Open Visual Stimulator

An open source arbitrary-spectrum spatial visual stimulator for vision research.

by K. Franke, A.M. Chagas, Z. Zhao, M.J.Y. Zimmermann, Y. Qiu, K. Szatko, T. Baden, T. Euler

This project is a part of a larger work that can be found on the Euler lab GitHub

This project is licensed under the MIT License

This repository holds the resources for a flexible, spatial visual stimulator with up to 6 chromatic channels. It combines commercial digital light processing (DLP) devices with open hard- and software components that can be easily adapted to the experimentalist’s specific needs. With this we intend to start a community effort of sharing and further developing a common stimulator design.

Please find more details on the stimulator in the following publication:

Franke K*, Maia Chagas A*, Zhao Z, Zimmermann MJY, Bartel P, Qiu Y, Szatko K, Baden T, Euler T# (2019). An arbitrary-spectrum spatial visual stimulator for vision research. eLife 2019;8:e48779, 10.7554/eLife.48779.

For the newest changes and additions, see release notes

Pictures

Rendering of the 4-channel R-G-B-UV zebrafish stimulator.

Ordering of PCB boards

If you are interested in ordering boards and components, please find more information in the boards folder readme file.

Repository structure

├───3D Designs                                OpenSCAD and STL files for 3D printed parts
|   |
│   ├───Fish_cinema                           - Fish tank used in the fish setup
│   ├───SSR_board                             - Designs for plate and cover of the SSR board
│   └───optical_components                    - optomechanical parts for LED assemblies
|           ├───fish_stimulator
|           └───lcr_addons
|
├───Images                                    Pictures
|
├───PCB                                       LED driver/blanking boards
│   ├───lcr_add-on                            - KiCad files for board that combines LCr and
|   |   |                                       blanking signals
|   |   ├───connector_coaxial.pretty          - BNC connector description (KiCad)
|   |   └───gerber                            - Gerber files for circuit board
│   ├───mosfet_circuit                        - KiCad files for board that switches switch LEDs
|   |   ├───connector_coaxial.pretty          - BNC connector description (KiCad)
|   |   └───gerber                            - Gerber files for circuit board
|   ├───mosfet_circuit_plus_voltage_regulator - KiCad files for board that combines voltage
|   |   |                                       regulator and LED switching
|   |   ├───connector_coaxial.pretty          - BNC connector description (KiCad)
|   |   └───gerbers                           - Gerber files for circuit board
|   ├───ssr_board                             - KiCad files for solid state relay board
|   |   └───gerbers                           - Gerber files for circuit board
|   └───arduino_code_for_testing_circuits     - Arduino code to emulate blanking and LCr signals
|       └───lcr_emulator
|
└───Stimulator Calibration                    Calibration of tetrachromatic zebrafish stimulator
    ├───data                                  - recorded calibration data (custom LEDs)
    ├───datasheets                            - spectrometer & powermeter data sheet.
    ├───light-sources                         - LED spectra measured behind the teflon screen
    ├───opsins                                - zebrafish opsin sensitivity curves
    └───scripts                               - Python scripts used in iPython notebooks