Hardware Podcasts

Understanding Real Brains with Robotic Rats, and Vice Versa

EE Times Current · 25 Sept 2023 · 39m

What this episode covers

Dr. Mitra Hartmann, a professor at Northwestern University, explains how modeling rat whisker mechanics and neural processing informs both neuroscience and neuromorphic engineering. She details the development of a 3D physics-based simulation and soft robot to study how rats localize objects through whisker bending and skin stretch, addressing the challenge of closed-loop sensorimotor control. Hosts Julia D’Angelo and Ralph Etienne-Cummings discuss how these embodied systems validate circuit hypotheses and highlight the reciprocal benefits of neuromorphic hardware, such as Reed Harrison’s neural recording chips, for advancing biological research.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Northwestern University, Caltech, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
Products
Reed Harrison's neural recording device
Chips
Loihi
Also
André Vanshaik

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