Category Technology/Electronics

Hummingbird Robot uses AI to soon go where Drones can’t


Purdue University researchers are building robotic hummingbirds that learn from computer simulations how to fly like a real hummingbird does. The robot is encased in a decorative shell. (Purdue University photo/Jared Pike)

What can fly like a bird and hover like an insect? Hummingbirds. If drones had this combo, they would be able to maneuver better through collapsed buildings and other cluttered spaces to find trapped victims. Purdue University researchers have engineered flying robots that behave like hummingbirds, trained by machine learning algorithms based on various techniques the bird uses naturally every day.

This means that after learning from a simulation, the robot “knows” how to move around on its own like a hummingbird would, such as discerning when to perform an esca...

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Step towards Light-based, Brain-like Computing Chip

Schematic illustration of a light-based, brain-inspired chip. By mimicking biological neuronal systems, photonic neuromorphic processors provide a promising platform to tackle challenges in machine learning and pattern recognition.© Johannes Feldman

Scientists have succeeded in developing a piece of hardware which could pave the way for creating computers resembling the human brain. They produced a chip containing a network of artificial neurons that works with light and can imitate neurons and their synapses. This network is able to ‘learn’ information and use this as a basis for computing. The approach could be used later in many different fields for evaluating patterns in large quantities of data.

The researchers were able to demonstrate, that such an optical neurosynaptic network...

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Experimental device generates Electricity from the Coldness of the Universe

A drawback of solar panels is that they require sunlight to generate electricity. Some have observed that for a device on Earth facing space, the chilling outflow of energy from the device can be harvested using the same kind of optoelectronic physics we have used to harness solar energy. New work, in Applied Physics Letters, looks to provide a potential path to generating electricity like solar cells but that can power electronics at night. This is a schematic of the experimental infrared photodiode that has generated electricity directly from the coldness of space.
Credit: Masashi Ono

The obvious drawback of solar panels is that they require sunlight to generate electricity...

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A Novel Technique that uses Quantum Light to Measure Temperature at the Nanoscale

Illustration of nanoscale diamonds probing temperature of electronic circuits. Credit: Dr. Trong Toan Tran

Being able to measure, and monitor, temperatures and temperature changes at miniscule scales—inside a cell or in micro and nano-electronic components—has the potential to impact many areas of research from disease detection to a major challenge of modern computation and communication technologies, how to measure scalability and performance in electronic components.

A collaborative team, led by scientists from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), developed a highly-sensitive nano-thermometer that uses atom-like inclusions in diamond nanoparticles to accurately measure temperature at the nanoscale...

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