an airtight environment for the observation tube 1, it is necessary to ensure the cooling of the electrical components to ensure they are in good working condition and to avoid heat accumulation that could affect normal operation when the monitoring frequency is high. This invention also adds a heat insulation component 5, which includes a heat-conducting plate 56, a contraction bladder 51, a surface cylinder 53, an underground cylinder 54, and a switching valve 55. On one hand, the heat-conducting plate 56 is fixedly installed at the heating end of the monitoring probe 2, so that most of the heat generated by the monitoring probe 2 heats the air inside the contraction bladder 51 through the heat-conducting plate 56. The contraction bladder 51 has a heat-conducting function and is airtightly fixed between the sleeve 41 and the probe body 21, located around the heat-conducting plate 56. The observation tube 1 and the contraction bladder 51 are in the same environment. Under the temperature; on the other hand, in order to make full use of natural energy, the surface cylinder 53 is set above the ground surface and the underground cylinder 54 is set below the ground surface. It can be set 3 meters below the underground monitoring probe 2-centerer. The surface cylinder 53 can absorb solar energy or conduct heat with the air, that is, it can be affected by changes in ambient temperature. The underground cylinder 54 can maintain the temperature relatively well due to the heat insulation properties of the underground soil. The temperature fluctuation range is relatively small. Here, it is assumed that the optimal operating temperature of the electrical components is T1~T2, and T1 is greater than 5℃, T2>T1;

[0073] Additionally, the switching valve 55 passes through the upper end of the sleeve 41 via pipe one and connects to the contraction bladder 51. The two input ends of the switching valve 55 are connected to the surface cylinder 53 and the underground cylinder 54 via pipes two and three, respectively. Pipe one is equipped with a heating and cooling element 52 for heating and cooling the air. The heating and cooling element 52 can heat or cool the air as needed to meet the normal requirements of the electrical components. For details, refer to... Figure 6The heating and cooling component 52 includes a housing 521 and a partition plate 522 evenly fixed inside the housing 521. The partition plate 522 divides the housing 521 into a heating chamber and a cooling chamber. Multiple semiconductor cooling chips 523 are evenly embedded in the partition plate 522, with the heating side of the semiconductor cooling chips 523 facing the heating chamber and the cooling side facing the cooling chamber. The heating chamber and the cooling chamber are connected to the two output ends of a switching valve 55 via a connecting pipe. The heating chamber and the cooling chamber are connected via a solenoid three-way valve (as shown in the figure). (Not shown, mainly used to connect the heating chamber or cooling chamber to the contraction bladder 51), connecting pipe 2 is connected to the contraction bladder 51, a surface temperature measuring element 531 is installed in the surface cylinder 53, an underground temperature measuring element 541 is installed in the underground cylinder 54, and an internal temperature measuring element is installed in the observation tube 1 at the upper position. The upper position is more sensitive to temperature changes and will not affect normal monitoring. The heating and cooling element 52, the surface temperature measuring element 531, the underground temperature measuring element 541 and the internal temperature measuring element are all electrically connected to the control component.

