BrainChip Fund (ASX:BRN) won a $1.8 million contract with the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop neuromorphic radar signal processing algorithms. The agreement is part of the Small Business Innovation Research Program.
The full contract amount will be paid over the 12 month term of the agreement.
Technology
BrainChip specializes in the development of “neuromorphic” computing. Unlike traditional processors (like CPUs and GPUs), which process information sequentially, neuromorphic processors aim to mimic how the brain works.
BrainChip’s flagship product is the Akida 2.0 processor, which has military, autonomous vehicle, consumer electronics and industrial IoT applications. The chip allows these devices to process data themselves (called “edge computing”) rather than sending it to a cloud server. This approach allows for faster response times, better privacy, and significantly reduced power consumption.
Traditional AI models require large pre-trained neural networks that must be fed huge data sets to “train” them to recognize patterns. The Akida 2.0 chip, on the other hand, allows for continuous learning and can adapt to new data on the fly. This is particularly useful in dynamic environments.
The TENN (Temporal Event Neural Network) algorithmic framework is designed to work with Akida and focuses on processing time-based data, meaning it excels with video, audio, radar and sensor data.
Contract details
The project will focus on the development and optimization of radar processing algorithms tailored to BrainChip’s proprietary hardware.
The SBIR contract, titled “Mapping Complex Sensor Signal Processing Algorithms on Neuromorphic Chips,” builds on previous work in which a multinational aerospace and defense customer successfully demonstrated the feasibility of running processing algorithms radar on BrainChip hardware.
The current contract will apply this work to a specific type of radar processing known as micro-Doppler signature analysis, which can distinguish between different types of activity by analyzing subtle movement patterns. For example, the treatment could detect whether a person is walking, running or standing still.
This capability has potential applications in military, robotics and space platforms.
Shares closed up 11.36% at 24 cents yesterday.
