Stimuli

Toolkit for creating stimuli in Python code

Provides programmatic construction of stimuli (pulse, ramp, sine, arbitrary, combined, repeated, multi-channel, and segmented waveforms).

Availability:

context.Stimuli

Properties

No public readable properties are defined.

Methods

Name Signature Description
Pulse Pulse(Is: float, Ts: float) -> PulseValueStimulus Creates a rectangular pulse with intensity Is and duration Ts.
Pulse Pulse(Is: float, Ts: float, Tdelay: float) -> PulseValueStimulus Same as above with delay Tdelay.
Ramp Ramp(intensity: float, duration: float) -> RampValueStimulus Creates a linear ramp stimulus.
Ramp Ramp(intensity: float, duration: float, delay: float) -> RampValueStimulus Ramp with delay.
Ramp Ramp(intensity: float, duration: float, delay: float, offset: float) -> RampValueStimulus Ramp with delay and offset.
Sine Sine(intensity: float, duration: float, frequency: float) -> SineValueStimulus Creates a sinusoidal stimulus.
Sine Sine(intensity: float, duration: float, frequency: float, delay: float) -> SineValueStimulus Sine with delay.
Arbitrary Arbitrary(expression: Callable[[float], float], duration: float) -> ArbitraryValueStimulus Creates a stimulus from a time-dependent function.
Arbitrary Arbitrary(expression: Callable[[float], float], duration: float, delay: float) -> ArbitraryValueStimulus Same with delay.
Combined Combined() -> CombinedValueStimulus Creates a stimulus that sums multiple stimuli.
Repeated Repeated(stimulus: IStimulus, repetitions: int, period: float, delay: float) -> RepeatedValueStimulus Repeats a stimulus with period and delay.
Repeated Repeated(stimulus: IStimulus, repetitions: int, period: float) -> RepeatedValueStimulus Repeats a stimulus with period.
Multiple Multiple() -> MultipleOutputValueStimulus Creates a multi-channel stimulus.
LinearStimulus LinearStimulus() -> LinearSegmentValueStimulus Creates a piecewise linear stimulus.

Typical usage example

stim = context.Stimuli

# Simple pulse
pulse = stim.Pulse(1.0, 5.0)

# Combined stimulus
combined = stim.Combined() \
    .Add(stim.Pulse(1.0, 5.0)) \
    .Add(stim.Sine(0.5, 10.0, 100))

# Repeated stimulus
rep = stim.Repeated(pulse, 5, 20.0)

# Arbitrary waveform
arb = stim.Arbitrary(lambda t: t * 0.1, 50.0)

Combined Stimulus (CombinedValueStimulus)

Description

Represents a stimulus formed by summing multiple stimuli.

Availability

context.Stimuli.Combined()

Properties

Name Type Description
Stimulus List[IStimulus] List of contained stimuli.

Methods

Name Signature Description
Add Add(stimulus: IStimulus) -> CombinedValueStimulus Adds a stimulus to the combination.

Multiple Output Stimulus (MultipleOutputValueStimulus)

Description

Represents a stimulus distributed across multiple output channels.

Availability

context.Stimuli.Multiple()

Properties

Name Type Description
Outputs List[IAnalogOutput] List of channel-output mappings.

Methods

Name Signature Description
Add Add(channel: int, stimulus: IStimulus) -> MultipleOutputValueStimulus Assigns a stimulus to a specific output channel.

Linear Segment Stimulus (LinearSegmentValueStimulus)

Description

Represents a piecewise linear stimulus constructed from sequential segments.

Availability

context.Stimuli.LinearStimulus()

Properties

Name Type Description
Segments List[ISegment] Sequence of defined segments.
Baseline float Baseline value before first segment (unit not specified).

Methods

Name Signature Description
Segment Segment(value: float, duration: float) -> LinearSegmentValueStimulus Adds a segment with target value and duration.

Notes / gotchas

  • All stimuli represent time-dependent signals; durations and delays are in milliseconds.
  • Combined sums values of all contained stimuli at each time point.
  • Multiple assigns stimuli to separate output channels; channel indices must match device configuration.
  • Arbitrary expressions must be valid Python callables taking time t as input.
  • LinearStimulus interpolates between segment values; baseline is used before the first segment.
  • No validation is performed; invalid configurations may fail at runtime or during device execution.
Last modified May 21, 2026: Device server implementation (#1375) (5dd5648d)