[0074] The temperature measuring element inside the tube periodically (corresponding to the monitoring cycle) monitors the air temperature inside the observation tube 1 in real time, denoted as T3. When T3 > T2, the surface temperature measuring element 531 and the underground temperature measuring element 541 monitor the air temperature inside the surface cylinder 53 and the underground cylinder 54, respectively, and output the results to the control component for judgment and comparison. Through the switching valve 55, a passage is formed between the air with a relatively lower air temperature and the cooling chamber. The control component adjusts the working power of the semiconductor cooling chip 523 according to the air temperature of the temperature measuring element inside the tube and the surface temperature measuring element 531 or the underground temperature measuring element 541. The greater the temperature difference, the greater the working power of the semiconductor cooling chip 523. During the downward movement of the monitoring probe 2, the originally contracted bladder 51 gradually extends to draw in the air from the surface cylinder 53 or the underground cylinder 54, absorbing heat from the observation tube 1 until T3 = (T1 + T2) / 2 in the observation tube 1. At the same time, the heating chamber can store a certain amount of heat for use when increasing the air temperature inside the observation tube 1. When 5℃ ≤ T When 3 < T1, the surface temperature measuring element 531 and the underground temperature measuring element 541 monitor the air temperature inside the surface cylinder 53 and the underground cylinder 54, respectively, and output the data to the control component for comparison. The switching valve 55 forms a passage between the relatively warm air and the heating chamber. The control component adjusts the working power of the semiconductor cooling chip 523 according to the air temperature of the pipe measuring element and the surface temperature measuring element 531 or the underground temperature measuring element 541. The greater the temperature difference, the greater the working power of the semiconductor cooling chip 523. As the monitoring probe 2 moves downward, the originally contracted bladder 51 gradually extends to draw in the air from the surface cylinder 53 or the underground cylinder 54, heating the observation tube 1 until T3 = (T1 + T2) / 2. At the same time, the cooling chamber can store a certain amount of cold energy for use when lowering the air temperature inside the observation tube 1. By utilizing natural heat, the insulation properties of the soil, and the heating and cooling characteristics of the semiconductor cooling chip 523, energy is utilized more fully and energy consumption is reduced.

[0075] To further ensure the airtightness of the observation tube 1, a pressure monitoring component 6 is fixed to the inner wall of the sleeve 41. The pressure monitoring component 6 is electrically connected to the control component, which is wirelessly connected to the alarm component. During the extension of the contraction bladder 51 inside the observation tube 1, the air pressure in the observation tube 1 increases due to the sealed environment. The pressure monitoring component 6 monitors the air pressure inside the observation tube 1 in real time. When the air pressure value fails to reach the preset air pressure value, it indicates that the observation tube 1 is no longer in a sealed environment, and external moisture will enter the observation tube 1 through the leak, greatly increasing the probability of fogging. When the control component determines that the air pressure value is lower than the preset value, it will wirelessly trigger the alarm component to remind researchers to check in time.

[0076] To prevent malfunctions in the air pressure monitoring component 6 or other structural components, a water mist monitoring component 7 is installed inside the observation tube 1. The water mist monitoring component 7 includes a light emitter 71 and a light receiver 72 fixed to the inner wall of the observation tube 1, which are respectively fixed at the top and bottom. The light emitter 71 and the light receiver 72 communicate wirelessly with the alarm component through the control component. Under normal working conditions, the light receiver 72 can receive the light emitted by the light emitter 71. However, once the inner wall of the observation tube 1 fogs up, water molecules will refract the light, and the light receiver 72 will not be able to receive the light. The control component will then use wireless communication to trigger the alarm component to remind researchers to check in time. Wireless communication is existing technology and will not be described in detail here.

[0077] In addition, to reduce the impact of weather on the invention, a rain cover is fixedly installed above the sleeve 41.

