Description

Bpod State Machine r0.8 (beta) is a system for precise measurement of small animal behavior. It measures the instant when discrete events happen (a snout enters a port, a tongue breaks a photogate, etc). Bpod can react to these events by rapidly changing aspects of the environment, providing an excellent closed-loop link between behavioral events, stimuli and reinforcement. Bpod is most often used for the 2AFC (two alternative forced choice) behavioral paradigm, but has been adapted to power a diverse range of other behavioral assays (conditioned place preference, go / no-go, self-stimulation, social value measurement, etc).

Bpod can interface with up to 8 behavior ports. Each behavior port contains one infrared photogate, one white LED with software-adjustable intensity, and one solenoid valve for dispensing precisely measured liquid rewards through a drinking tube. Bpod has additional inputs and outputs for triggering, digital communication and synchronization with a linked electrophysiology system. Integration with Psychtoolbox 3 provides high quality audio stimuli with ~8ms latency on a properly configured computer.

Please be advised that Bpod r0.8 beta is a flexible behavior platform, and is not guaranteed to do everything you have in mind out of the box. It has a learning curve, and will require some programming to develop a behavioral protocol. Documentation and information about getting started is available on the Bpod wiki. Individual support is available in the Bpod forums. A central focus of our company is to grow the current community of Bpod users, to optimize the system for ease of use, and to add to its capabilities.

Bpod 0.8 beta features several hardware improvements over Bpod 0.5:

• Modularity: Interfaces with 3 Bpod modules
• Memory: new 512KB external fRAM IC can store in-trial event timestamps
• Circuitry: a 4-layer circuit board design provides improved signal quality over Bpod 0.5
• Isolation: BNC output channels (5V TTL) are now isolated. Wire terminal and BNC inputs are optically isolated
• Synchronization: configurable, using any digital output channel

Specifications

Processor

• ARM Cortex M3: Atmel ATSAM3X8E (as part of the Arduino Due platform)
• 84MHz clock speed, 32-bit
• Programmable using the Arduino language

Behavior port channels

• 8 behavior ports connect with CAT5/CAT6 cables to breakout boards on your behavior chamber
• Port LEDs are independently PWM modulated at 200kHz to control intensity in software
• Port LED current is adjustable using a potentiometer on the port breakout board
• Port valves (12V, up to 100mA sustained) can be opened one port at a time and are driven by a power shift register.

Trigger channels

• 2 channels: BNC connector, 2-5V TTL logic, optically isolated
• 2 channels: Spring terminal connector, 2-5V TTL logic, optically isolated

TTL output channels

• 2 channels: 5V TTL logic, BNC connectors, galvanically isolated
• 3 channels: 3.3V TTL logic, spring terminal connectors

Event Synchronization

• Configurable synchronization scheme, using any available digital output channel.
• Replaces 7-channel parallel synchronization (Bpod 0.5) - no sync board required.

API

• A MATLAB API is provided to design and run behavioral experiments.
• No Mathworks toolboxes are required.
• OS support: Win7, Win10, Ubuntu 14-16.

Software plugins

• The Liquid Calibrator plugin measures the timing of valves to precisely gate the gravity flow of liquid from an elevated reservoir.
• The Bonsai plugin can drive state changes when its video tracking program detects entry into a region of interest.
• The Parameter GUI plugin gives you easy online access to your behavioral parameters.
• The Notebook plugin gives you an easy way to manually score trials, and add notes to your data.
• The Serial Ethernet plugin sends byte strings over Ethernet by passing them to a separate Arduino+Ethernet shield over UART.

Soft codes

• Soft codes are special bytes sent between your state matrix and MATLAB during a trial, for non-realtime operations.
• Soft codes arriving in MATLAB are handled by a soft code handler function you write (i.e. to trigger sound playback, change the display, etc).
• Soft codes sent via MATLAB (e.g. from Bonsai video tracking) are passed to the state machine, where they trigger state changes.

Power

• All computer communication and power is accomplished through a single USB port (USB micro connector)

Status indicator

• A bright tri-color LED illuminates the Bpod enclosure to indicate its current status. Blue = disconnected, Green = connected, Yellow = running a state matrix, Red = fault condition.

Material safety

• All parts are RoHS Compliant in our professional builds

Dimensions

• L: 15.2cm (6")
• W: 9.5cm (3 3/4")
• H: 6.4cm (2 1/2")