FPGA implementation of spiking neural networks - An initial step towards building tangible collaborative autonomous agents

This paper contains the results of an initial study into the FPGA implementation of a spiking neural network This work was undertaken as a task in a project that aims to design and develop a new kind of tangible Collaborative Autonomous Agent. The project intends to exploit/investigate methods for engineering emergent collective behaviour in large societies of actual miniature agents that can learn and evolve. Such multi-agent systems could be used to detect and collectively repair faults in a variety of applications where it is difficult for humans to gain access, such as fluidic environments found in critical components of material/industrial systems. The initial achievement of implementation of a spiking neural network on a FPGA hardware platform and results of a robotic wall following task are discussed by comparison with software driven robots and simulations.