[0078] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions will not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the protection scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device for non-destructive monitoring of plant root system in situ, characterized in that, The utility model relates to a plant root system in situ nondestructive monitoring device, including: An observation tube with an open upper end and a closed lower end embedded in the soil; A monitoring probe including a probe body, an image acquisition unit, and a ring-shaped light supplementing unit, the probe body is centrally placed in the observation tube, the image acquisition unit and the ring-shaped light supplementing unit are arranged at the lower end of the observation tube; A centralizer, at least one and arranged on the circumferential side of the monitoring probe, including a ring body coaxially fixed on the circumferential side of the probe body, at least two slots are uniformly arranged on the outer side of the ring body, a coding wheel is radially and elastically mounted in the slot, and the coding wheel is in rolling contact with the inner wall of the observation tube; A retractable distance measuring assembly for uniformly pulling and releasing the monitoring probe; A control assembly, the control assembly is electrically connected with the retractable distance measuring assembly, the coding wheel, the ring-shaped light supplementing unit, and the image acquisition unit, the retractable distance measuring assembly includes a sleeve, an electric cord reel, a cable, and an encoder, the sleeve is airtight fixed cover arranged at the upper end of the observation tube, the electric cord reel is fixedly arranged at the upper end of the sleeve, the encoder is fixed with the rotating end of the electric cord reel, the cable is wound on the electric cord reel and is electrically connected with the probe body, the center of the coding wheel has a shaft part, a follow-up leaf is arranged on one side of the coding wheel on the shaft part, a moisture absorption box is fixed on the side corresponding to the follow-up leaf and outside the follow-up leaf, the moisture absorption box is filled with moisture absorption particles, and the plant root system in situ nondestructive monitoring device further includes a heat preservation assembly; The heat preservation assembly includes: A heat conduction plate fixedly arranged at the heating end of the monitoring probe; A contraction capsule with heat conduction effect, airtight fixedly arranged between the sleeve and the probe body and on the circumferential side of the heat conduction plate; A surface cylinder arranged above the ground; An underground cylinder arranged below the ground; A switching valve, the switching valve penetrates the upper end of the sleeve through pipeline one and communicates with the contraction capsule, one of the two input ends of the switching valve is connected with the surface cylinder through pipeline two, and the other is connected with the underground cylinder through pipeline three, a water mist monitoring assembly is arranged in the observation tube, the water mist monitoring assembly includes a light emitter and a light receiver fixed on the inner wall of the observation tube in a one-up-and-one-down manner, and the light emitter and the light receiver are in wireless communication with the alarm assembly through the control assembly.

2. A device for non-destructive monitoring of plant root system in situ according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heat preservation assembly further includes: A heating and cooling unit arranged on pipeline one and used for heating and cooling air; A surface temperature measuring unit arranged in the surface cylinder; An underground temperature measuring unit arranged in the underground cylinder; A pipe temperature measuring unit arranged in the observation tube; The heating and cooling unit, the surface temperature measuring unit, the underground temperature measuring unit, and the pipe temperature measuring unit are electrically connected with the control assembly.

3. A device for non-destructive monitoring of plant root system in situ according to claim 2, characterized in that, The heating and cooling unit includes a box body and a partition plate evenly fixed in the box body, the partition plate divides the box body into a heating cavity and a cooling cavity, a plurality of semiconductor refrigeration pieces are evenly embedded in the partition plate, the heating side of the semiconductor refrigeration piece faces the heating cavity, and the refrigeration side faces the cooling cavity, the heating cavity and the cooling cavity are respectively communicated with the two output ends of the switching valve through the connecting pipe one, and the heating cavity and the cooling cavity are communicated with the contraction capsule through the electromagnetic three-way valve and the connecting pipe two.

4. The apparatus for non-destructive monitoring of plant root system in situ according to claim 1, wherein, The inner wall of the sleeve is fixed with an air pressure monitoring unit, the air pressure monitoring unit is electrically connected with the control assembly, and the control assembly is wirelessly connected with an alarm assembly.

5. The apparatus for non-destructive monitoring of plant root system in situ according to claim 1, wherein, The upper part of the sleeve is fixedly provided with a rain cover.

6. A method for non-destructive monitoring of plant root system in situ, the method periodically or aperiodically monitors the observation tube using the plant root system in situ non-destructive monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The method comprises the following steps: a. The encoding wheel data is zeroed by the control assembly, the monitoring probe is uniformly released by the extension and retraction ranging assembly and moves in the observation tube from top to bottom by gravity, the encoding wheel emits a pulse signal to the control assembly every 1° rotation, the control assembly controls the image acquisition unit to acquire a horizontal 360° panoramic image once and sends it to the control assembly; b. After receiving the image signal of the image acquisition unit, the control assembly calculates the depth position of the monitoring probe and continuously matches and splices the image; c. After the monitoring probe moves to the preset depth, the control assembly automatically matches and splices the full-size image of the plant root system; During steps a to c, the control assembly can control the image acquisition unit to perform video recording or photographing to obtain the pipe wall image of the local position.

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