Route Signals

The Behavior can route some of its signals to other hardware without a round-trip through the computer. The mimic registers (MimicPort0IR, MimicPort0Valve, and their Port 1/2 counterparts) copy a poke's infrared or valve state onto a digital output, and the EnableSerialTimestamp register streams the device clock over the Port 2 serial line. The examples below use Port 0 and the DO0/DO2 outputs.

Warning

Only use DO0 and DO2 as mimic targets. In the current firmware, selecting DIO0–DIO2 does not drive the DIO line, and selecting DIO0, DIO2, DO1, or DO3 erroneously reconfigures the poke infrared inputs and stops poke detection on all ports until the device is reset.

The complete workflow is shown below:

Mimic Poke Inputs

When a mimic target is set for a poke's infrared beam, the target output follows the beam state in hardware — useful for triggering external equipment directly from a poke.

• Insert a KeyDown operator and set the Filter property to A.
• Insert a CreateMessage operator and configure the following properties:
  • Payload - Select MimicPort0IRPayload.
  • MimicPort0IR - Select DO0.
• Insert a MulticastSubject operator named Behavior Commands.

In a separate branch:

• Insert a KeyDown operator and set the Filter property to S.
• Insert a CreateMessage operator and configure the following properties:
  • Payload - Select MimicPort0IRPayload.
  • MimicPort0IR - Select None.
• Insert a MulticastSubject operator named Behavior Commands.

Run the workflow, press A, and block the Port 0 infrared beam — DO0 follows the beam state. Press S to remove the routing.

Mimic Valves

The valve state can be routed the same way, for instance to record reward delivery on an external acquisition system:

• Insert a KeyDown operator and set the Filter property to D.
• Insert a CreateMessage operator and configure the following properties:
  • Payload - Select MimicPort0ValvePayload.
  • MimicPort0Valve - Select DO2.
• Insert a MulticastSubject operator named Behavior Commands.

Run the workflow, press D, then open the Port 0 valve with OutputSet — DO2 follows the valve state, including timed pulses.

Stream Timestamps

The EnableSerialTimestamp register enables a serial transmission of the device clock on the Port 2 connector: at the start of every second, the current Harp timestamp is sent as 4 bytes (32-bit seconds, least significant byte first) at 1000 bps. External equipment can decode this stream to align its own data with the Harp clock.

• Insert a KeyDown operator and set the Filter property to F.
• Insert a CreateMessage operator and configure the following properties:
  • Payload - Select EnableSerialTimestampPayload.
  • EnableSerialTimestamp - Select TimestampPort2.
• Insert a MulticastSubject operator named Behavior Commands.

Run the workflow and press F — the timestamp stream starts on the Port 2 serial line at the next second boundary.

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Last updated with:
Hardware v2.1
Firmware v3.3
Bonsai Package v0.2