Neuromorphic antennal sensory system

Neuromorphic antennal sensory system

07 March 2024 | Chengpeng Jiang, Honghuan Xu, Lu Yang, Jiaqi Liu, Yue Li, Kuniharu Takei & Wentao Xu
A neuromorphic antennal sensory system inspired by insect antennae has been developed to emulate the structural, functional, and neuronal characteristics of ant antennae. This system integrates an electronic antenna sensor with three-dimensional flexible structures that detect tactile and magnetic stimuli, and artificial synaptic devices that process sensory information. The system achieves hardware-level spatiotemporal perception of tactile contact, surface patterns, and magnetic fields, with detection limits of 1.3 mN, 50 μm, and 9.4 mT. It successfully performs vibrotactile-perception tasks such as profile and texture classification with high accuracy (>90%), surpassing human performance in "blind" tactile exploration. Magneto-perception tasks including magnetic navigation and touchless interaction are also completed. The system represents a milestone in neuromorphic sensory systems and biomimetic perceptual intelligence. Insect tactile sensory organs, despite their small size and limited number of neurons, exhibit efficient processing and multimodal sensory functions, including mechano-perception, magneto-perception, audio-perception, and chemoreception. These capabilities could serve as blueprints for the development of biomimetic sensory platforms. Insect antennae, with their segmented, flexible, three-dimensional architecture, deliver exceptional mechano-sensory performance in response to deflections and vibrations. Some research suggests that specific insects, such as ants, enable magneto-reception via their antennae's magnetite-infused magnetoreceptors. The exquisite antenna structures, densely innervated with sensory receptors and neurons, emit spatiotemporally-encoded neural spike sequences, allowing for the detection of vibrotactile and magnetic stimuli. The perceptual acuity is comparable to, or even surpasses, that of human skin, enabling insects to execute complex tasks. However, tactile sensory systems inspired by insect antennae are yet to be fully explored. It is envisioned that artificial tactile sensory systems, mimicking the structural, functional, and neuronal characteristics of insect antennae, will enable multimodal perception in highly efficient and biologically plausible manners. The development of these systems has the potential to break the design constraints of skin electronics, leading to the realization of tactile intelligence and perceptual augmentation for advanced robotics and human-machine interfaces. The neuromorphic antennal sensory system was developed using an electronic antenna sensor, a spike-encoding circuit, and artificial synaptic devices. The sensor, fabricated with a pair of magnet-loaded flexible artificial antennae made of PVDF and PET films, converts vibrotactile and magnetic stimuli into vibrations and deflections, generating piezoelectric signals resembling the "receptor potential." The two piezoelectric signals acquired from the spatially separated artificial antennae were encoded into pairwise SA and pairwise FA spike trains with distinct temporal patterns, realizing spatiotemporal encoding. The two pairs of spike trains are transmitted separately to two artificial synaptic devices for neuromorphic processing. The artificial synaptic device was fabricated on aA neuromorphic antennal sensory system inspired by insect antennae has been developed to emulate the structural, functional, and neuronal characteristics of ant antennae. This system integrates an electronic antenna sensor with three-dimensional flexible structures that detect tactile and magnetic stimuli, and artificial synaptic devices that process sensory information. The system achieves hardware-level spatiotemporal perception of tactile contact, surface patterns, and magnetic fields, with detection limits of 1.3 mN, 50 μm, and 9.4 mT. It successfully performs vibrotactile-perception tasks such as profile and texture classification with high accuracy (>90%), surpassing human performance in "blind" tactile exploration. Magneto-perception tasks including magnetic navigation and touchless interaction are also completed. The system represents a milestone in neuromorphic sensory systems and biomimetic perceptual intelligence. Insect tactile sensory organs, despite their small size and limited number of neurons, exhibit efficient processing and multimodal sensory functions, including mechano-perception, magneto-perception, audio-perception, and chemoreception. These capabilities could serve as blueprints for the development of biomimetic sensory platforms. Insect antennae, with their segmented, flexible, three-dimensional architecture, deliver exceptional mechano-sensory performance in response to deflections and vibrations. Some research suggests that specific insects, such as ants, enable magneto-reception via their antennae's magnetite-infused magnetoreceptors. The exquisite antenna structures, densely innervated with sensory receptors and neurons, emit spatiotemporally-encoded neural spike sequences, allowing for the detection of vibrotactile and magnetic stimuli. The perceptual acuity is comparable to, or even surpasses, that of human skin, enabling insects to execute complex tasks. However, tactile sensory systems inspired by insect antennae are yet to be fully explored. It is envisioned that artificial tactile sensory systems, mimicking the structural, functional, and neuronal characteristics of insect antennae, will enable multimodal perception in highly efficient and biologically plausible manners. The development of these systems has the potential to break the design constraints of skin electronics, leading to the realization of tactile intelligence and perceptual augmentation for advanced robotics and human-machine interfaces. The neuromorphic antennal sensory system was developed using an electronic antenna sensor, a spike-encoding circuit, and artificial synaptic devices. The sensor, fabricated with a pair of magnet-loaded flexible artificial antennae made of PVDF and PET films, converts vibrotactile and magnetic stimuli into vibrations and deflections, generating piezoelectric signals resembling the "receptor potential." The two piezoelectric signals acquired from the spatially separated artificial antennae were encoded into pairwise SA and pairwise FA spike trains with distinct temporal patterns, realizing spatiotemporal encoding. The two pairs of spike trains are transmitted separately to two artificial synaptic devices for neuromorphic processing. The artificial synaptic device was fabricated on a
Reach us at info@study.space
[slides and audio] Neuromorphic antennal sensory system