Micro-meta-structures for computational sensors with built-in memory

Description du projet

Des méta-structures multi-stables innovantes ouvrent la voie à des capteurs informatiques autonomes

L’expansion accélérée de l’IdO et le besoin d’une plus grande puissance de calcul à la périphérie pour une vitesse de traitement et une intégrité des données accrues nécessitent des systèmes micro-électromécaniques (SMEM) «plus intelligents» avec un calcul à la périphérie et une programmation en mémoire. Ces SMEM devraient assimiler les informations sensorielles pour améliorer l’autonomie et l’efficacité. Le projet MMS, financé par le CER, vise à développer un nouveau type de structure intelligente - les «méta-structures» - pour des capteurs autonomes dotés d’une mémoire intégrée et de capacités de calcul à cette fin. Ces méta-structures seront basées sur une découverte récente montrant qu’elles peuvent avoir trois équilibres stables contrairement aux structures mono- ou bi-stables conventionnelles, ouvrant la voie à une nouvelle classe de SMEM offrant des fonctionnalités radicalement nouvelles.

Objectif

Sensory input in integrated systems is expected to increase with the entrance of AI and Internet-of-Things, requiring systems to become efficient and autonomous. The proposed research aims to introduce and study a new type of smart structure, dubbed meta-structures (MS), composed of repeating a unit cell to create a structure with new abilities such as multistability, non-volatility, and configurability. Such structures can be used to design autonomous sensors with built-in memory and computational abilities, allowing the formation of a new class of smart micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) with edge computation and in-memory programming (IMP). In the aggregate, such smart sensors can lessen the dependency on a CPU and increase the autonomy of an overall system, while enabling distributed and parallel computations. Current MEMS-based structures are mono- or bistable, and as such are limited to registering one or two values in a sensor/mechanical memory/logical gate. However, recent studies have shown that an MS can break free from a two-bit structure. Indeed, in a recent breakthrough, we have shown that in the presence of electrostatic actuation, a micro-MS becomes multi-valued, with three stable equilibria, thus opening a gateway to a paradigm shift that goes beyond the study of new structures, to the formation of new class of MEMS. This new class of MEMS will be able to incorporate mechanical-based computation with IMP capabilities. Such an unconventional approach has the potential to augment traditional capabilities, introducing new abilities such as reduced leakage and power consumption, reconfigurability, decreased footprint, as well as compatibility with harsh environments (i.e. high temperatures or electromagnetic radiation), as well as reversible computing.