Seminar Details
2021-10-05 (14h) : Neuromorphic control principles
At Euler building (room a.002)
Organized by Mathematical Engineering
Speaker :
Guillaume Drion (Université de Liège)
Abstract :
Owing to the recent advances in control engineering and machine learning, and combined with the remarkable improvement of sensors, actuators and computer power, modern high-performance computing systems far surpass human performance in a plethora of complex tasks. However, they consume megawatts of power, are optimized for specific tasks, and are hardly portable. In sharp contrast, biological brains are energy-efficient, are polyvalent, and show impressive adaptive capabilities in uncertain environments. These main differences between brains and current computing architectures are a crucial bottleneck for the expansion of automation in modern society. This situation has led many universities and world-leading companies, which include IBM, Intel, IMEC, or Thales, to investigate novel, brain-inspired computing systems and artificial intelligence technologies, an approach called neuromorphic computing. In this talk, we will approach the design of neuromorphic computing systems from a control engineering approach. We will first study how excitability, a key property of neuronal signaling, can be analyzed and designed following a nonlinear, multiscale feedback approach. Secondly, we will see how such neuromorphic systems can be controlled through loop shaping via a physiological mechanism called neuromodulation. Finally, we will exploit these brain-inspired mechanisms to improve artificial neural network adaptivity and long-term memory on the one hand, and design robust and controllable neuromorphic electronic systems on the other hand