Copyright © 2006 The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers
Special Section on Analog Circuit Techniques and Related Topics -- Papers |
Analog Integrated Circuit for Detection of an Approaching Object with Simple-Shape Recognition Based on Lower Animal Vision
1 The authors are with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi-shi, 441-8580 Japan. E-mail: nishio{at}yonago-k.ac.jp, 2 The author is now with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Yonago National College of Technology, Yonago-shi, 683-8502 Japan.
A network for the detection of an approaching object with simple-shape recognition is proposed based on lower animal vision. The locust can detect an approaching object through a simple process in the descending contralateral movement detector (DCMD) in the locust brain, by which the approach velocity and direction of the object is determined. The frog can recognize simple shapes through a simple process in the tectum and thalamus in the frog brain. The proposed network is constructed of simple analog complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits. The integrated circuit of the proposed network is fabricated with the 1.2 µm CMOS process. Measured results for the proposed circuit indicate that the approach velocity and direction of an object can be detected by the output current of the analog circuit based on the DCMD response. The shape of moving objects having simple shapes, such as circles, squares, triangles and rectangles, was recognized using the proposed frog-visual-system-based circuit.
Key Words: analog integrated circuit, edge detection, motion sensor, shape recognition, vision chip
Manuscript received June 18, 2005. Manuscript revised September 27, 2005. Final manuscript received October 20, 2005.