wingbeat_detector

Measures fly wingbeats using IR light reflected from flapping fly wings.

https://github.com/peterpolidoro/wingbeat_detector

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Measures fly wingbeats using IR light reflected from flapping fly wings.

README.org

# This file is generated automatically from metadata
# File edits may be overwritten!
- Project Name: wingbeat_detector
- Synopsis: Measures fly wingbeats using IR light reflected from flapping fly wings.
- Documentation Version: 4.0.0
- Pcb Version: 4.0
- Enclosure Version: 1.1
- Supplemental BOM Version: 1.0
- Release Date: 2024-03-14
- Creation Date: 2023-02-17
- Kicad Version: 7.0.11
- License: GPL-3.0
- URL: https://github.com/peterpolidoro/wingbeat_detector
- Author: Peter Polidoro
- Email: peter@polidoro.io
- Copyright: 2024 Peter Polidoro
- References:
  - [[https://www.kicad.org/][kicad]]
  - [[https://github.com/janelia-kicad/light_sensor_boards][light_sensor_boards]]
- Papers:
  - [[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.020][Active antennal movements in Drosophila can tune wind encoding]]
  - [[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.04.019][A novel assay to evaluate action selection in escape behavior]]
  - [[https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4083][Cellular evidence for efference copy in Drosophila visuomotor processing]]
  - [[https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0413-4][State-dependent decoupling of sensory and motor circuits underlies behavioral flexibility in Drosophila]]
  - [[https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2492][Active flight increases the gain of visual motion processing in Drosophila]]
  - [[https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.82.1.377][An Optical Tachometer for Measurement of the Wing-Beat Frequency of Free-Flying Insects]]

[[./documentation/pcb/raytrace.png]]

This wingbeat detector, or flight “tachometer”, is a small electro-optical
device that uses reflected infrared light from the fly’s wingbeats to generate
an oscillating voltage signal. The oscillation frequency of the voltage signal
matches, and thus allows one to measure, the tethered fly's wingbeat frequency.

This device is useful for plate (rather than pin) tethered flight experiments,
because with plate-glued flies, one cannot extract the wingbeat frequency via a
classical wingbeat analyzer. Microphones have also been used for extracting
wingbeat frequency, but they require a quiet room. This wingbeat detector is
immune to audible noise and only requires an infrared light source, often
already present on flight rigs for video recording.

One end of a small diameter light guide is mounted near the fly and aimed at the
wings. The other end of the light guide is in a small enclosure containing an
optical filter and printed circuit board and can be mounted off to the side of
the rig wherever there is room.

The light guide brings light reflected off of the wings down to a photodiode on
a circuit board, after passing through an optical filter to remove the unwanted
wavelengths of light. Amplifiers and filters on the circuit board convert the
tiny amounts of current from the photodiode into an oscillating voltage signal,
with a frequency range of several hundred Hertz and a magnitude range of several
Volts.

The oscillating voltage signal can be fed into a data acquisition card,
oscilloscope, and/or a speaker for recording and instant feedback on fly
wingbeat frequency. Using a threshold, the signal can be used as a simple
boolean that indicates whether the tethered animal is flying or not for
triggering experiments or synchronizing the data collection.

This device was first created at Caltech in the Dickinson lab in collaboration
with Gaby Maimon around 2010. It has transformed over several generations,
getting smaller and more robust each iteration. It has been used on rigs in
multiple universities and research institutes and has been referenced in several
papers. A couple of iterations were designed in collaboration with Sung Soo Kim
and the Card lab at Janelia Research Campus. The latest version was created in
collaboration with the Suver lab at Vanderbilt.

Owner

CodeMeta (codemeta.json)

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  "name": "wingbeat_detector",
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