Active sensing at a microscopic scale

The possibilities afforded by the application of active sensing principles to microscopic scale systems are examined. Active point sensor systems consist of collections of simple sensing elements that have motor, computational, and communication capabilities. Depending on the laws of motion programmed into these elements, complex operations as diverse as nonlinear diffusion, shape from shading, and deformable template matching can be performed. Active point sensor systems represent an entirely new way of implementing sensing devices. In contrast to sensor arrays, active point sensor systems permit the integration of complex information processing on the same substrate as the sensing elements, and they can be adaptive, altering their processing on the basis of changes in the state of individual sensing elements. Their output is asynchronous and object oriented, reducing communication bandwidths and easing interfacing to other systems