Inspired by fruit flies, an interdisciplinary research team of professors from National Tsing Hua University’s departments of Electrical Engineering and Life Sciences have developed a bionic optical nerve artificial intelligence (AI) chip that will allow unmanned aerial vehicles to automatically avoid flying obstacles while operating in low power energy-saving mode. The group’s invention will allow aerial drones to conserve battery power, but the researchers expect the chip will also have a broad range of applications in the technology of the future, including self-driving cars, smart glasses and robotic arms.
According to the researchers, in the past autonomous devices would avoid flying obstacles by continually sending and receiving electromagnetic and infrared pulses, but this method puts a significant demand on battery power. Scientists explored using an optical lens to photograph and analyze images as an alternative solution. However, processing the large quantity of image data at a fast enough rate proved difficult.
Samuel Tang, a professor at the University’s Department of Electrical Engineering, says that the team had to find a way to surmount the current limitations of AI technology, and turned to the natural world for inspiration. The team enlisted the help of Lo Chung-chuan, a professor specializing in the brains of fruit flies at the university’s Institute of Systems Neuroscience, and replicated the insect’s optical nerve to develop an energy-saving, highly efficient AI chip.
Photo courtesy of National Tsing Hua University
照片:國立清華大學提供
The researchers still had to overcome the problem of overloading the unmanned aerial vehicles’s processor with a vast amount of data. The sensor captured approximately 30 frames per second of visual data. If each frame were to be processed, not only would this be ineffective but it would drain the drone’s battery in a matter of minutes. Tang says that the cameras on modern smartphones capture pictures made of tens of millions of pixels, whereas a fruit fly only captures about 800 pixels. After the fruit fly’s brain receives an outline image, contrast and other basic sensory information, it filters out any unimportant data.
Lo says that the secret behind the fruit fly’s ability to detect movement in the air is the luminous flux created by moving organisms. These light trails in the surrounding sky are picked up within fly’s field of vision. The fly’s brain then analyzes these trails of light to understand the distance of objects in the surrounding environment. The same process applied to unmanned aerial vehicles allows them to avoid flying into obstacles, says Lo.
(Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
Photo courtesy of National Tsing Hua University
照片:國立清華大學提供
國立清華大學電機、生科教授組成跨領域團隊,利用果蠅,研發仿生物視覺神經的AI晶片,讓無人機以超省電狀態自動閃避障礙物飛行,不僅讓無人機以省電方式續電,未來還可廣泛應用在無人車、智慧眼鏡、機器手臂等領域。
清大團隊指出,無人裝置過去多利用發射並接收反射的電磁波、紅外線等來避開障礙物,卻很耗電,因此科學家想到用光學鏡頭來拍攝並分析影像來避障,但需要處理的影像資訊量太大,速率難以提升。
專研仿神經系統的清華大學電機系教授鄭桂忠認為,要突破目前人工智慧發展的限制,就要向生物界找靈感,於是找研究果蠅大腦的系統神經科學研究所教授羅中泉,利用果蠅的視神經系統,研發出仿昆蟲視覺的省電、高效率AI晶片。
而且要讓無人機學會像果蠅一樣避障飛行,就要解決電腦負荷資訊量太龐大問題。動態視覺每秒約有三十幀畫面,如看到的每幀畫面都要分析處理,不僅沒效率,可能幾分鐘就沒電了。鄭桂忠說,現在的相機、手機鏡頭動輒都是上千萬像素,但果蠅的眼睛大約只有八百像素,牠的大腦在處理收到的輪廓、對比等視覺訊號時,會自動過濾掉不重要的資訊。
羅中泉說,果蠅如何偵測「光流」的秘密,「光流」就是生物移動時周遭景物在視野中所留下的相對運動軌跡,大腦可藉由分析光流來了解周遭物體的距離;應用在無人機上,就能在飛行時避開障礙物。
(自由時報記者洪美秀)
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Mullet roe is a highly-priced delicacy typically served during special occasions like wedding banquets or Chinese New Year’s dinners, where families come together in celebration. The mullet roe can be prepared in various ways. It is usually pan-fried but can also be roasted or torched. To cook a pan-fried mullet roe, soak it in liquor or wine and peel off its membrane. Then, it is browned over a low fire and turned several times. Finally, the fried mullet roe is cut diagonally and is ready to be served. This dish is usually served with garlic scapes and daikon slices, but