Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2022 - 24

Robotics & Automation
AI that Mimics the Human Eye
The device outperforms the eye in the number of wavelengths it can see and has
applications in self-driving vehicles and robotics.
University of Central Florida, Gainesville, FL
R
esearchers at University of Central Florida
have developed an artificial intelligence
device that mimics the retina of the
eye. The development could lead to advanced
AI that can instantly recognize
what it sees, like automatic descriptions of
pictures taken by a camera or phone.
The device also outperforms the eye in
the number of wavelengths it can see, from
ultraviolet to visible light and on to the infrared
spectrum. Its uniqueness also comes
from its ability to integrate three different
operations into one. Current intelligent
imaging technology, like what's used in
self-driving vehicles, requires separate sensing,
memorization, and processing of data.
By combining the three steps, the
UCF-designed device is many times faster
than current technology, according to the
researchers. The technology is also very
small, with hundreds of the devices fitting
on a one-inch-wide chip.
" It will change the way artificial intelligence
is realized today, " said Principal Investigator
Tania Roy, an Assistant Professor
in UCF's Department of Materials Science
and Engineering and NanoScience TechThe
technology is very small, with hundreds of
the devices fitting on a one-inch-wide chip. (Image:
University of Central Florida)
nology Center. " Today, everything is discrete
components and running on conventional
hardware. And here, we have the
capacity to do in-sensor computing using a
single device on one small platform. "
The technology expands upon previous
work by the research team that created
brain-like devices that can enable AI to
work in remote regions and space. " We
had devices, which behaved like the synapses
of the human brain, but still, we
were not feeding them the image directly, "
said Roy. " Now, by adding image sensing
ability to them, we have synapse-like
devices that act like 'smart pixels' in a
camera by sensing, processing, and recognizing
images simultaneously. "
For self-driving vehicles, the versatility of
the device will allow for safer driving in a
range of conditions, including at night. According
to the team, there is no reported
device like this, which can operate simultaneously
in ultraviolet range and visible
wavelength as well as infrared wavelength.
Besides self-driving vehicles, the technology
has applications in robotics. Key to
the technology is the engineering of nanoscale
surfaces made of molybdenum
disulfide and platinum ditelluride to allow
for multi-wavelength sensing and memory.
The researchers said the technology
could become available for use in the next
five to 10 years.
For more information, contact Heather
(Smith) Lovett at Heather.Lovett@
ucf.edu; 407-823-3428.
Robot Overcomes Uncertainty to Retrieve Buried Objects
A new robotic system fuses visual information and radio-frequency signals to efficiently find
hidden items buried under a pile of objects.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
R
etrieving objects from a pile is a
daunting task for a robot as it involves
complex reasoning about the
pile and objects in it, which presents a
steep challenge. MIT researchers previously
demonstrated a robotic arm that
combines visual information and radio
frequency (RF) signals to find hidden
objects that were tagged with RFID tags
(which reflect signals sent by an antenna).
Building off that work, they have
now developed a new system that can
efficiently retrieve any object buried in
a pile. As long as some items in the pile
have RFID tags, the target item does not
need to be tagged for the system to recover
it.
The algorithms behind the system,
known as FuseBot, reason about the
24
The robotic system uses radio frequency signals, computer vision, and complex reasoning to efficiently
find items hidden under a pile. (Image: James Day, MIT Media Lab)
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Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2022

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