A low power 65nm CMOS electronic neuron and synapse design for a biomimetic micro-robot

This paper presents an electronic neuron and synapse design, that can mimic the natural behavior of animal neuron and synapse and generate swimming patterns for a biomimetic micro-robot. The electronic neurons are based on the Hindmarsh-Rose neuron model, and the electronic synapse is constructed based on a first order chemical model. The proposed design is based on 65nm Predictive Technology Model (PTM) at a 0.8V supply, with which the power consumption and chip area will be reduced compared with the latest design which was implemented using a 0.25μm CMOS process powered at 2V supply. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed 65nm CMOS design performs all of the expected functions at the extremely low supply of 0.8V.