Quick Start Guide

Attention

• This quick start guide is intended to help you rotate the commutator using keyboard presses to test the commutator’s core functionality.

• To find additional instructions to automate commutation for your particular hardware and software choices, navigate through the Automated Commutation page.

This quick start guide provides basic setup instructions to verify the commutator’s functionality. By following these steps, you will be able to turn the commutator using keyboard presses from a Bonsai workflow.

1. If you have not already done so,

   • Download and Install Bonsai

   • Open Bonsai and install the Bonsai.StarterPack package

2. Connect the commutator to computer using a USB-C (Micro-USB in older versions) cable to establish power and communication between the commutator and the computer.

   Note

   The commutator’s RGB LED will flash red when the commutator is plugged in. During this time, the commutator is charging an internal supercapacitor bank that prevents the motor from loading the USB port. This can take up to 30 seconds to complete.

3. Position the commutator such that the commutator’s gears can rotate freely.

4. Download and run the following .bonsai file (also known as a “workflow”) for controlling the commutator using key presses:

   

   

   commutator-keypress-control.bonsai

   

5. Configure the PortName property of the SerialWriteLine node to reflect the port to which the commutator is connected:

   • In Bonsai, click the SerialWriteLine node and modify the PortName property (highlighted below).

     

   • The PortName property enumerates detected COM ports when the field is clicked. If multiple COM ports are available when the commutator is connected, try disconnecting and reconnecting your commutator. The COM port that disappears/reappears from the enumerated list when disconnecting/reconnecting your commutator is the one that corresponds to your commutator. Set PortName to this COM port.

6. Run the workflow in Bonsai by pressing the green Start arrow.

   • Et voilà! The commutator motor now rotates when the left and right arrow keys are pressed on the keyboard.

   • The angular displacement per key-press can be adjusted by clicking the String nodes and modifying the Value property

   • To see the JSON commands being sent to the commutator, double-click the SerialWriteLine node while the workflow is running to show a text visualizer.

After confirming its functionality, you are ready to start setting up your commutator for an experiment. Start with learning more in-depth about Mounting and Connecting your commutator.