PHYS brown bag seminar: Tactile sensory coding and learning with bioinspired optoelectronic spiking afferent nerves

Presenter: Hongwei Tan (Nanospin Group, Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University)

Abstract: 

The integration and cooperation of mechanoreceptors, neurons and synapses in somatosensory systems enable humans to efficiently sense and process tactile information. Inspired by biological somatosensory systems, we report an optoelectronic spiking afferent nerve with neural coding, perceptual learning and memorizing capabilities to mimic tactile sensing and processing. Our system senses pressure by MXene-based sensors, converts pressure information to light pulses by LED-coupled analog-to-digital circuits, then integrates light pulses using a synaptic photomemristor. With neural coding, our spiking nerve is capable of not only detecting simultaneous pressure inputs, but also recognizing Morse code, braille, and object movement. Furthermore, with feature extraction and learning, our system can recognize and memorize handwritten alphabets and words, providing a promising approach towards e-skin, neurorobotics and human-machine interactions.

Join us for science and pizza in the Nanotalo lobby!