Weekly Progress Reports (see sidebar), the Gantt chart, and this Project Management page should be printed out before meetings with the sponsor and instructor.
All team members should be able to explain all items on the progress report.
Place a "*" at the beginning of the title of the active week Progress Report (see * in sidebar).
Project Objectives
Overview of Project Context
Both the Bloodgood and Hnasko Lab are interested in correlating detected neural activity in mice to the physical activity of the mouse. The Bloodgood lab is primarily interested in “encoder neurons,” which keep track of the linear position of the mouse. Thus one of the most important features of the setup they need is the terrain on the treadmill that will cause the mouse to think it’s moving through a linear environment. The Hnasko lab is interested in the neural activity involved when mice stop running, and so need a precise encoder and responsive/sensitive treadmill.
High Priority Objectives
Bloodgood Lab: Terrain (the mouse must feel like it’s running through a linear environment). The animal must initiate movement.
Hnasko Lab: Precise time/speed recordings (the platform must be very light and low friction). Need lick rate sensor.
Second Priority Objectives
Bloodgood Lab: Could be 3ft long, but a longer track (10 ft) would be preferable. Ideally the treadmill would be activated only by the mouse (not motor driven/assisted). Not a lot of mechanical disturbances.
Hnasko Lab: Directional data would be useful (ie. 2 dimensions of position tracking.)
Other Constraints and Issues
Bloodgood Lab: Must be electrically quiet (well grounded). Must mount on a specific breadboard air table.
Both: ‘Go’ cue must not be blue (and some other specific wavelengths), or red (mice can’t see red). No excessively loud and/or high-pitched noise.
WOW Design Solution
Both labs seemed like they would like very low friction, low inertia treadmills with precise position encoders. They also seem to want the freedom to change/vary parts of the set up a significant amount, so perhaps a modular design would be ideal.
Risk Reduction Strategy
The most important design decision is most likely the design of the platform, whether it turns out to be a treadmill, a rotary disk, or another design and whether both labs will utilize the same design for the platform. Thus for Risk Reduction we will design and fabricate mockups of the platform to answer questions such as:
Is it feasible to use the same design for both labs?
How low friction can we make a treadmill?
How large can we make a lightweight rotary disk?
Intermediate Milestones
Rough milestones that can also act as deliverables:
Mechanical design finished (treadmill, etc.)
Sensor integration finished (lick sensor, ‘GO’ cue, etc.)
Software finished (Matlab script, DAC, etc.)