{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T03:13:10Z","timestamp":1782789190819,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2012,3,26]],"date-time":"2012-03-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1332720000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this paper we present a neuro-inspired spike-based close-loop controller written in VHDL and implemented for FPGAs. This controller has been focused on controlling a DC motor speed, but only using spikes for information representation, processing and DC motor driving. It could be applied to other motors with proper driver adaptation. This controller architecture represents one of the latest layers in a Spiking Neural Network (SNN), which implements a bridge between robotics actuators and spike-based processing layers and sensors. The presented control system fuses actuation and sensors information as spikes streams, processing these spikes in hard real-time, implementing a massively parallel information processing system, through specialized spike-based circuits. This spike-based close-loop controller has been implemented into an AER platform, designed in our labs, that allows direct control of DC motors: the AER-Robot. Experimental results evidence the viability of the implementation of spike-based controllers, and hardware synthesis denotes low hardware requirements that allow replicating this controller in a high number of parallel controllers working together to allow a real-time robot control.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s120403831","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,3,26]],"date-time":"2012-03-26T11:04:58Z","timestamp":1332759898000},"page":"3831-3856","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":69,"title":["A Neuro-Inspired Spike-Based PID Motor Controller for Multi-Motor Robots with Low Cost FPGAs"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Angel","family":"Jimenez-Fernandez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Deparment of Computer Architecture and Technology, Universidad de Sevilla, ETSI Inform\u00e1tca, Avd. Reina Mercedes s\/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gabriel","family":"Jimenez-Moreno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Deparment of Computer Architecture and Technology, Universidad de Sevilla, ETSI Inform\u00e1tca, Avd. Reina Mercedes s\/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alejandro","family":"Linares-Barranco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Deparment of Computer Architecture and Technology, Universidad de Sevilla, ETSI Inform\u00e1tca, Avd. Reina Mercedes s\/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5669-9111","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manuel J.","family":"Dominguez-Morales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Deparment of Computer Architecture and Technology, Universidad de Sevilla, ETSI Inform\u00e1tca, Avd. Reina Mercedes s\/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rafael","family":"Paz-Vicente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Deparment of Computer Architecture and Technology, Universidad de Sevilla, ETSI Inform\u00e1tca, Avd. Reina Mercedes s\/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8733-1811","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anton","family":"Civit-Balcells","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Deparment of Computer Architecture and Technology, Universidad de Sevilla, ETSI Inform\u00e1tca, Avd. Reina Mercedes s\/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2012,3,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"566","DOI":"10.1109\/JSSC.2007.914337","article-title":"A 128 \u00d7 128 120 dB 15 \u03bcs latency asynchronous temporal contrast vision sensor","volume":"43","author":"Lichtsteiner","year":"2008","journal-title":"IEEE J Solid-State Circuits"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1109\/TCSI.2006.887979","article-title":"AER EAR: A matched silicon cochlea pair with address event representation interface","volume":"54","author":"Chan","year":"2007","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. I: Regul. Pap."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Liu, S.C., van Schaik, A., Minch, B.A., and Delbruck, T. (, January June). Event-based 64-channel binaural silicon cochlea with Q enhancement mechanisms. Paris, France."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"752","DOI":"10.1109\/TSMCB.2008.2009067","article-title":"Visual system based on artificial retina for motion detection","volume":"39","author":"Barranco","year":"2009","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B: Cybern"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Oster, M., Douglas, R., and Liu, S.C. (2007, January 27\u201330). Quantifying input and output spike statistics of a winner-take-all network in a vision system. New Orleans, LA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISCAS.2007.378040"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"551","DOI":"10.1109\/TNN.2006.884676","article-title":"Adaptive WTA with an analog VLSI neuromorphic learning chip","volume":"18","author":"Hafliger","year":"2007","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Neural Netw."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1109\/TNN.2005.860850","article-title":"A VLSI array of low-power spiking neurons and bistable synapses with spike-timing dependent plasticity","volume":"17","author":"Indiveri","year":"2006","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Neural Netw."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Chicca, E., Indiveri, G., and Douglas, R.J. (2004, January 23\u201326). An event-based VLSI network of integrate-and-fire neurons. Vancouver, Canada."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"867","DOI":"10.1109\/TSMCB.2010.2097589","article-title":"CPG-inspired workspace trajectory generation and adaptive locomotion control for quadruped robots","volume":"41","author":"Liu","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B: Cybern."