HL-virtual-env-behaviour

A behavioural task for mice in virtual environments

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requirements:

Software:

• Psychopy
• 3D virtual environment system (currently Matlab)

Hardware:

• Raspberry Pi
• LabJack
• 2P setup

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project log

15/12/21 Set of tasks for updated rig

• Virtual environemt to be developed in Bonsai-rx/Bonvision

  • long corridor, and with a placed object that changes places from trial to trial.

• Sensors and acuators

  • lick sensor (capacitance sensor)
  • reward delivery system (solenoid valve)
  • rotary encoder for the threadmill

• Bonsai integration / Beehive

  • send triggers to recording system
  • camera for pupillometry (Rpi, but we could use a regular webcam)
  • IR led system to illuminate the eye.

• current analysis pipeline

• Matlab

30/07/21 Psychopy update and labjack

• we spent some time updating Psychopy to its newest version, using Python3. This went fairly smooth using Anaconda and the listed instructions below.
• We also reduced the number of labjacks in the system by moving the cables from labjack U12 to labjack T7. (later we found some issues with this as part of the setup is controlling one labjack for a rotary encoder, and another part is controlling another labjack for other signals. If there is only one labjack, there is a conflict as only one part of the setup can control it at a time).

19/07/2021 Psychopy

• Currenlty the system uses Psychopy2, which is built on Python2. As Python 2 support ended more than year ago the first thing to do for this project is port all code that still used Python2 to Python3. Luckly, Psychopy most recent version is already python3 and there is a prepared conda environmet for it. So it should be easy to install and translate Python2 to Python3.

The tutorial to install Psychopy3 is here (scroll down to the Miniconda/anaconda bit of the page).

19/07/2021 LabJack

• The current system uses a library from Psychopy to control labjack. I don't know if this library is present on the current implementation of Psychopy, but the company making labjack has also created a python wrapper to control its devices. So this could be an alternative. if there is in psychopy a library to control LJ, I would just use that, as it diminishes the number of dependencies of the project.