Modular behavioral box

Drawings for cutting all the necessary pieces for assembling a modular behavioral box for rats and mice using 5-mm-thick acrylic.

missing a proper intro/motivation (mention wall modularity);

Parts list

• General across all walls & modules:

  • 5-mm-thick acrylic;
  • 20-mm M3 spacers;
  • 10-mm M3 screws;
  • M3 nuts;
  • acrylic glue + brush;

• Specific to poke & light modules:

  • NeoPixel 16-LED RGB rings;

Caution

Be sure to always wear a mask and gloves whenever handling acrylic glue, and to do it in a well-ventilated place.

Assembly

1. Print/cut the three files under print/wall, each in a 450x450 mm sheet of 5-mm-thick acrylic of your chosen color for the inner, middle and outer layers of the wall (respectively white, black and crystal in all examples below);

missing media

2. Screw the outermost pieces of the three layers together to create a jig for gluing walls;

Tip

Glue the three layers of the jig itself after aligning them with the screws.

3. Place the three main layers of the wall in the jig and glue them together;

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for a total of 6 walls;

missing media

5. Place M3 nuts in all nut sockets of all walls;

missing media

6. Screw walls together with 10-mm M3 screws at all wall joints;

7. Using a wall as a jig, glue the three layers of all your modules (cutouts from step 1) together using acrylic glue;

missing a step by step guide on assembling a poke module;

8. Print/cut the two files under print/locks;

missing media

9. Assemble each module's four locks by putting together two handle pieces (from the previous step) and a 20-mm M3 spacer;

missing media

10. Place all lock feet inside their corresponding slots in all walls, and then insert all lock handles such that they point inwards when locked;

11. Populate the box with modules (i.e., place & lock them);

12. Plug in your preferred system for interfacing with sensors and actuators. Below I'm showcasing a hybrid approach using a custom PCB (thanks to the Hardware & Software Platform at Champalimaud Research) and an Arduino Mega;

13. Put a rat inside:)

14. (optional) Build a support rig using custom-cut aluminum profiles.