Hardware Implementation of Ultra-Fast Obstacle Avoidance Based on a Single Photonic Spiking Neuron

Visual obstacle avoidance is widely applied to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and mobile robot fields. A simple system architecture, low power consumption, optimized processing, and real-time performance are extremely needed due to the limited payload of some mini UAVs. To address these issues, an obstacle avoidance system harnessing the rate encoding features of a photonic spiking neuron based on a Fabry-Perot (FP) laser is proposed, which simulates the monocular vision. Here, time to collision is used to describe the distance of obstacles. The experimental results show that the FP laser excites ultra-fast spike responses in real time for the following cases, facilitating the generation of control commands by motor neurons to realize accurate decision-making. Four cases of mobile obstacle avoidance scenarios, including "Constant velocity approach", "Approach and retreat", "The motion state involving stays", and "Approach with different velocities", and obstacle avoidance problems with multiple stationary obstacles appearing simultaneously are experimentally analyzed. The system exhibits a spike response rate of up to 5 GHz. This work proves the feasibility of applying the ultra-fast photonic obstacle avoidance system to UAVs and other fields in the future and highlights the potential of photonic neuromorphic processor platforms. An ultra-fast obstacle avoidance system based on a single photonic spiking neuron is presented. The camera is responsible for collecting external information. The Fabry-Perot (FP) laser neuron simulates the ganglion cells on the retina, which processes information. The motor neuron stimulates the brain, which makes decisions based on information transmitted through the optic nerve.image