Ethoscopes: An open platform for high-throughput ethomics
Fig 1
(A) Exploded drawing of an archetypal ethoscope. The machine is composed of 2 main parts: an upper case housing the rPi and its camera, and a lower case providing diffused infrared light illumination and support for the experimental arena. The 2 cases are separated by spacers maintaining a fixed focal distance (140 mm for rPi camera 1.0). (B) A rendered drawing of the assembled model, showing the actual size without cables. The presence of USB and connection cables will slightly increase the total size (cables not shown for simplicity). The arena slides in place through guides and locks into position. A webGL interactive 3D model is available as S1 Fig. (C) The LEGOscope, a version of the ethoscope built using LEGO bricks. A detailed instruction manual is provided in S1 Text. (D) The PAPERscope, a paper and cardboard version of the ethoscope, best assembled using 220 gsm paper and 1 mm gray board. Blueprints are provided in S2 Text. In all cases, ethoscopes must be powered with a 5 V DC input using a common USB micro cable either connected to the main or to a portable power-pack. DC, direct current; HD, high-definition; LED, light-emitting diode; rPi, Raspberry Pi; USB, universal serial bus.