Feeding Experimentation Device ver3 (FED3)

Mar 16, 2021 1 min read Behaviour, Hardware, Worldwideseries

World Wide Series Seminar

FED3 is an open-source battery-powered device for home-cage training of mice in operant tasks. FED3 can be 3D printed and the control code is open-source and can be modified. The code is written in the Arduino language and is run on an Adafruit Feather M0 Adalogger microcontroller inside of FED3. Mice interact with FED3 through two nose-pokes and FED3 responds with visual stimuli, auditory stimuli, and by dispensing pellets. FED3 also has an analog output that allows it to synchronize with and control external equipment such as lasers or brain recording systems. A screen provides feedback to the user, and all behavioral events are logged to an on-board microSD card. The default code includes multiple built-in programs but FED3 is open-source and hackable, and can be easily modified to perform other tasks.