Deep Neural Nets for Micro-controllers

mind machineAt the moment I’m writing an integer-based library to bring neural networks to micro-controllers. This is intended to support the ARM and AVR devices. The idea here is that even though we might think of neural networks as the domain of super computers, for small scale robots we can do a lot of interesting things with smaller neural networks. For example a four layer convolutional neural network with about 18,000 parameters can process a 32×32 video frame at 8 frames per second on the ATmega328, according to code that I implemented last year.

For small networks, there can be some on-line learning, which might be useful to learn control systems with a few inputs and outputs, connecting for example IMU axes or simple sensors to servos or motors, trained with deep reinforcement learning. This is the scenario that I’m experimenting with and trying to enable for small, low power, and cheap interactive robots and toys.

For more complex processing where insufficient RAM is available to store weights, a fixed network can be stored in ROM built from weights that have been trained off line using python code.

Two-wheeled rolling robot

I am passionate about machine learning, intelligence, and robotics. I have a number of robot projects on the go. I wanted to build a platform that would allow me to do a lot of complex experiments on sensor fusion and creating intelligent emergent behaviors. I needed to make a robot that has quite a number of sensor inputs, but not so many that it would overload the processing capability to do anything useful. I decided to make a simple two-wheeled robotic platform that has a lot of flexibility and load it up with appropriate sensors.

One of the aspects of my robotics philosophy is that information from simple sensors can be highly informative and that current robot designs jump too quickly to complex high bandwidth data sources and they then do a marginal job of interpreting the information from those sources in software. I am inspired by insects and other small creatures that seem to have small numbers of sensors, for example eyes with only a few photoreceptors, but still have very complex adaptive behaviors which are often leagues beyond what we can do with today’s machines. Part of this is due to the efficiency with which they extract every little bit of useful information out of the sensory data, including correlations we would never think of. I am interested in applying experience gained from machine learning in order to extract from sensors information that could not easily be determined by using hand coded algorithms.

Rolling RobotMy rolling robot has two wheels and these have wheel encoders to give a feedback of position or wheel rotation speed. It also has an infra red range finder that can indicate the Continue reading

Man vs AI: Ethics and the Future of Machines

mind_machine_by_neodecayRecent strides in artificial intelligence from big name players such as Google, Facebook, and Baidu, as well as increasingly successful heterogenous systems like IBM’s Watson have provoked fear and excitement amongst the intelligentsia in equal measures. Public figures, such as Steven Hawking, are concerned, and not surprisingly the popular press are excited to cover it. Recently, Elon Musk has become worried that AI might eventually spell doom for the human race. He donated $10 million to fund the Future of Life organization whose stated goal is to ensure AI remains beneficial and does not threaten our wellbeing. An open letter by this organization, titled “Research Priorities for Robust and Beneficial Artificial Intelligence,” was signed by hundreds of research leaders. Influential futurist, Ray Kurzweil, has popularized the idea of the technological singularity where intelligent systems surpass human capabilities and leave us marginalized at best.
Continue reading

What is Deep Learning?

dlIn recent years the concept of deep learning has been gaining widespread attention. The media frequently reports on talent acquisitions in this field, such as those by Google and Facebook, and startups which claim to employ deep learning are met with enthusiasm. Gratuitous comparisons with the human brain are frequent. But is this just a trendy buzz word? What exactly is deep learning and how is it relevant to developments in machine intelligence?

For many researchers, deep learning is simply a continuation of the multi-decade advancement in our ability to make use of large scale neural networks. Let’s first take a quick tour of the problems that neural networks and related technologies are trying to solve, and later we will examine the deep learning architectures in greater detail.

Machine learning generally breaks down into two application areas which are closely related: classification and regression. Continue reading

Diaspora of the Machines

130912171352-01-voyager-story-topRecently NASA has been in the news with the successful launch and recovery of the Orion space craft. This was a four hour two orbit test of the new capsule that is intended to support future manned missions beyond the Earth. In addition, there has been a huge growth of the space industry in the last decade including commercial ventures such as Space X and Blue Origin, as well as proposals to mine the asteroids. There is always a tremendous interest in sending people to space, and in fact it seems to be an imperative for the human race to escape potential future disaster scenarios on the Earth by seeking solace among the stars.
Continue reading