Fast sensory motor control based on event-based hybrid neuromorphic-procedural system

Fast sensory-motor processing is challenging when using traditional frame-based cameras and computers. Here we show how a hybrid neuromorphic-procedural system consisting of an address-event silicon retina, a computer, and a servo motor can be used to implement a fast sensory-motor reactive controller to track and block balls shot at a goal. The system consists of a 128x128 retina that asynchronously reports scene reflectance changes, a laptop PC, and a servo motor controller. Components are interconnected by USB. The retina looks down onto the field in front of the goal. Moving objects are tracked by an event-driven cluster tracker algorithm that detects the ball as the nearest object that is approaching the goal. The ball's position and velocity are used to control the servo motor. Running under Windows XP, the reaction latency is 2.8±0.5 ms at a CPU load of <10% with a minimum observed latency of 1.8 ms. A 2 GHz Pentium M laptop can process at >1 million events per second (Meps), although fast balls only create 30 keps. This system demonstrates the advantages of hybrid event-based sensory motor processing.