Title :
A Spike-Latency Model for Sonar-Based Navigation in Obstacle Fields
Author :
Horiuchi, Timothy K.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Abstract :
The rapid control of sonar-guided vehicles through obstacle fields has been a goal of robotics for decades. How sensory data are represented strongly affects how obstacles and goal information can be combined to select a direction of travel. Many approaches combine attractive and repulsive effects to steer; we have implemented an algorithm that first evaluates the desirability of different directions followed by a winner-take-all (WTA) mechanism to guide steering. We describe a neuromorphic VLSI implementation of this algorithm using the inherent echo delay of obstacles to produce a range-dependent gain in a ldquorace-to-first-spikerdquo neural WTA circuit.
Keywords :
VLSI; automatic guided vehicles; collision avoidance; mobile robots; neural chips; sonar tracking; inherent echo delay; neuromorphic VLSI implementation; obstacle fields; race-to-first-spike neural WTA circuit; range-dependent gain; sonar-based navigation; sonar-guided vehicle control; spike-latency model; winner-take-all mechanism; Collision avoidance; echolocation; neuromorphic VLSI; obstacles; spike latency; spike timing; step inhibition; winner-take-all (WTA);
Journal_Title :
Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TCSI.2009.2015597
