Connecting Mouse Port Assembly + Air to Raspberry Pi

Neuro123

Hi,

I am trying to connect the Mouse Port Assembly + Air to an RP board via the RJ45 connector. I am using a T568B cable, stripped one end, soldered each of its 8 wires to a proto breadboard, and now want to connect the wires from the breadboard to the GPIO pins of the RP4 board.

I have a few questions:

1) What is the wiring scheme/pinout for the RJ45 connector on the Bpod port to the GPIO pins of the RP?
2) Do you have any Python libraries or code that supports sending/receiving commands between the Mouse Port Assembly and the RP if I am not using your state machine? Essentially I want to be able to control/communicate with the assembly via RP directly.
3) Since the port only has 2 input tubes for air and water, do you have any suggestions on how to include an exhaust system for the animal breathing back into the port?

Thank you!

Josh

Hi Neuro123,

This thread details the pinout.
The port assembly is a passive device - it doesn't have a microprocessor or a serial interface for communication.
The state machine has an integrated valve driver that drives the valve lines. Other channels on the RJ45 should be straightforward connections to the Raspberry Pi GPIO header.
You can use this breakout board with this connector and some prototyping wires to simplify the wiring.
I don't have a good solution for exhaust. If the air line is connected to a carrier stream (e.g. for odors), the positive pressure inside the poke should push the expired air back out to the behavior chamber, which you'll need to exhaust somehow.
I hope this helps,

-Josh