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Development of hardware neural networks generating driving waveform for electrostatic actuator

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Abstract

The authors are studying to control the locomotion of the microrobot system using hardware neural networks (HNN). In previous research, a waveform generator was used to drive the electrostatic actuators of the microrobot. Once the driving circuit is constructed using HNN, the controlling circuit and the driving circuit can be integrated into a single chip. In this paper, the authors will propose the driving circuit using HNN. The HNN consists of two self-oscillating cell body models, six separately-excited cell body models, four excitatory-synaptic models, and six inhibitory-synaptic models. The single self-oscillating cell body model outputs the electrical oscillated square waveform as 3 MHz of frequency. The proposed HNN generates a long delay without using large capacitors. As a result, the proposed HNN can generate the driving waveform of electrostatic actuators with variable frequency. The frequency of the driving waveform could vary from 50 to 100 Hz. Also, the proposed HNN connected to the Central Pattern Generator (CPG) model. The CPG model with proposed HNN outputs the driving waveform of the electrostatic actuator which can perform the tripod gait pattern of the microrobot.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18K04060. Also, the part of this research supported by Amano Institute of Technology Public Interest Incorporated Foundation. The fabrication of the microrobot was supported by Research Center for Micro Functional Devices, Nihon University. The VLSI chip (Fig. 1) in this study has been fabricated by Digian Technology, Inc. This work is supported by VLSI Design and Education Center (VDEC), the University of Tokyo in collaboration with Synopsys, Inc., Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and Mentor Graphics, Inc. The VLSI chip in this study has been fabricated in the chip fabrication program of VLSI Design and Education Center (VDEC), the University of Tokyo in collaboration with On-Semiconductor Niigata, and Toppan Printing Corporation. Fabrication of the inchworm motors was supported by the UC Berkeley Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory. The authors would like to acknowledge the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center and the UC Berkeley Swarm Lab for their continued support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nihon University, 7-24-1 Narashinodai, Funabashi, Chiba, 274-8501, Japan

    Takuro Sasaki, Mika Kurosawa, Masaya Ohara, Yuichiro Hayakawa, Daisuke Noguchi, Yuki Takei, Minami Kaneko, Fumio Uchikoba & Ken Saito

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  1. Takuro Sasaki
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  2. Mika Kurosawa
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  3. Masaya Ohara
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  4. Yuichiro Hayakawa
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  5. Daisuke Noguchi
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  6. Yuki Takei
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  7. Minami Kaneko
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  8. Fumio Uchikoba
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  9. Ken Saito
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Correspondence to Takuro Sasaki.

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Sasaki, T., Kurosawa, M., Ohara, M. et al. Development of hardware neural networks generating driving waveform for electrostatic actuator. Artif Life Robotics 25, 446–452 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-020-00608-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-020-00608-4

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