I'd like to make an automatic "watering" system for 24 cages. Looking over your devices, I had the idea of combining BPod (1x), Valve Driver Module (3x), Mouse Behavior Port (24x) to achieve this. Will this work?
I believe the VDM can drive 8 valves in parallel, so was thinking I'd combine 3 of those to control 24 valves. But can the BPod control 3 VDMs in parallel? What about the sensors (lick detection), and light stimuli (LED) in the ports - can a single BPod handle 24 in parallel?
If not, what is the least expensive way of implementing water control for 24 cages using your system? The control required is pretty simple:
The idea would be to deliver water in home cages, essentially self-training the mice. This could be self-paced (with some time-out after max consumption per hour), or the light could turn on at set (or random) intervals to signal water available. There are two goals: (1) accurately control volume of water delivered to each cage (including on weekends without human intervention), and (2) familiarize the mice with a drinking port. This is (currently) not intended to implement water restriction, but I could see colleagues using it for this in the future.
I'd also be interested in comments as to how other labs have handled this in the past? Thank you!