Vision
Our vision is to understand interactions among communication and computing and the physical world in which we live – for example, how to build efficient physical systems and how to adapt engineering lessons from biological systems. To accomplish these goals, we are developing hybrid bioelectronic systems, incorporating principles of adaptation into electronic systems, and working to understand performance-resource tradeoffs in biology and microelectronics. This research aims to create new hardware for sensing, computing, and communicating under severe resource constraints – particularly for applications in miniature and autonomous robots.
Research focus
- Single-chip motion sensor for autonomous navigation based on wide field integration of optic flow
- Sensors for autonomous mobile microrobots
- Event-based communication and computation infrastructure for microrobots
- Adaptive integrated circuits
- Neuromorphic circuits
- Low-power analog and digital circuit design
- Cell-based sensing, including Nose-on-a-Chip olfactory sensors
- Microfluidic techniques for sample preparation
- CMOS-based optical sensors for low light (photon counting)
- CMOS image sensors
- Microfluorometry
- Information-power tradeoffs in biological and engineered systems
- Any innovative research that will help create ultra-efficient sensing, computing, and communicating systems!
Facilities
The Integrated Biomorphic Information Systems Laboratory (IBIS) is dedicated to the understanding of information processing in microelectronic and biological systems and to developing efficient integrated microelectronics systems for real-time dynamic tasks. The laboratory occupies approximately 800 square feet within the Institute for Systems Research. The IBIS lab houses an RF enclosure for sensitive electronic measurements and characterization under conditions of significantly attenuated ambient RF noise. IBIS facilities include a variety of electronic test and measurement equipment along with computers and CAD tools necessary to design integrated circuits and printed circuit boards.
- Workstations for CAD design
- PC workstations for instrument control and data acquisition
- VLSI testing stations
- Keithley high resolution electrometers and source measure units
- Tektronix digital oscilloscopes
- Nikon stereoscopes (2)
- Agilent network analyzer
- HP semiconductor parameter analyzers (3)
- High speed logic analyzer and function generator
- Optoelectronic test equipment including monochromators and integrating sphere
- Physiology equipment including pipette puller, patch clamp amplifier, Faraday cage, and micromanipulator
- Mech-El wire bonding station
- Olympus compound microscope with long working distance objectives
- Zeiss Axiotron compound microscope with long working distance objectives
- RK Ultracision 680 probe station
- Tektronix and Agilent arbitrary function generators
- Barnstead Intl. incubator for cell culture
- IPG Photonics YLD-1 fiber laser
- Fisher hot plate
- Variety of National Instruments data acquisition cards
- General electronics and optoelectronic lab supplies
- CAD tools including Analog, OrCAD Pspice, Cadence ICFB, Tanner Tools
- Software for data acquisition and instrument control including LabView, Matlab, and C
In addition, we take advantage of the UMd FabLab – a professionally staffed class 1000 cleanroom located in the new interdisciplinary Jeong H. Kim Engineering building. This facility includes microlithography, deposition and etching equipment in addition to tools for characterizing and measuring fabricated devices.
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Pamela AbshireProfessor301.405.6629 | pabshire@umd.edu Profile |
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