Irish scientists are working on developing a new technology that mimics neuron organization and operation of the human brain, to incorporate into robots.

Researchers from the National University of Ireland, Galway and experts from the University of Ulster have teamed up to create the biologically inspired integrated circuit technology.

With it, the goal is to have robots that can ‘think’ and respond to human command so that they can partake in rescue missions, the disposal of bombs and carrying out repairs in space, reported the Herald.

“Inspired by the operation and structure of the brain we have successfully developed a hardware spiking neural network and have used this device for robotics control,” said Dr. Fearghal Morgan, Director of Bio-Inspired Electronics and NUI Galway.
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Cameras and ultrasonic sensors with sensing devices are used as the robot’s eyes and ears. The neural network adjusts to the behavior of the robot and sends signals to the limbs to activate activities like walking, grabbing and avoiding obstacles on its way.

The training process for the machine is similar to the training of a human brain. The robot’s brain will react to conditioning by creating links between its neurons and the conditions that make the neurons react.

The device can be trained for various functions and be retrained as often as needed.
Researches say that although the technology is still infantile, this discovery is the beginning of intelligent life as portrayed on Hollywood films like “I, Robot,” “Artificial Intelligence,” or “Wall-E,” and robots like those are well on their way.