Poetic: A Hardware Prototyping Platform With Bioinspired Capabilities

In this paper, we present the VLSI realization of a configurable device called POEtic. This device encompasses a custom 32-bit RISC microprocessor and a custom FPGA with dynamic routing capabilities and also with dynamic and self-configuration abilities. The POEtic device can be used as a standalone general-purpose prototyping platform with dynamic reconfiguration capabilities. Additionally, the system interface included in the device and the specific features of the custom FPGA permit to construct an electronic tissue able to reproduce some of the mechanisms present in living beings, like evolution, development, self-repair or learning. In this paper, we describe the details of its physical realization, and we highlight its unique features that make it an ideal platform for prototyping dynamic hardware