# Understanding Real Brains with Robotic Rats, and Vice Versa

- Show: [EE Times Current](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current)
- Published: 2023-09-25
- Length: 39m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2023-09-25-understanding-real-brains-with-robotic-rats-and-vice-versa
- Listen: https://podcast.show/aspencore/episode/118917097/

## Summary

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.

## Chapters

- [0:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2023-09-25-understanding-real-brains-with-robotic-rats-and-vice-versa#t=3) Introduction: EE Times Current Highlights and Guest Overview
- [2:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2023-09-25-understanding-real-brains-with-robotic-rats-and-vice-versa#t=131) Mitra Hartmann's Background: From Physics to Caltech and JPL
- [4:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2023-09-25-understanding-real-brains-with-robotic-rats-and-vice-versa#t=286) The Rat Whisker Model: Mechanics, Topography, and Closed-Loop Control
- [12:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2023-09-25-understanding-real-brains-with-robotic-rats-and-vice-versa#t=755) Building the Simulation and Soft Robot: Solving the Localization Problem
- [19:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2023-09-25-understanding-real-brains-with-robotic-rats-and-vice-versa#t=1157) Neuromorphic Engineering: The Triangle of Biology, Algorithms, and Chips
- [20:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2023-09-25-understanding-real-brains-with-robotic-rats-and-vice-versa#t=1250) Ralph Etienne-Cummings on Embodiment, Mapping, and Circuit Testing
- [34:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2023-09-25-understanding-real-brains-with-robotic-rats-and-vice-versa#t=2051) Neuromorphic Hardware Impact: Reed Harrison’s Neural Recording Chips

## Topics

- [Mechanical engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/mechanical-engineering)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Medical & health devices](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/medical-devices)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Northwestern University (company)
- Caltech (company)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (company)
- Johns Hopkins University (company)
- Reed Harrison's neural recording device (product)
- Loihi (chip)
- André Vanshaik (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode Forty-Seven: Helmut Hauser](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2023-05-05-episode-forty-seven-helmut-hauser) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode Twenty-Seven: Simon Wanstall](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-11-25-episode-twenty-seven-simon-wanstall) (Robot Talk)
- [233. Reading a Fish’s Mind to Build Smarter Robots](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2025-11-18-233-reading-a-fishs-mind-to-build-smarter-robots) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [35. The Feisty Crustacean That Inspired A New Generation of Super Robots](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-09-14-35-the-feisty-crustacean-that-inspired-a-new-generation-of-super-robots) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [63. Immune System Inspired AI & Electric Skin](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2022-03-29-63-immune-system-inspired-ai-electric-skin) (The Next Byte Podcast)

## Citing this page

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