2011 Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Workshop Topic Areas and other work groups

Workshop results: Enter the results of your topic areas here

There are four kinds of groups to subscribe to:

• Main Topic Areas
• Invited tutorials
• Method Tutorials
• Discussion Groups (separate page)
• Recreational Groups (separate page)

Main Topic Areas

Click on each topic title to see more details of the proposed work for the topic.

A cognitive robot detecting objects using sound, language, and vision

Members: Aleksandrs Ecins, Adam McLeod, Andreas Andreou, Austin Myers, Ching Teo, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Dimitris Pinotsis, Eirini Balta, Merve Kaya, Fabio Stefanini, Francisco Barranco, Cornelia Fermuller, John Harris, Je Hi An, Roi Kliper, Katerina Pastra, Kailash Patil, Malcolm Slaney, Mounya Elhilali, Ozlem Kalinli, Michael Pfeiffer, Ryad Benjamin Benosman, Samantha Adams, Shih-Chii Liu, Siddharth Joshi, Tomas Figliolia, Timmer Horiuchi, Tobi Delbruck, Yan Wu, Yezhou Yang

- Organized by Cornelia Fermuller, Yiannis Aloimonos, & Andreas Andreou

Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Methods for Guided Reinforcement Learning

Members: Aleksandrs Ecins, Ashley Liddiard, Adam McLeod, Austin Myers, Brian Mingus, Christian Huyck, Ching Teo, David Noelle, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Dimitris Pinotsis, Francesco Galluppi, John Harris, Fred Hamker, Janelle Szary, Jonathan Tapson, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Kailash Patil, Katie Zhuang, Mounya Elhilali, Matt van der Meer, nicolas oros, Michael Pfeiffer, Rajit Manohar, Ravi Shekhar, Samantha Adams, Sergio Davies, Shih-Chii Liu, Samuel Shapero, Timir Datta, Timmer Horiuchi, Trent Kriete, Tobi Delbruck, Terry Stewart, Yan Wu

- Organized by John Harris & David Noelle

Attention-Driven Scene Analysis

Members: Adam McLeod, Andreas Andreou, Bruce Bobier, Ching Teo, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Dimitris Pinotsis, Merve Kaya, Fabio Stefanini, Francisco Barranco, Fred Hamker, Janelle Szary, Roi Kliper, Kailash Patil, Malcolm Slaney, Mounya Elhilali, Nuno Vasconcelos, Ozlem Kalinli, Michael Pfeiffer, Shih-Chii Liu, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, Siddharth Joshi, Samuel Shapero, Trevor Agus, Tomas Figliolia, Timmer Horiuchi, Tobi Delbruck, Yan Wu, Yezhou Yang

- Organized by Julio Martinez-Trujillo & Mounya Elhilali with Malcolm Slaney

From single cells to cognition in software and hardware

Members: Aleksandrs Ecins, Ashley Liddiard, Andreas Andreou, Bruce Bobier, Chris Eliasmith, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Dimitris Pinotsis, Emmett McQuinn, Eric Shea-Brown, Fabio Stefanini, Francisco Barranco, Francesco Galluppi, Gert Cauwenberghs, Garrick Orchard, John Harris, Fred Hamker, Janelle Szary, Jonathan Tapson, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Katie Zhuang, Mounya Elhilali, Matt van der Meer, Michael Pfeiffer, Peiran Gao, Ryad Benjamin Benosman, Ravi Shekhar, Runchun Wang, Sergio Davies, Shih-Chii Liu, Siddharth Joshi, Samuel Shapero, Timir Datta, Timmer Horiuchi, Trent Kriete, Tobi Delbruck, Terry Stewart, Andre van Schaik, Yan Wu

- Organized by Kwabena Boahen & Chris Eliasmith

Computational Neuroscience Talks

Members: Aleksandrs Ecins, Ashley Liddiard, Andreas Andreou, Brian Mingus, Chris Eliasmith, Ching Teo, David Noelle, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Dimitris Pinotsis, Merve Kaya, Eric Shea-Brown, Francisco Barranco, Francesco Galluppi, Janelle Szary, Jonathan Tapson, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Kwabena Boahen, Mounya Elhilali, nicolas oros, Michael Pfeiffer, Peiran Gao, Rajit Manohar, Ryad Benjamin Benosman, Ravi Shekhar, Samantha Adams, Sergio Davies, Shih-Chii Liu, Trevor Agus, Tomas Figliolia, Trent Kriete, Tobi Delbruck, Andre van Schaik, Yan Wu, Yezhou Yang

