Space Industry and Business News  
CHIP TECH
New reservoir computer marks first-ever microelectromechanical neural network application
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 17, 2018

A single silicon beam (red), along with its drive (yellow) and readout (green and blue) electrodes, implements a MEMS capable of nontrivial computations.

As artificial intelligence has become increasingly sophisticated, it has inspired renewed efforts to develop computers whose physical architecture mimics the human brain. One approach, called reservoir computing, allows hardware devices to achieve the higher-dimension calculations required by emerging artificial intelligence. One new device highlights the potential of extremely small mechanical systems to achieve these calculations.

A group of researchers at the Universite de Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, reports the construction of the first reservoir computing device built with a microelectromechanical system (MEMS).

Published in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing, the neural network exploits the nonlinear dynamics of a microscale silicon beam to perform its calculations. The group's work looks to create devices that can act simultaneously as a sensor and a computer using a fraction of the energy a normal computer would use.

The article appears in a special topic section of the journal devoted to "New Physics and Materials for Neuromorphic Computation," which highlights new developments in physical and materials science research that hold promise for developing the very large-scale, integrated "neuromorphic" systems of tomorrow that will carry computation beyond the limitations of current semiconductors today.

"These kinds of calculations are normally only done in software, and computers can be inefficient," said Guillaume Dion, an author on the paper. "Many of the sensors today are built with MEMS, so devices like ours would be ideal technology to blur the boundary between sensors and computers."

The device relies on the nonlinear dynamics of how the silicon beam, at widths 20 times thinner than a human hair, oscillates in space. The results from this oscillation are used to construct a virtual neural network that projects the input signal into the higher dimensional space required for neural network computing.

In demonstrations, the system was able to switch between different common benchmark tasks for neural networks with relative ease, Dion said, including classifying spoken sounds and processing binary patterns with accuracies of 78.2 percent and 99.9 percent respectively.

"This tiny beam of silicon can do very different tasks," said Julien Sylvestre, another author on the paper. "It's surprisingly easy to adjust it to make it perform well at recognizing words."

Sylvestre said he and his colleagues are looking to explore increasingly complicated computations using the silicon beam device, with the hopes of developing small and energy-efficient sensors and robot controllers.

Research Report: "Reservoir computing with a single delay-coupled non-linear mechanical oscillator"


Related Links
American Institute of Physics
Computer Chip Architecture, Technology and Manufacture
Nano Technology News From SpaceMart.com


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


CHIP TECH
Inorganic metal halide perovskite-based photodetectors for optical communication applications
Linkoping, Sweden (SPX) Oct 17, 2018
Researchers at the universities in Linkoping and Shenzhen have shown how an inorganic perovskite can be made into a cheap and efficient photodetector that transfers both text and music. "It's a promising material for future rapid optical communication", says Feng Gao, researcher at Linkoping University. "Perovskites of inorganic materials have a huge potential to influence the development of optical communication. These materials have rapid response times, are simple to manufacture, and are extrem ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

CHIP TECH
Blue phosphorus mapped and measured for the first time

High entropy alloys hold the key to studying dislocation avalanches in metals

Light melts matter differently than heat, study shows

Researchers quickly harvest 2-D materials, bringing them closer to commercialization

CHIP TECH
Multi-domain command and control is coming

Airbus tests 4G 5G stratospheric balloons for defence comms

Lockheed Martin embraces agile software development to evolve signals intelligence capabilities

Lockheed Martin Introduces Mission Planning System That Connects Systems and Assets Across Domains

CHIP TECH
CHIP TECH
Army researchers' technique locates robots, soldiers in GPS-challenged areas

Boeing to provide technical work on JDAM GPS-guided bombs

New Study Tracks Hurricane Harvey Stormwater with GPS

Lockheed awarded $1.4B for first GPS IIIF satellites

CHIP TECH
SAFRAN to provide resupply services for KC-135 aerial refueling tankers

Pentagon grounds global fleet of F-35s after crash

Boeing to upgrade F/A-18, EA-18 test stations for U.S. Navy

Italy, Sweden, US bid to sell combat jets to Bulgaria

CHIP TECH
Announcing the discovery of an atomic electronic simulator

New memristor boosts accuracy and efficiency for neural networks on an atomic scale

Arsenic for electronics

New reservoir computer marks first-ever microelectromechanical neural network application

CHIP TECH
Innovative tool allows continental-scale water, energy, and land system modeling

China launches new remote sensing satellites

'Ghost imaging' could make greenhouse gas analysis more precise

Sentinel-2 maps Indonesia earthquake

CHIP TECH
Cambodia's 'Rubbish Man' schools children -- for trash

Increase in plastics waste reaching remote South Atlantic islands

US cruise ship captain on trial over French pollution charges

Microplastics found deep in sand where turtles nest









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.