The creation of fully autonomous robots necessitates advancements in neuromorphic chips, which will guarantee energy-efficient operation for artificial intelligence systems. Viktor Kazantsev, Head of the Neurotechnology Department at the Institute of Biology and Biomedicine at Lobachevsky University (NNGU), anticipates that the agricultural sector will be among the initial economic fields where these humanoid machines find practical use.
Speaking at the IV Forum of Future Technologies, Kazantsev pointed out that fully self-governing robots will require their controlling AI system to be housed directly on board. This requirement mandates the utmost in energy-efficient solutions, which in turn drives the progress of neuromorphic computing architectures. According to the researcher, processors capable of sustaining robot operations with minimal power consumption are currently under development at Nizhny Novgorod University, the Kurchatov Institute, and the Southern Federal University, and they are already poised to tackle certain applications.
Kazantsev emphasized that due to their resemblance to humans, humanoid robots would possess the capability to utilize tools and apparatuses designed for human farm workers. Unlike industrial robotic counterparts, these machines will not require specialized dedicated infrastructure to function. The scholar detailed the prospective role of these automatons in agriculture, noting their capacity to navigate greenhouses, harvest crops, identify plant pathologies, and execute other duties conventionally performed by human laborers.
Nevertheless, realizing this potential hinges on overcoming the challenge of sensorimotor integration within robotics. Kazantsev clarified that a machine must acquire the skill to gather vast quantities of data, categorize it, formulate an action plan, and subsequently execute that plan. It is precisely neuromorphic technologies that are expected to facilitate the processing of these extensive datasets while maintaining minimal energy draw, as reported by TASS.
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