ANY-maze Help > The ANY-maze reference > The Protocol page > The elements of a protocol > Behaviour > Virtual switches > Instantaneous values that can be threshold by a virtual switch

Instantaneous values that can be threshold by a virtual switch

Contents

The following instantaneous values can be thresholded by a virtual switch.

 •The speed of the animal. 
 •The distance of the animal from a zone (when outside the zone). (See note 1) 
 •The distance of the animal from the border of a zone (when inside the zone). (See note 1) 
 •The distance of the animal's head from a zone (when outside the zone). (See note 2) 
 •The distance of the animal's head from the border of a zone (when inside the zone). (See note 2) 
 •The distance of the animal from a point. (See note 3) 
 •The distance of the animal's head from a point. (See note 2) 
 •The relative length of the animal. (See note 2) 
 •The value reported by a signal. 
 •The value reported by a sensor. (See note 4) 
 •The speed of rotations of a rotary encoder. 
 •The value reported by a VALUE type plug-in.  

Notes

 1.Exactly how ANY-maze determines the distance of the animal from a zone depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal, then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically, the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand, if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal, then the distance to the zone will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest part of the zone. 
 2.Only available if head tracking is switched on. 
 3.You can specify how ANY-maze calculates the distance of the animal from a point using an option in the Point's settings in the protocol. Specifically, the distance is either the shortest distance from any point on the animal's edge to the point, or it is the distance from the centre of the animal to the point. 
 4.Only sensors which are set to be read continuously throughout the test will be listed. 

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ANY-maze help topic T1431