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Linares-Barranco, A., Gomez-Rodriguez, F., Jimenez-Fernandez, A., Delbruck, T., and Lichtensteiner, P. (2007, January 27\u201330). Using FPGA for visuo-motor control with a silicon retina and a humanoid robot. New Orleans, LA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISCAS.2007.378265"},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Telluride Cognitive Neuromorphic Workshop Available online: https:\/\/neuromorphs.net (accessed on 5 February 2012)."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Capo Caccia Cognitive Neuromorphic Workshop Available online: http:\/\/capocaccia.ethz.ch (accessed on 5 February 2012)."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Shepherd, G. (1990). The Synaptic Organization of the Brain, Oxford University Press. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"Mahowald, M. VLSI Analogs of Neuronal Visual Processing: A Synthesis of Form and Function. [Ph.D. Thesis, CalTech]."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Jim\u00e9nez-Fern\u00e1ndez, A. Dise\u00f1o y evaluaci\u00f3n de sistemas control y procesamiento de se\u00f1ales basadas en modelos neuronales pulsantes. [Ph.D. Thesis, Universidad de Sevilla]."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Mial, R.C. (1998, January 29). The cerebellum, predictive control and motor coordination. Toronto, Canada."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jimenez-Fernandez, A., Linares-Barranco, A., Paz-Vicente, R., Jim\u00e9nez, G., and Civit, A. (2010, January 18\u201323). Building blocks for spikes signals processing. Barcelona, Spain.","DOI":"10.1109\/IJCNN.2010.5596845"},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Jimenez-Fernandez, A., Linares-Barranco, A., Paz-Vicente, R., Lujan-Martinez, C.D., Jimenez, G., and Civit, A. (September, January 31). AER and dynamic systems co-simulation over simulink with xilinx system generator. City, Country."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jimenez-Fernandez, A., Paz-Vicente, R., Rivas, M., Linares-Barranco, A., Jimenez, G., and Civit, A. (2008, January 18\u201321). AER-based robotic closed-loop control system. Seattle, WA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISCAS.2008.4541600"},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"534","article-title":"Two hardware implementation of the exhaustive synthetic AER generation method","volume":"41","author":"Paz","year":"2005","journal-title":"LNCS"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Paz-Vicente, R., Linares-Barranco, A., Jimenez-Fernandez, A., Jimenez-Moreno, G., and Civit-Balcells, A. (2009, January 10\u201313). Synthetic retina for AER systems development. Rabat, Morocco.","DOI":"10.1109\/AICCSA.2009.5069440"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jimenez-Fernandez, A., Dom\u00ednguez-Morales, M., Cerezuela-Escudero, E., Paz-Vicente, R., Linares-Barranco, A., and Jimenez, G. (2011, January 8\u201310). Simulating building blocks for spikes signals processing. Torremolinos-M\u00e1laga, Spain.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-21498-1_69"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dom\u00ednguez-Morales, M., Jimenez-Fernandez, A., Cerezuela-Escudero, E., Paz-Vicente, R., Linares-Barranco, A., and Jimenez, G. (2011, January 14\u201317). On the designing of spikes band-pass filters for FPGA. Espoo, Finland.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-21738-8_50"},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Ogata, K. Modern Control Engineering, Prentice Hall. [4th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Sivilotti, M. (1991). Wiring Considerations in Analog VLSI Systems with Application to Field-Programmable Networks. [Ph.D. Thesis, California Institute of Technology]."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Linares-Barranco, A., Paz-Vicente, R., Jimenez, G., Pedreno-Molina, J.L., Molina-Vilaplana, J., and Lopez-Coronado, J. (2006, January 16\u201321). AER neuro-inspired interface to anthropomorphic robotic hand. Vancouver, BC, Canada.","DOI":"10.1109\/IJCNN.2006.246872"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Berner, R., Delbruck, T., Civit-Balcells, A., and Linares-Barranco, A. (2007, January 27\u201330). A 5 Meps $100 USB2.0 address-event monitor-sequencer interface. New Orleans, LA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISCAS.2007.378616"},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"jAER Open-Source Software Project Available online: http:\/\/jaer.wiki.sourceforge.net\/ (accessed on 5 February 2012)."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1417","DOI":"10.1109\/TNN.2009.2023653","article-title":"CAVIAR: A 45k neuron, 5M synapse, 12G connects\/s AER hardware sensory-processing-learning-actuating system for high-speed visual object recognition and tracking","volume":"20","author":"Oster","year":"2009","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Neural Netw."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"Astrom, K.J. (2005). Advanced PID Control, ISA\u2014The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.1109\/3477.915341","article-title":"A Hebbian feedback covariance learning paradigm for self-tuning optimal control","volume":"31","author":"Young","year":"2001","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B: Cybern."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jimenez-Fernandez, A., Linares-Barranco, A., Paz-Vicente, R., Jimenez-Moreno, G., and Berner, R. (2009, January 10\u201313). Spike-based control monitoring and analysis with address event representation. Rabat, Morocco.","DOI":"10.1109\/AICCSA.2009.5069439"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3946","DOI":"10.1109\/TIE.2010.2100334","article-title":"Digital parameterizable VHDL module for multilevel multiphase space vector PWM","volume":"58","author":"Freijedo","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/12\/4\/3831\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T21:49:33Z","timestamp":1760219373000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/12\/4\/3831"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2012,3,26]]},"references-count":33,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2012,4]]}},"alternative-id":["s120403831"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s120403831","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2012,3,26]]}}}