Ethoscopes: An Open Platform For High-Throughput Ethomics

Abstract

We present ethoscopes, machines for high-throughput analysis of behaviour in Drosophila and other animals. Ethoscopes provide a software and hardware solution that is reproducible and easily scalable; they perform, in real-time, tracking and profiling of behaviour using a supervised machine learning algorithm; they can deliver behaviourally-triggered stimuli to flies in a feedback-loop mode; and they are highly customisable and open source. Ethoscopes can be built easily using 3D printing technology and rely on Raspberry Pi microcomputers and Arduino boards to provide affordable and flexible hardware. All software and construction specifications are available at http://lab.gilest.ro/ethoscope.