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A low-power biomimetic collision detector based on an in-memory molybdenum disulfide photodetector

Nature Electronics volume 3, pages 646–655 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Accurately detecting a potential collision and triggering a timely escape response is critical in the field of robotics and autonomous vehicle safety. The lobula giant movement detector (LGMD) neuron in locusts can detect an approaching object and prevent collisions within a swarm of millions of locusts. This single neuronal cell performs nonlinear mathematical operations on visual stimuli to elicit an escape response with minimal energy expenditure. Collision avoidance models based on image processing algorithms have been implemented using analogue very-large-scale-integration designs, but none is as efficient as this neuron in terms of energy consumption or size. Here we report a nanoscale collision detector that mimics the escape response of the LGMD neuron. The detector comprises a monolayer molybdenum disulfide photodetector stacked on top of a non-volatile and programmable floating-gate memory architecture. It consumes a small amount of energy (in the range of nanojoules) and has a small device footprint (~1 µm × 5 µm).

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Fig. 1: Biological and artificial collision detectors.
Fig. 2: Monolayer MoS2 photodetector and its response to looming stimuli.
Fig. 3: Inhibitory response of MoS2 FET to programming stimuli.
Fig. 4: Mimicking the escape response of LGMD neurons.
Fig. 5: Compact model for a biomimetic collision detector.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

The codes used for plotting the data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported through grant number FA9550-17-1-0018 from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) through the Young Investigator Program and Army Research Office (ARO) through contract no. W911NF1920338. We also acknowledge the support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Pennsylvania State University’s 2D Crystal Consortium–Materials Innovation Platform (2DCC-MIP) under NSF cooperative agreement DMR-1539916.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Darsith Jayachandran, Aaryan Oberoi.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Darsith Jayachandran, Aaryan Oberoi, Amritanand Sebastian & Saptarshi Das

  2. 2D Crystal Consortium – Materials Innovation Platform, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Tanushree H. Choudhury & Joan M. Redwing

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri, India

    Balakrishnan Shankar

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Joan M. Redwing & Saptarshi Das

  5. Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Joan M. Redwing & Saptarshi Das

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Contributions

S.D. conceived the idea, designed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. D.J., A.O. and S.D. performed the experiments, analysed the data, discussed the results and agreed on their implications. A.S. fabricated the devices. T.H.C. synthesized the MoS2 monolayers. All the authors contributed to the preparation of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Saptarshi Das.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Table 1, Figs. 1–18 and discussions 1–15.

Supplementary Video 1

Scenario depicting a car approaching the collision detector on a direct collision course.

Supplementary Video 2

Visual excitation experienced by the collision detector from an approaching car.

Supplementary Video 3

Scenario depicting a car approaching a wall and the corresponding visual excitation experienced by the collision detector from the reflected light.

Supplementary Video 4

Visual excitation due to increasing light intensity from a static source.

Supplementary Video 5

Simulated escape response from a multipixel collision detector array.

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Jayachandran, D., Oberoi, A., Sebastian, A. et al. A low-power biomimetic collision detector based on an in-memory molybdenum disulfide photodetector. Nat Electron 3, 646–655 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-020-00466-9

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