Camelot: a computer-automated micro-extensometer with low-cost optical tracking.

Plant growth and morphogenesis is a mechanical process controlled by genetic and molecular networks. Measuring mechanical properties at various scales is necessary to understand how these processes interact. However, obtaining a device to perform the measurements on plant samples of choice poses technical challenges and is often limited by high cost and availability of specialized components, the adequacy of which needs to be verified. Developing software to control and integrate the different pieces of equipment can be a complex task.