Let me preface by saying I am very new to this, and any input would be greatly appreciated!
I am attempting to design a chamber which can be used to study avoidance learning in spiders. Basically, a computer program would initiate a video to play on an Ipod Touch screen; 5 seconds later a shock would be triggered (using a low voltage variable transformer, with anti-static foam as the substrate). The shock would turn off if an infra-red sensor was tripped, or after 30 seconds had passed. The computer would then initiate a video to play on a second Ipod Touch screen, followed by the 5-sec delay, and so on.
So...I need to get photo emitters/detectors to communicate with a computer program, which itself controls two Ipods and a shocking substrate.
If anyone can point me in the right direction, or offer input, I would be so grateful.
Input on what? Ease of the project? Ok, it's very easy.
Hardware to acquire? You've already described all that?
Code to write? Yes, you'll need some. Reading the photo-detector is easy (digitalRead or analogRead, depending on the type of device). Triggering the transmitter is easy (digitalWrite). Counting 5 seconds is easy (millis).
Do you have any advice on which Arduino board to start with?
You have 2 digital or analog inputs, 2 digital outputs, and one serial output. So you need an Arduino with at most 4 digital pins, 2 analog pins, and one serial port. Hey, they all have that.