Open Face Homecage Running Wheel

The Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary published their design for an integrative running wheel system in eNeuro, available on GitHub.

Stephanie Borgland and colleagues designed an economical and versatile open source running wheel system, validated using an activity based anorexia protocol. The system consists of a 3D printed wheel, a Raspberry Pi 0 W, and supporting components. The wheel features three sensors and three magnet locations for reliable locomotor monitoring. The Raspberry Pi continuously and autonomously collects hall sensor values, transferring the data to an SD card and through email. Using Python and MATLAB, data is downloaded, parsed, organized, and stored in a MS Excel workbook. The system includes adjustable storage frequency and transmittal, as well as custom epochs. Modifiable SLDPRT and STL files for wheel parts are available on GitHub and individual experimental parts are easily replaceable. The external power supply avoids disruptive battery changes and the open top design allows for compatibility with a variety of experiments, including optogenetics and fiber photometry. The system is most suitable for long term activity studies with hourly data visualization.

This research tool was created by your colleagues. Please acknowledge the Principal Investigator, cite the article in which the tool was described, and include an RRID in the Materials and Methods of your future publications. RRID:SCR_023642