The CAM-Brain Machine (CBM): an FPGA-based hardware tool that evolves a 1000 neuron-net circuit module in seconds and updates a 75 million neuron artificial brain for real-time robot control

This article introduces the "CAM-Brain Machine" (CBM), an FPGA-based piece of hardware that implements a genetic algorithm (GA) to evolve a cellular a utomata (CA)-based neural network circuit module (of approximately 1000 neu rons) in seconds (i.e., a complete run of a GA, with 10,000s of circuit gro wths and performance evaluations). Up to 65,000 of these modules (each of w hich is evolved with a specified function) can be downloaded into a gigabyt e of RAM space, and interconnected according to specified artificial brain architectures. This RAM, containing an "artificial brain" with up to 75 mil lion neurons, is then updated by the CBM at a rate of 130 billion CA cells per second. Such speeds should enable real-time control of robots and hopef ully the birth of a new research field that we call "brain building". The f irst such artificial brain (to be built by STARLAB starting in 2001) will b e used to control the behaviors of a life-sized robot kitten called "Roboki tty". (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.