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Roadmap

This roadmap outlines planned improvements for Spikeling. It is aspirational and may change based on classroom feedback, contributor availability, and hardware supply constraints.

Guiding priorities

  1. Teaching reliability: predictable experiments, robust setup, fewer “mystery failures”.
  2. Clarity and documentation: reduce load for first-time users and instructors.
  3. Reproducible data: stable export formats and versioning across firmware/GUI.
  4. Extensibility: make it easy to add stimuli, models, and multi-unit experiments.

Near-term (next 1–2 releases)

  • Documentation polish
  • Complete Quickstart and the canonical “First experiment” workflow.
  • Add troubleshooting decision trees for common classroom issues.
  • GUI usability
  • Improve responsiveness during long sessions (buffering/decimation best practices).
  • Presets for common lab protocols (steps, ramps, pulse trains, noise).
  • Firmware robustness
  • Clear version handshake between GUI ↔ firmware.
  • More explicit error reporting for streaming and configuration.

Mid-term

  • Experiment library
  • A curated set of patch-clamp-style labs with expected outcomes and analysis notebooks.
  • A stimulus “recipe book” tied to learning objectives.
  • Multi-unit workflows
  • Document and standardize wiring/topologies for simple networks (2–N devices).
  • Sync/trigger guidance for multi-device recordings.
  • Imaging simulation
  • Better parameter documentation and example datasets.
  • Suggested teaching modules that bridge Vm ↔ calcium ↔ fluorescence interpretation.

Long-term

  • Packaging and distribution
  • Simplified installers for major platforms.
  • Fully versioned documentation with archived releases for reproducibility.
  • Hardware ecosystem
  • Clear support policy for board revisions.
  • Optional accessory ecosystem (mounting/enclosures, classroom wiring kits).
  • Community scaling
  • Contributor pathways for educators (lab handouts, rubrics, translations).
  • Governance practices for reviewing and merging contributions.

Help wanted

Contributions are welcome in the following areas:

  • Writing and testing teaching labs (protocol + expected result + analysis)
  • Improving GUI performance and polish
  • Documenting hardware assembly with photos and checkpoints
  • Expanding data analysis notebooks (spike features, F–I curves, imaging metrics)
  • Translation/localization of key pages

See Community → How to contribute for contribution workflow and style guidance.