ANY-maze Help > The ANY-maze reference > The Protocol page > The elements of a protocol > Inputs and outputs > Light controllers > An introduction to light controllers

An introduction to light controllers

Introduction

A light controller is usually part of some I/O device such as the ANY-maze cage, and is used to control the brightness of one or more lights. For example, in the ANY-maze cage, the light controller is used to adjust the brightness of the cage lights.

An important characteristic of light controllers is the fact they can be adjusted by procedures during a test - thus the light level can be adjusted based on what the animal is doing in the test.

Connecting a light controller

Light controllers are currently not available as 'stand-alone' devices; they are always part of some I/O device such as the ANY-maze cage. Therefore connecting them to your PC is very simple - you just need to connect the device they're part of (usually using a USB cable).

As with all inputs and outputs supported by ANY-maze, you must add to the protocol the I/O device the light controller is part of, before you add the controller itself.

Using a light controller

When you add a light controller to your protocol, you will be able to specify the light level at the start of the test. Of course this is useful, but the real power of light controllers comes from the fact that you can change the light level during a test. This is done using procedures, which can detect when something happens in a test and alter the lighting because of it. For example, you might create a procedure to detect when the animal moves into a certain zone, and make the cage lights much brighter. In fact, a procedure can set the light to ramp up (or down) to its target brightness over a specified period of time using the Set ramp duration procedure action.

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ANY-maze help topic T0291