Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Brain-Inspired Computer Architectures

The development of novel brain-inspired computer architectures is the objective of the research work envisaged by a scientific consortium consisting of 13 work groups from 6 European countries. Neurobiologists, computer scientists, physicists and engineers have joined forces to embark on a project called “BrainScaleS”. In the period 2011-2014, this integrated venture will receive total funding of 8.5 million euros from the European Commission. Project coordinator is Karlheinz Meier of Heidelberg University’s Kirchhoff Institute of Physics.

The scientists involved in the BrainScaleS consortium intend to devise, build and operate a “neuromorphic” research facility. This term refers to systems based on electronic models of neural microcircuits. Their design is geared to the neurobiological structures of the nervous system, which means that they function quite differently from the numeric simulations of conventional high-performance computers. “Neuromorphic systems should display a number of important properties of the brain,” Karlheinz Meier explains. “That includes fault tolerance, learning capability and very low energy consumption.”

The planned neuromorphic facility will be able to implement architectures of any kind by connecting up over a million electronically and biologically inspired neurons with almost a billion adaptive synapses. The system will work about 10,000 times faster than its biological model and is thus an ideal device for investigating potential network architectures. User access via the Internet is planned. The experiments envisaged so far include not only biologically realistic perception-action loops but also experiments on the processing of generic, non-biological data.

The BrainScaleS project builds on a precursor project successfully completed in 2010 and also coordinated by Karlheinz Meier: “Fast Analog Computing with Emergent Transient States” (FACETS). In the new project, Heidelberg takes the lead in devising, constructing and operating the neuromorphic facility. BrainScaleS receives funding in the framework of the European Union’s “Future and Emerging Technologies” programme (FET), which focuses on the development of pioneering technologies. The work done in Heidelberg will be financed in the amount of 2 million euros.

For more information on BrainScaleS, go to the project website at http://www.BrainScaleS.eu

Marietta Fuhrmann-Koch | idw
Further information:
http://www.BrainScaleS.eu
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de

Im Focus: Why we need erasable MRI scans

New technology could allow an MRI contrast agent to 'blink off,' helping doctors diagnose disease

Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is a widely used medical tool for taking pictures of the insides of our body. One way to make MRI scans easier to read is...

Im Focus: BAM@Hannover Messe: innovative 3D printing method for space flight

At the Hannover Messe 2018, the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und-prüfung (BAM) will show how, in the future, astronauts could produce their own tools or spare parts in zero gravity using 3D printing. This will reduce, weight and transport costs for space missions. Visitors can experience the innovative additive manufacturing process live at the fair.

Powder-based additive manufacturing in zero gravity is the name of the project in which a component is produced by applying metallic powder layers and then...

Im Focus: Molecules Brilliantly Illuminated

Physicists at the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics, which is jointly run by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, have developed a high-power laser system that generates ultrashort pulses of light covering a large share of the mid-infrared spectrum. The researchers envisage a wide range of applications for the technology – in the early diagnosis of cancer, for instance.

Molecules are the building blocks of life. Like all other organisms, we are made of them. They control our biorhythm, and they can also reflect our state of...

Im Focus: Spider silk key to new bone-fixing composite

University of Connecticut researchers have created a biodegradable composite made of silk fibers that can be used to repair broken load-bearing bones without the complications sometimes presented by other materials.

Repairing major load-bearing bones such as those in the leg can be a long and uncomfortable process.

Im Focus: Writing and deleting magnets with lasers

Study published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces is the outcome of an international effort that included teams from Dresden and Berlin in Germany, and the US.

Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) together with colleagues from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the University of Virginia...