- Organized by Terrence Sejnowski

Invited Tutorials

Neuromorphic Asynchronous Circuits

Members: Ashley Liddiard, Brian Mingus, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Emmett McQuinn, Fabio Stefanini, Francisco Barranco, Francesco Galluppi, Gert Cauwenberghs, John Harris, Je Hi An, Jonathan Tapson, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Kwabena Boahen, Katie Zhuang, Peiran Gao, Dr. Hasler, Rajit Manohar, Ryad Benjamin Benosman, Ravi Shekhar, Runchun Wang, saber moradi, Samantha Adams, Sergio Davies, Shih-Chii Liu, Siddharth Joshi, Trevor Agus, Timir Datta, Tomas Figliolia, Timmer Horiuchi, Tobi Delbruck, Terry Stewart, Yan Wu

Leaders: Rajit Manohar (Cornell), Shih-Chii Liu (UZH and ETH Zurich)

Subscribe to this special invited tutorial workgroup to learn and implement neuromorphic VLSI chips with asynchronous digital circuits. We will also provide a tutorial introduction to asynchronous design using state-of-the-art tools for designing asynchronous circuits and do hands-on exercises.

Methods Tutorials

Using SubVersion for projects tutorial

Members: Ashley Liddiard, Adam McLeod, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Dimitris Pinotsis, Eric Shea-Brown, Francisco Barranco, Jonathan Tapson, Roi Kliper, Kailash Patil, Ravi Shekhar, Runchun Wang, Samantha Adams, Siddharth Joshi, Trevor Agus, Timir Datta, Tomas Figliolia, Tobi Delbruck, Yan Wu

Leaders: Tobi Delbruck, Daniel B. Fasnacht

Subscribe to this group if you will working on any projects and have not used subversion. This is a mandatory tutorial for everyone doing any project who is not a Pro in SVN! This one-session tutorial will show you how to use the incredibly useful  SubVersion for version control, which means sharing code, data, etc in a managed way. What is subversion? Find out here. (We'll be using it in Telluride extensively). Take a look at the work group to pre-install the necessary tools.

jAER: event-based sensory-motor processing

Members: Aleksandrs Ecins, Ashley Liddiard, Adam McLeod, Ching Teo, Merve Kaya, Francisco Barranco, Cornelia Fermuller, Je Hi An, Jonathan Tapson, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Katie Zhuang, Matt van der Meer, Michael Pfeiffer, Rajit Manohar, Ryad Benjamin Benosman, Ravi Shekhar, Runchun Wang, Samantha Adams, Sergio Davies, Shih-Chii Liu, Siddharth Joshi, Trevor Agus, Tobi Delbruck, Terry Stewart, Yan Wu

Leaders: Tobi Delbruck

Learn about real time digital signal processing of address-event representation sensor output using [ jAER open source software] and hardware for AER, including using a [ silicon retina] and a  silicon cochlea to build a fast visual or auditory robot. These sensors will be used with jAER for several topic areas at the workshop.

ABCs of on-chip bias generators

Members: Cornelia Fermuller, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Rajit Manohar, Ravi Shekhar, Runchun Wang, Samantha Adams, Siddharth Joshi, Timir Datta, Tobi Delbruck, Terry Stewart, Yan Wu

Leader: Tobi Delbruck

Provide your chip with a diffuse neural parameter control. Join this 3 or 4 session mostly blackboard and interactive hardware demo tutorial to learn how to build neuromorphic chips that don't require any pots or off-chip analog components and that are temperature voltage and process insensitive with digital control of parameters.

