Neuromorphic architectures, actuators, and related methods

Abstract

A neuromorphic architecture is formed from a laminate of non-woven carbon fiber reinforced polymer layers arranged in a plurality of different directions. A plurality of distributed nodes are formed through the laminate via transverse voids, and an encapsulant encapsulates an electrochemical fluid or gel such that the electrochemical fluid or gel may flow within the nodes and around the laminate. Electrical current flowing through the architecture creates reversible metal deposits at various nodes, depending on the path developed through the architecture, with a complexity sufficient for neuromorphic processing, and providing a writable and erasable memory. A neuromorphic actuator may be formed by combining shape memory materials with such a neuromorphic architecture, which may provide desired surface contours and/or actuations based on current in the neuromorphic architecture. Such neuromorphic architectures and actuators may be trained according to various methods, using feed-forward and/or feedback techniques.