Two open source designs for a low‐cost operant chamber using Raspberry Pi™

Gurley, Katelyn

doi:10.1002/jeab.520

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…For example, Longley et al (2017) and Pasquali et al (2017) used infrared-motion detectors to monitor the activity levels of rats and arctic invertebrates respectively. 2018) built an advanced yet low-cost touchscreen operant chamber whereby an image is presented that, when touched by a rat, results in the release of food, a specific tone to be played and a LED light to be turned on, while food collection is detected using an IR sensor (see also Gurley, 2019).…”

Section: Electronic Sensing and Control To Study Animal Behaviour And Physiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the most advanced solutions are capable of performing tasks similar to those executed by high-end commercial systems. For example, O'Leary et al ( 2018) built an advanced yet low-cost touchscreen operant chamber whereby an image is presented that, when touched by a rat, results in the release of food, a specific tone to be played and a LED light to be turned on, while food collection is detected using an IR sensor (see also Gurley, 2019).…”

Section: Autonomous Learning Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Broad‐scale applications of the Raspberry Pi: A review and guide for biologists

2021

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1. The field of biology has seen tremendous technological progress in recent years, fuelled by the exponential growth in processing power and high-level computing, and the rise of global information sharing. Low-cost single-board computers are predicted to be one of the key technological advancements to further revolutionise this field.2. So far, an overview of current uptake of these devices and a general guide to help researchers integrate them in their work has been missing. In this paper I focus on the most widely used single-board computer, the Raspberry Pi, and review its broad applications and uses across the biological domain.3. Since its release in 2012, the Raspberry Pi has been increasingly taken up by biologists, in the laboratory, the field and in the classroom, and across a wide range of disciplines. A hugely diverse range of applications exists that ranges from simple solutions to dedicated custom-build devices, including nest-box monitoring, wildlife camera trapping, high-throughput behavioural recording, large-scale plant phenotyping, underwater video surveillance, closed-loop operant learning experiments and autonomous ecosystem monitoring. Despite the breadth of its implementations, the depth of uptake of the Raspberry Pi by the scientific community is still limited. 4. The broad capabilities of the Raspberry Pi, combined with its low cost, ease of use and large user community make it a great research tool for almost any project. To help accelerate the uptake of the Raspberry Pi by the scientific community, I provide detailed guidelines, recommendations and considerations, and 30+ step-by-step guides on a dedicated accompanying website (http://raspb erryp i-guide.github.io). I hope this paper will help generate more awareness about the Raspberry Pi among scientists and thereby both fuel the democratisation of science and ultimately help advance our understanding of biology, from the micro-to the macro-scale.

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Section: Electronic Sensing and Control To Study Animal Behaviour And Physiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Autonomous Learning Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Broad‐scale applications of the Raspberry Pi: A review and guide for biologists

2021

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“…Bpod is a useful point of comparison as it is probably the most similar project to pyControl in terms of functionality and implementation, Bonsai because it represents a very different but powerful formalism for controlling experiments that is often complementary. Space constraints preclude detailed comparison with other projects, but see (Devarakonda et al, 2016;O'Leary et al, 2018;Kim et al, 2019;Gurley, 2019;Bhagat et al, 2020;Buscher et al, 2020). Despite these commonalities, there are significant differences which it is useful for prospective users to understand.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

pyControl: Open source, Python based, hardware and software for controlling behavioural neuroscience experiments

Akam

Lustig

Rowland

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Laboratory behavioural tasks are an essential research tool. As questions asked of behaviour and brain activity become more sophisticated, the ability to specify and run richly structured tasks becomes more important. An increasing focus on reproducibility also necessitates accurate communication of task logic to other researchers. To these ends we developed pyControl, a system of open source hardware and software for controlling behavioural experiments comprising; a simple yet flexible Python-based syntax for specifying tasks as extended state machines, hardware modules for building behavioural setups, and a graphical user interface designed for efficiently running high throughput experiments on many setups in parallel, all with extensive online documentation. These tools make it quicker, easier and cheaper to implement rich behavioural tasks at scale. As important, pyControl facilitates communication and reproducibility of behavioural experiments through a highly readable task definition syntax and self-documenting features.

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“…Although the cost may be greater upfront, the touchscreen apparatus may be more economical in the long‐run as a single apparatus can be used in lieu of several different ones each with their own costs. Furthermore, as the popularity of touchscreen cognitive testing in rodents has increased, home‐made do‐it‐yourself touchscreen systems have been developed to try to offset some of the cost 27–31 . However, these home‐made systems still need to undergo the same optimization and rigorous validation the commercially available systems have undertaken 32 .…”

Section: The Limitations Of Rodent Touchscreen Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical mass: The rise of a touchscreen technology community for rodent cognitive testing

Dumont

Salewski

Beraldo

2020

Genes Brain and Behavior

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The rise in the number of users and institutions utilizing the rodent touchscreen technology for cognitive testing over the past decade has prompted the need for knowledge mobilization and community building. To address the needs of the growing touchscreen community, the first international touchscreen symposium was hosted at Western University. Attendees from around the world attended talks from expert neuroscientists using touchscreens to examine a vast array of questions regarding cognition and the nervous system. In addition to the symposium, a subset of attendees was invited to partake in a hands‐on training course where they received touchscreen training covering both hardware and software components. Beyond the two touchscreen events, virtual platforms have been developed to further support touchscreen users: (a) http://Mousebytes.ca, which includes a data repository of rodent touchscreen tasks, and (b) http://touchscreencognition.org, an online community with numerous training and community resources, perhaps most notably a forum where members can ask and answer questions. The advantages of the rodent touchscreen technology for cognitive neuroscience research has allowed neuroscientists from diverse backgrounds to test specific cognitive processes using well‐validated and standardized apparatus, contributing to its rise in popularity and its relevance to modern neuroscience research. The commitment of the touchscreen community to data, task development and information sharing not only ensures an expansive future of the use of rodent touchscreen technology but additionally, quality research that will increase translation from preclinical studies to clinical successes.

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Two open source designs for a low‐cost operant chamber using Raspberry Pi™

Cited by 15 publications

References 10 publications

Broad‐scale applications of the Raspberry Pi: A review and guide for biologists

Broad‐scale applications of the Raspberry Pi: A review and guide for biologists

pyControl: Open source, Python based, hardware and software for controlling behavioural neuroscience experiments

Critical mass: The rise of a touchscreen technology community for rodent cognitive testing

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