DIO ports on the Analog input module v2

RosHa

Hello,

I've been trying to build a behavioral setup with State machine r2.5 and Analog input module v2. The setup works fine so far, but I'm not sure how I can use the DIO ports on the Analog input module. I was expecting they could be used as BNC in/out lines, but apparently it requires another procedure?

Thanks!

Josh

Hello RosHa,

Thanks for bringing this up. The DIO ports are present, but not yet implemented in firmware.

Can you please describe which device(s) you'd like to connect to the two channels, and how their BNC signals would interface with the Analog Input module? For instance, do you want to start/stop acquisition via BNC? Or to have the analog module send out a synchronizing TTL? Or something else?

Thanks,
Josh

RosHa

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the reply! I'd like to use these DIO ports to drive external devices such as LEDs or cameras because the TTL ports on the State machine are already assigned for behavioral manipulations or something similar. I'm also contemplating using these ports for simple photometry recording: triggering LED(s) with digital out and recording voltage output from the detector through analog input.

Thanks!

Josh

Hello RosHa,

I just pushed out preliminary support for analog input module DIO output on the develop branches of Bpod_AnalogInput_Firmware https://github.com/sanworks/Bpod_AnalogInput_Firmware/tree/develop and Bpod_Gen2 https://github.com/sanworks/Bpod_Gen2/tree/develop

Here's how you'd use it:

In your protocol setup,
A.DIOconfig(2) = 1; % Configure DIO channel 2 as digital output

Once configured, you can test from MATLAB with:

A.setDIO(2, 0); % Use at the command line to test setting DIO line 2 low
A.setDIO(2, 1); % Use at the command line to test setting DIO line 2 high

In the output actions section of the state where you want to set the line, use:

{'AnalogIn1', ['=' 1 0]} % Set channel 2 low
{'AnalogIn1', ['=' 1 1]} % Set channel 2 high

A few things to remember:

Unlike the state machine's onboard I/O lines, the Analog module's DIO lines will not reset automatically with each new trial, or at the end of the session. You'll have to add a command to manually set them low.
The latency will be 1 sample, at the current sampling rate of the analog input module.
The lines can be configured as inputs in firmware, but acquiring digital signals is not currently supported.

I'd also take the opportunity to point out that any unused state machine behavior port LED channels can be used as 3.3V TTL outputs. Simply connect your device to the LED + and - terminals on the port interface board, and set the port LED to 255 (maximum brightness) for logic high. This method would be considerably simpler than signaling via the analog input module's DIO channels.

-Josh

RosHa

Hi Josh,

Thank you so much for the firmware and suggestions! Actually, I don't use the behavior port LEDs, so using them will also be a solution.

Thanks!

RosHa

Hi Josh,

Thanks again for working on this update! I have an additional question.

I'd like to use these outputs from DIO ports to generate continuous triggering signals, and I believe using the SetGlobalTimer is the best way to achieve that. However, it generates an error when I try to use the AnalogIn output actions in the SetGlobalTimer function.

sma = SetGlobalTimer(sma, 'TimerID', 1, 'Duration', 0.01, 'OnsetDelay', 0,... 'Channel', 'AnalogIn1', 'OnLevel', ['=' 1 1], 'OffLevel', ['=' 1 0],... 'Loop', 1, 'SendGlobalTimerEvents', 0, 'LoopInterval', 0.01);

Unable to perform assignment because the left and right sides have a different number of elements. Error in SetGlobalTimer (line 176) sma.GlobalTimers.OnMessage(timerIndex) = onMessage;

Using LoadSerialMessages does not seem to work for this. Do you have any suggestions for this situation?

Thank you!

Josh

Hello RosHa,

Unfortunately the current software does not support implicit serial messages in SetGlobalTimer. You can use LoadSerialMessages, but if you do you'll have to use it for all states in your protocol as well.

I've updated our stack to add support for implicit serial messages in SetGlobalTimer, hopefully in the next release.

-Josh

RosHa

Thank you for your reply; looking forward to the coming release!

Regarding the LoadSerialMessages function, should the following code work?

LoadSerialMessages('AnalogIn1',{['=' 0 0],['=' 0 1],['=' 1 0],['=' 1 1]});

I put this line just before the main loop, but it didn't work when I used SetGlobalTimer with 'OnLevel', 2, 'OffLevel', 1 .

RosHa

Sorry, it was my misunderstanding; it worked well with LoadSerialMessages!

Thanks!

Josh

I'm glad it worked! Thanks for the update.

-Josh

RosHa

Hi Josh,

It turns out that DIO outputs with SetGlobalTimer did not work if the protocol uses Valve Module v2. However, it still worked well when PWM (port LED) was used as OutputChannel or removing the states relating to Valve Module control. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Josh

Hello RosHa,

What error(s) are you seeing when it doesn't work?
I think it would be helpful to see your complete experimental protocol. Please share it with support@sanworks.io

Thanks,
Josh

RosHa

Hi Josh,

Thanks again for your help! As you suggested, when you use LoadSerialMessages, you need to use it on both AnalogIn and ValveModule. Also, A.nActiveChannels needs to be set to 8.

Many thanks,
RosHa

Josh

Hi RosHa,

Good news - I'm glad it works!

What issue are you seeing if nActiveChannels isn't set to 8?

Thanks,
Josh