
Compared with CPUs and GPUs, the array is about 1M times as energy efficient - snaky
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/semiconductors/processors/3-new-chips-to-help-robots-find-their-way-around
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corysama
...at solving A* pathfinding.

> The University of Minnesota’s ambitions for its new tech are broader than
> planning the path for robots, but their new in-memory “wavefront” computing
> chip is potentially a good match for the job. The chip is a 40 x 40 array
> that makes use of an unusual type of logic in which values are encoded in
> how long it takes a signal to pass through its gates. The elements of the
> array represent the vertices in a graph and the edges that connect them. By
> programming those elements, the graph can simulate the terrain a robot must
> traverse, including hills, valleys, and impassible obstacles. A wave of
> voltage starting at the edges sweeps across the array in a manner of
> nanoseconds, in the process solving the A* algorithm, which determines the
> shortest, lowest-energy path through the simulated terrain to a target,
> explained Luke Everson, a University of Minnesota Ph.D. student in the
> laboratory of Chris Kim.

> Time-based computing’s advantages include “a very compact area and low-power
> consumption,” Everson said. Compared with solutions powered by CPUs and
> GPUs, the array is about 1 million times as energy efficient, making it a
> good fit for mobile robots. Future work could include a way to make
> wavefront pathfinding work in three dimensions.

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kristianp
Actual title: 3 New Chips to Help Robots Find Their Way Around