SMD Soldering Tutorial

Members: Ashley Liddiard, Adam McLeod, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Je Hi An, Jonathan Tapson, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Katie Zhuang, Matt van der Meer, Runchun Wang, Samantha Adams, Sergio Davies, Siddharth Joshi, Trevor Agus, Timir Datta, Tomas Figliolia, Yan Wu

Leader: Daniel B. Fasnacht

If you are involved with building printed circuit boards, you may not know how deal with surface mount components. Because of their superiority in automated assembly, impedance characteristics and actual size, surface mounted components are nowadays often the only available package variant. It takes the correct equipment and some practice to hand solder them and to use them in designs. In this tutorial, we will show you how to solder SMD components and what equipment you will need to use these back at home.

USB Bootcamp

Members: Adam McLeod, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Merve Kaya, Fabio Stefanini, Francisco Barranco, Fred Hamker, Je Hi An, Jonathan Tapson, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Katie Zhuang, Ravi Shekhar, Runchun Wang, Samantha Adams, Sergio Davies, Siddharth Joshi, Trevor Agus, Tomas Figliolia, Tobi Delbruck, Yan Wu

Leaders: Daniel B. Fasnacht

Learn how to use USB (Universal Serial Bus - the thing you have on every PC) to interface to neuromorphic chips and actuators. Write your own USB driver, make a robot that uses a silicon retina, write microcontroller firmware for the first time. Unlock the power of combining ubiquitous PC digital computation with your own hardware.

Programming the robot under ROS

Members: Aleksandrs Ecins, Adam McLeod, Fabio Stefanini, Cornelia Fermuller, Je Hi An, Roi Kliper, Katie Zhuang, Mounya Elhilali, Michael Pfeiffer, Samantha Adams, Siddharth Joshi, Tomas Figliolia, Timmer Horiuchi, Tobi Delbruck

Leaders: Ching Teo, Yezhou Yang, Aleksandrs Ecins

In this 2-3 session tutorial you will learn the concepts of the Robot Operating System (ROS) and some of the libraries and tools provided with it, including OpenCV, PCL (the point cloud library) with the Kinect sensor, navigation and SLAM, and simulation using Gazebo.

Nengo and Large-Scale Neural Modelling

Members: Aleksandrs Ecins, Chris Eliasmith, David Noelle, Dimitris Pinotsis, Merve Kaya, Fabio Stefanini, Francesco Galluppi, Garrick Orchard, Je Hi An, Roi Kliper, Kwabena Boahen, Katie Zhuang, Mounya Elhilali, Michael Pfeiffer, Ravi Shekhar, Runchun Wang, Samantha Adams, Shih-Chii Liu, Samuel Shapero, Timir Datta, Tomas Figliolia, Timmer Horiuchi, Andre van Schaik

Leaders: Terry Stewart

Nengo is a neural compiler and simulator: a software tool for creating complex neural models. Neural groups are defined by setting their neurophysiological properties and the representational space over which they should be sensitive. Synaptic connections between groups (and recurrent connections) are defined by indicating the computation that should be performed on these representations. Nengo then solves for the required connection weights to achieve this. The resulting models can be simulated within Nengo through an interactive interface, or saved for use elsewhere. This system has been used to model digit recognition, list memory, pattern finding, motor control, visual attention, cognitive control, and planning, producing results consistent with human neurobiology, accuracy, and reaction times. This tutorial will introduce people to this software, showing how to create models using both a drag-and-drop interface and a Python scripting interface.

Hands-on Overview of FPAA Chips and Tools

Members: Adam McLeod, Fabio Stefanini, Francisco Barranco, Garrick Orchard, Jayawan Wijekoon, Roi Kliper, Dr. Hasler, Ravi Shekhar, Runchun Wang, Samantha Adams, Samuel Shapero, Timir Datta

Leaders: Hasler, Samuel Shapero

Large-Scale Field Programmable Analog Arrays (FPAA) enables a configurable approach to analog and mixed signal approaches typical of digital systems (i.e. FPGAs, uP). Many important aspects of neuromorphic design can be implemented in physical approaches; therefore having such techniques makes these device, circuit, and system approaches accessible to a wider audience. This tutorial will introduce in the theory, chips, boards, and tools over hands-on 2-3 sessions approach. These approaches provide a useful framework for discussing where to use neuromorphic type design approaches in a range of applications. We can also discuss related topics to these approaches, including programmable (floating-gate) circuits, that enable memory, programmable devices, and adaptive devices in a dense, low-power way into our neuromorphic systems.