NU-Spidercam: A large-scale, cable-driven, integrated sensing and robotic system for advanced phenotyping, remote sensing, and agronomic research

•NU-Spidercam is a large-scale, automated sensing/robotic system for field phenotyping.•The system integrates various imaging, ranging and spectroscopic sensor modules.•The system was successfully tested in maize and soybean for two years.•Measurements by the system are highly correlated with ground truth data.•Time-series canopy temperature and SIF are two new traits enabled by the system.