Abstract
Neuromorphic computing based on spikes offers great potential in highly efficient computing paradigms. Recently, several hardware implementations of spiking neural networks based on traditional complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology or memristors have been developed. However, an interface (called an afferent nerve in biology) with the environment, which converts the analog signal from sensors into spikes in spiking neural networks, is yet to be demonstrated. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate an artificial spiking afferent nerve based on highly reliable NbOx Mott memristors for the first time. The spiking frequency of the afferent nerve is proportional to the stimuli intensity before encountering noxiously high stimuli, and then starts to reduce the spiking frequency at an inflection point. Using this afferent nerve, we further build a power-free spiking mechanoreceptor system with a passive piezoelectric device as the tactile sensor. The experimental results indicate that our afferent nerve is promising for constructing self-aware neurorobotics in the future.
Highlights
Neuromorphic computing based on spikes offers great potential in highly efficient computing paradigms
Experimental results demonstrate that our artificial spiking afferent nerve (ASAN) has a great potential for using in neurorobotics and can be explored to build a general afferent nerve to communicate with higher-order spiking neural networks (SNNs)
With a piezoelectric device connecting to the ASAN, we demonstrated an artificial spiking mechanoreceptor system (ASMS) (Fig. 5a)
Summary
The voltage on the device could generate sufficient Joule heat to hold the device in its “on-state” (see Supplementary Fig. 9) This frequency response is similar to the biological afferent nerve whose spiking rates increase with an increase in the intensity of harmless stimuli, but decreases and eventually stops firing under excessively strong stimuli due to the intrinsic protective-inhibition mechanism that serves to keep the system balanced and prevent neurons from dying[45]. The peak frequency of the afferent nerve increases with increasing the pressure force; more experimental data under other pressure intensity are presented in Supplementary Fig. 12 These results demonstrate that a powerfree artificial mechanoreceptor has been successfully implemented experimentally and the afferent nerve can be used for transforming analog sense signals into dynamic spiking frequencies. These results suggest that our afferent nerve has a great potential to be used in spiking neurorobotics
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