Real-time control system for biological experiments

描述(由申请人提供)：传统上，实验者扰乱系统的能力仅限于僵化的预编程模式或受人的反应限制的灵活的操作员控制的协议。相比之下，“实时控制”允许研究人员根据对瞬时系统测量的自动分析来利用动态操作，从而在从分子生物物理学到神经科学的领域实现全新的生物实验范式。不幸的是，用标准的计算机操作系统不可能实现实时控制，而且商业实时系统成本高昂，而且通常是为工业非生物应用量身定做的。这里提出的工作旨在通过开发一个免费可用的、强大的、灵活的开源系统来实时控制生物实验，从而绕过这些问题。本项目的具体目标是：1.统一三个互补的实时控制系统。调查员和合作调查员一直在独立开发实时控制系统。每个系统都有各自的长处，与其他系统的短处相辅相成。我们将把这些系统合并，形成一个功能大大扩展的强大的统一系统。2.将功能扩展到非Linux平台。因为我们的目标是实现实时生物实验，而不是将用户转换到Linux，所以我们将开发方法，使Windows和Apple用户可以在不放弃他们首选的平台的情况下运行我们的系统。3.开发性能监控指标和工具。为了帮助实验者设计实验应用程序，将开发用于监控系统性能的工具，并将建立性能指标。4.创建可扩展的实时实验应用程序库。我们将开发一个通用的和专用的实验控制“插件”库。用户将能够从这些选项中进行选择和/或对其进行定制以满足其特定的实验需求。5.开发用于插件开发的可视化设计工具。我们将开发一个可视化设计工具，用户将能够使用该工具开发插件，而无需手动编辑源代码。通过消除编程的需要，该工具将极大地增加能够开发实验控制应用程序的用户数量。6.优化易用性。为了最大限度地减少初学者的准入门槛，最大限度地提高有经验的用户的工作效率，我们将强调用户友好性，并开发全面的文档。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Traditionally, the ability of experimentalists to perturb a system has been limited to rigid pre-programmed patterns or flexible operator-controlled protocols constrained by human reflexes. In contrast, "real-time control" allows the researcher to utilize dynamic manipulations according to automated analysis of instantaneous system measurements, thereby enabling entirely new biological experimentation paradigms in fields ranging from molecular biophysics to neuroscience. Unfortunately, real-time control is not possible with standard computer operating systems, and commercial real-time systems are costly and often tailored for industrial non-biological applications. The work proposed here is aimed at bypassing these problems by developing a freely available, powerful, and flexible open-source system for real-time control of biological experiments. The specific aims of this project are: 1. To unify three complementary real-time control systems. The investigator and co-investigators have been independently developing real-time control systems. Each system has particular strengths that complement the weaknesses of the others. We will merge these systems to form a powerful unified system with greatly expanded functionality. 2. To extend functionality to non- Linux platforms. Because our goal is to enable real-time biological experimentation, rather than to convert users to Linux, we will develop methods by which Windows and Apple users can run our system without having to abandon their preferred platforms. 3. To develop performance-monitoring metrics and tools. To aid experimentalists in designing an experiment application, tools for monitoring system performance will be developed and performance metrics will be established. 4. To create an extensive real-time experiment application library. We will develop a library of both general-purpose and application-specific experiment-control "plugins". Users will be able to choose from these options and/or customize them to meet their particular experiment demands. 5. To develop a visual-design tool for plugin development. We will develop a visual-design tool with which users will be able to develop plugins without manually editing source code. By eliminating the need for programming, this tool will greatly increase the number of users who will be able to develop experiment-control applications. 6. To optimize ease of use. To minimize the barrier of entry for beginners and maximize the productivity of experienced users, we will emphasize user-friendliness and develop comprehensive documentation.