ANY-maze Help > I/O devices supported by ANY-maze > The ANY-maze interface device family > The ANY-maze Relay interface > Configuring an ANY-maze Relay interface

Configuring an ANY-maze Relay interface

Introduction

The ANY-maze Relay interface configuration window shows information about your device, and allows you to change its ID and update its firmware.

Accessing the ANY-maze Relay interface configuration window

To access the ANY-maze Relay interface configuration window, select your ANY-maze Relay interface in the list on the left side of the I/O page and then click the Configure this device button in the ribbon bar.

Figure 1. The ANY-maze Relay interface configuration window.

Specifying how the ANY-maze Relay interface ports will be used

The ANY-maze Relay interface acts like a simple on/off switch, and one of the most common uses of a relay is to control a pellet dispenser. You can specify here in the ANY-maze Relay interface configuration window whether each port is a standard output switch, or will be used to control a pellet dispenser.

The advantage of setting up a relay output as a pellet dispenser is that it can then be added to your protocol as a pellet dispenser, which makes it easier to control from within a test by using a procedure to dispense a pellet.

In figure 1, above, the first port has been set up as a pellet dispenser rather than a standard output switch.

If you configure a port as a pellet dispenser, then you will also need to enter the activation time for the port - this is how long the relay will be switched on for when the port is told to dispense a pellet. The correct duration should be included in your pellet dispenser's documentation, but if you are unsure of the value to use then try something from 250ms to 500ms and test to see whether pellets are dispensed.

Suppressing the LED on the ANY-maze Relay interface front panel

The ANY-maze Relay interface has an LED on the front panel which shows the status of the device; red when connected to the PC and green when communicating with ANY-maze.

If the interface will be visible to the animal during a test, then you may wish to suppress this LED - perhaps the test should be performed in darkness, or you're concerned that the LED could provide visual cues to the animal. To suppress the LED, you simply need to check the Suppress LEDs on this device button in the Device information section of the configuration window.

Changing the device ID

The method of changing the device ID is the same for all ANY-maze interface devices. Full details, including what the device ID is and why you might want to change it, can be found here.

Updating the device firmware

The process of updating the firmware is the same for all ANY-maze interface devices. Full details can be found here.

See also:

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ANY-maze help topic T1071