Analog VLSI Circuits for Sensorimotor Feedback

Abstract

This thesis presents a design framework and circuit implementations for integrating sensory and motor processing onto very large-scale integrated (VLSI) chips. The designs consist of analog circuits that are composed of bipolar and subthreshold MOS transistors. The primary emphasis in this work is the transformation from the spatially-encoded representation found in sensory images to a scalar representation that is useful for controlling motor systems. The thesis begins with a discussion of the aggregation of sensory signals and the resulting extraction of high-level features from sensory images. An integrated circuit that computes the centroid of a visual image is presented. A theoretical analysis of the function of this circuit in stimulus localization and a detailed error analysis are also presented. Next, the control of motors using pulse trains is discussed. Pulse-generating circuits for use in bidirectional motor control and the implementation of traditional control schemes are presented. A method for analyzing the operation of these controllers is also discussed. Finally, a framework for the combination of sensory aggregation and pulse-encoded outputs is presented. The need for signal normalization and circuits to perform this task are discussed. Two complete sensorimotor feedback systems are presented.