A Hardware-Based Orientation Detection System Using Dendritic Computation

Studying how objects are positioned is vital for improving technologies like robots, cameras, and virtual reality. In our earlier papers, we introduced a bio-inspired artificial visual system for orientation detection, demonstrating its superiority over traditional systems with higher recognition rates, greater biological resemblance, and increased resistance to noise. In this paper, we propose a hardware-based orientation detection system (ODS). The ODS is implemented by a multiple dendritic neuron model (DNM), and a neuronal pruning scheme for the DNM is proposed. After performing the neuronal pruning, only the synapses in the direct and inverse connections states are retained. The former can be realized by a comparator, and the latter can be replaced by a combination of a comparator and a logic NOT gate. For the dendritic function, the connection of synapses on dendrites can be realized with logic AND gates. Then, the output of the neuron is equivalent to a logic OR gate. Compared with other machine learning methods, this logic circuit circumvents floating-point arithmetic and therefore requires very little computing resources to perform complex classification. Furthermore, the ODS can be designed based on experience, so no learning process is required. The superiority of ODS is verified by experiments on binary, grayscale, and color image datasets. The ability to process data rapidly owing to advantages such as parallel computation and simple hardware implementation allows the ODS to be desirable in the era of big data. It is worth mentioning that the experimental results are corroborated with anatomical, physiological, and neuroscientific studies, which may provide us with a new insight for understanding the complex functions in the human brain.