The Animat: New Frontiers in Whole Brain Modeling

Abstract

The researchers at Boston University (BU)'s Neuromorphics Laboratory, part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science, and Technology (CELEST), are working in collaboration with the engineers and scientists at Hewlett-Packard (HP) to implement neural models of intelligent processes for the next generation of dense, low-power, computer hardware that will use memristive technology to bring data closer to the processor where computation occurs. The HP and BU teams are jointly designing an optimal infrastructure, simulation, and software platform to build an artificial brain. The resulting Cog Ex Machina (Cog) software platform has been successfully used to implement a large-scale, multicomponent brain system that is able to simulate some key rat behavioral results in a virtual environment and has been applied to control robotic platforms as they learn to interact with their environment.