Wire-free Miniscope v4

The wire-free Miniscope v4 is a battery powered, data logging Miniscope based around the original wired Miniscope v4 project. All code, CAD, and PCB files can be found at https://github.com/Aharoni-Lab/Miniscope-v4-Wire-Free

Specifications

  • Weight:
  • Size:
  • Field of View:
  • Recording Resolution:
  • Recording Length:
  • Record Triggering:

Overview of System

Workflow of Recording

Extracting Data from SD Card

MCU Firmware Walkthrough

The microcontroller (MCU) used in the Wire-Free Miniscope v4 is an ATSAMD51. It sits between the Python 480 CMOS image sensor and the micro SD Card and handles all on-board control and operation of the Miniscope. The firmware uses a combination of custom written driver and ones imported using ATMEL SMART.

DMA

The MCU using Direct Memory Access (DMA) to stream pixel data into memory from the image sensor as well as write imaging data from memory into the SD Card. For pixel data coming from the image sensor, the MCU uses its Parallel Capture Controller (PCC) with DMA to handle an 8-bit parallel pixel bus. For writing imaging data into the SD Card, the MCU uses its ADMA to move raw data in the MCU memory into the SD Card storage blocks.

PCC DMA (Image Sensor -> MCU Memory)

SD Card ADMA (MCU Memory -> SD Card)