Lensless Smart Sensors

A recent study conducted by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology hypothesizes that hawkmoths manage complex sensing and control challenges by slowing their brains to improve vision under low-light conditions. As Futurity’s John Toon notes, scientists have long been aware of moths using their specialized eye structures to maximize the amount of light they can capture. However, the above-mentioned study focuses on how hawkmoths slow their nervous systems to optimize the use of limited light.

A team of researchers from the University of Washington (UW) has successfully demonstrated that a WiFi router is capable of providing far field wireless power – without compromising the network’s communication performance.

Evolutionary biologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have confirmed that octopi can “see” without using their eyes. Indeed, octopus skin apparently contains the pigment proteins found in eyes – making it responsive to light.

Steve Taylor, a senior consultant at The Technology Partnership (TTP), has recommended that semiconductor companies turn their attention to the Internet of Sensors (IoS). According to Taylor, it’s actually the Internet of Sensors and resulting data that matters most. “The Internet of Things (IoT) is, to a large extent, a solution looking for a problem, rather than the other way round,” he explained. “There’s simply no point in objects talking to each other just for the sake of it and the IoT only provides the communications backbone.”

Equipped with forelimbs that form webbed wings, bats are the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. Although most microbat species have evolved small and poorly developed eyes, their navigational capabilities are bolstered by echolocation and a unique array of sensory receptors embedded in the wings.

On Monday, April 13, the Defense Advanced Research Program Administration (DARPA) held a one-day Neural Engineering and System Design BootCamp outside Washington DC. Phillip Alvelda, Program Manager in the Biological Technologies Office of DARPA and organizer of the event, reminded the roughly 130 invited participants that DARPA had a history of conceiving and catalyzing such industry changing technologies as the ARPAnet (the foundation for the Internet), global positioning system (GPS), self-driving cars, and others; he said that DARPA had recently concluded that machine-brain interfaces are poised to become another such industry changing technology. The Boot Camp brought leaders to present the latest progress in component technologies, explore collaborations, and help strategize the way forward for this promising field, ultimately to commercialization. I was privileged to be one of just 13 participants invited to present and I spoke on the potential applications of Rambus’ lensless smart sensor technology in this emerging field.