Written by: Joshua Boquiren

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Overview

The REACHER (Rodent Experiment Application Controls and Handling Ecosystem for Research) Suite is an open-source application framework designed for experimental paradigms involving head-fixed rodents. It supports connections to multiple microcontrollers and facilitates running multiple sessions simultaneously from the same computer or across distributed systems.

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Installation

To install the latest version of REACHER, download the wheel file and install it using pip. Choose one of the following methods:

Using curl

curl -L -o reacher-1.1.1-py3-none-any.whl https://github.com/Otis-Lab-MUSC/REACHER/releases/download/v1.1.1/reacher-1.1.1-py3-none-any.whl
python -m pip install reacher-1.1.1-py3-none-any.whl

Using wget

wget https://github.com/Otis-Lab-MUSC/REACHER/releases/download/v1.1.1/reacher-1.1.1-py3-none-any.whl
python -m pip install reacher-1.1.1-py3-none-any.whl

Notes

• Ensure you have Python 3 installed.
• Run the commands in a terminal or command prompt.
• Install to a virtual environment (optional).
• Delete the .whl file after installation to clean up (optional).

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Technical Highlights

Data Visualization and Monitoring

• Real-time event tracking using Plotly for clear and interactive visualizations.
• Tabular summaries of behavioral data for detailed analysis.

Key Features

1. Serial Data Handling:

   • Multi-threaded system for serial communication:
     • One thread reads data from the microcontroller and queues it.
     • Another processes the queued data, ensuring no data loss.
   • String-based communication for easy debugging and logging.

2. Thread Flags for Control:

   • Flags ensure smooth data collection, pausing, and resuming:
     • serial_flag: Controls serial thread activity.
     • program_flag: Manages program execution states (e.g., paused or running).

3. Data Logging and Integrity:

   • Behavioral and frame data are logged to CSV files and processed into Pandas DataFrames.
   • If no destination or filename is specified, data is saved to a default directory (~/REACHER/).

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Recommended Specifications

Component	Minimum Specs	Recommended Specs	High-Performance Specs
CPU	Quad-core processor (e.g., Intel i3)	6-core or 8-core processor (e.g., Intel i5/i7, AMD Ryzen 5)	12-core or higher (e.g., AMD Ryzen 9, Intel i9)
RAM	8 GB	16 GB	32 GB or higher
Storage	256 GB SSD	512 GB SSD	1 TB NVMe SSD or higher
Operating System	Linux or Windows (64-bit)	Linux (Ubuntu/Debian preferred), Windows (64-bit), or macOS	Linux (optimized with custom kernels)
Cooling	Basic air cooling	Efficient air cooling or entry-level liquid cooling	High-end liquid cooling
GPU (Optional)	Integrated graphics	Mid-range GPU (e.g., NVIDIA GTX 1660)	High-end GPU (e.g., NVIDIA RTX 3080)

Copyright & License

© 2025 Otis Lab. All rights reserved.

This project is licensed under the LICENSE.

For more information, please contact the author at thejoshbq@proton.me