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

The ANY-maze Relay interface

Before connecting your equipment to an ANY-maze Relay interface output port, please check the current and voltage are within the port's limits.

Introduction

The ANY-maze Relay interface has 6 output ports which can be used to turn things on and off under software control. For example, an output could switch on a shocker, turn on a light or activate a pellet dispenser.

Figure 1. The ANY-maze Relay interface.

The ANY-maze Relay interface uses what are called solid state relays (hence the interface's name), but you can think of them as simple on/off switches, like a light switch. In other words, using the Relay interface, ANY-maze can simply open or close a switch, which can be very useful in a wide range of situations:

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Many shockers have 'remote control' inputs, which turn on the shock when the two terminals of the input are connected together. Connect the terminals to a Relay interface output port, and ANY-maze can control the shocker.

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Many pellet dispensers are activated by connecting a specific input to power (or in some cases to ground). Connect this input to one side of a Relay interface output, and power (or ground) to the other, and ANY-maze can dispense pellets.

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In fact anything which can be activated using a simple switch can be controlled by an ANY-maze Relay interface, for example, a cue light, a speaker that plays white noise, a motor that opens and closes a door, etc.

Full details about the ANY-maze Relay interface can be found in the following topics:

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Setting up the ANY-maze Relay interface

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Configuring the ANY-maze Relay interface

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Connecting the ANY-maze Relay interface to your apparatus and testing it

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Using the ANY-maze Relay interface in tests

ANY-maze help topic T1069