'Human-like' brain helps robot out of a maze

Machine learning and neural networks have become all the rage in recent years, and quite understandably so, considering their many successes in image recognition, medical diagnosis, e-commerce and many other fields. This power issue is one of the reasons that researchers have been trying to develop computers that are much more energy efficient. And to find a solution many are finding inspiration in the human brain, a thinking machine unrivalled in its low power consumption due to how it combines memory and processing. Neurons in our brain communicate with one another through so-called synapses, which are strengthened each time information flows through them. It is this plasticity that ensures that humans remember and learn. "In our research, we have taken this model to develop a robot that is able to learn to move through a labyrinth," explains Imke Krauhausen, PhD student at the department of Mechanical Engineering at TU/e and principal author of the paper.