Abstract
Biological and artificial sensory systems share many features
and functionalities in common. One shared
challenge is the management setup and maintenance of sensory
topological information. In the case of a massive artificial
sensory receptor array, this is an extremely complex
problem. Biological sensory receptor arrays, such as the
visual or tactile system, face the same problem and have
found excellent solutions by implementing processes of sensory
organization. Not only can biological sensory organization
initiate the topological data construction, it can deal
with growing systems and repair damaged ones. Importantly,
it can use the patterned activity of sensory receptors to extract
topological relationships.
Using inspiration from these biological
processes, we propose an activity-dependent clustering
method for organizing large arrays of artificial sensory
receptors. We present an algorithm that proceeds hierarchically
by building a quadtree description of sensory organization
and possesses many qualities of its biological counterpart,
namely it can operate autonomously, it uses the patterned activity
of sensory receptors and it is capable of supporting growth and repair.
Keywords:
- Sensory systems.
- Topographic organization.
- Clustering.
- Visual system.
- Sensor networks.