Signal Connections

The peripheral boards installed in the Maestro workstation are connected to various equipment in the laboratory rig. Analog input and output signal lines are exposed on a rack-mounted "breakout panel", while digital IO lines feed into a backplane rack housing various plug-in modules controlled by the 16 outputs of the DIO event timer board. Point-to-point Ethernet connections join Maestro to the RMVideo and EyeLink 1000+ host PCs. The analog and digital IO interfaces, the digital plug-in modules, and the video output board are all custom-designed for use with Maestro.

This section details the signal connections from the PC hardware to the external rack interfaces and provides some general information on the design of those interfaces. A complete electrical specification is beyond the scope of this online manual.

The diagram above shows the important signal connections from hardware in the Maestro workstation to external equipment in the laboratory rig. Note that connections are shown for Maestro's recommended hardware configuration: (i) a PCIe-6363 multi-function IO board providing AI, AO, and DIO timer functions; (ii) an RTX-supported network adapter for the Ethernet link to RMVideo; and (iii) a Windows-compatible network card for the Ethernet connection to the EyeLink 1000+ eye tracker (if used). The following sections define four of the six lettered signal pathways in the diagram. The XYScope platform is no longer supported as of Maestro 4.0 and was removed entirely from the application in Maestro 5.0.

Ethernet connections to RMVideo and the EyeLink tracker (C, F)

Maestro communicates with RMVideo over a private, point-to-point Ethernet connection. There is no intervening hub; you connect each network interface controller (NIC) directly to the other with an RJ-45 Ethernet cable. In the past, we had to use a crossover cable to ensure that the transmit pins of one NIC were connected to the receive pins of the other, and vice versa. Nowadays, modern NICs like the recommended Intel Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter can automatically detect the cable type and configure the connection accordingly. As long as one of the two NICs have this auto-MDIX feature, you can connect them with the more common straight-through or patch cable. If you're not sure that at least one of the NICs supports auto-MDIX, then stick with the crossover cable.

If you intend to use the EyeLink 1000+ eye tracker system, you will need a second NIC in the Maestro PC for that point-to-point connection. The EyeLink NIC remains under Windows control, whereas the RMVideo NIC is under RTX control.

Typically the Maestro PC will also be connected to a local area network through yet another network adapter. Be sure to label all the network ports in use on the outside of the computer so that you know which is which. If you accidentally swap the connections, then you won't have network access and Maestro won't be able to talk to RMVideo or the EyeLink tracker!

Analog and digital IO signals (A, B)

In Maestro's recommended hardware configuration (as of version 3.0), all relevant analog and digital IO signals feed into the National Instruments' PCIe-6363 multi-function data acquisition card. This board has two high-density 68-pin back panel connectors. We recommend using two SHC68-68-EPM cables (also from NI) to carry signals on the PCIe-6363 to the rack-mounted interface/breakout panels.