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Brains and Machines

Brains and Machines

By: Dr Sunny Bains
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Curious to explore the technology advancing Artificial Intelligence beyond the usual headlines? Brains and Machines will introduce you to the people and ideas behind neuromorphic engineering, bio-inspired robotics, and other transformative technologies shaping AI’s future. From spiking neural networks and event-cameras to models of attention and mechanisms for prosthetic control, we investigate how machine cognition is moving forward.

Join Dr Sunny Bains, a scientist, journalist, and lecturer at University College London, as she talks to researchers, engineers, and computer scientists from across the field. With co-host, Dr Giulia D’Angelo from the Czech Technical University in Prague, and commentator Prof Ralph Etienne-Cummings from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the post-interview discussion provides context and insight into the featured innovations.

Produced in conjunction with Electronic Engineering Times. Check out the EETimes Current podcast for more.

Dr D’Angelo gratefully acknowledges the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship.

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Nature & Ecology Physics Science
Episodes
  • Event-Driven E-Skins Protect Both Robots and Humans
    Aug 11 2025

    Professor Gordon Cheng builds humanoid robots that can feel their environment using artificial skin. In this episode of Brains and Machines, he talks to Dr. Sunny Bains of University College London about how the skin was designed, how it improves safety, and why neuromorphic engineering will be important for machine autonomy. Discussion follows with Dr. Giulia D’Angelo from the Czech Technical University in Prague and Professor Ralph Etienne-Cummings of Johns Hopkins University.

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    47 mins
  • Digital Prototypes May Enable Analog Neuromorphic Chips
    Jul 10 2025

    Dr. Charlotte Frenkel from the Technical University of Delft set records with a low-power neuromorphic chip she designed as part of her Ph.D. In this episode of Brains and Machines, she talks to Dr. Sunny Bains of University College London about what she has learned about building simplicity into chips and integrity into benchmarks. Discussion follows with Dr. Giulia D’Angelo from the Czech Technical University in Prague and Professor Ralph Etienne-Cummings of Johns Hopkins University.

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    52 mins
  • IBM Used Mathematics as Compass on Journey to NorthPole
    Jun 7 2025

    Dharmendra Modha’s TrueNorth chip added the word neuromorphic to the technorati lexicon back in 2014. In this episode of Brains and Machines, he talks to Dr. Sunny Bains of University College London about how that project led to his work on NorthPole and the axiomatic approach he took to design. Discussion follows with Dr. Giulia D’Angelo from the Czech Technical University in Prague and Professor Ralph Etienne-Cummings of Johns Hopkins University.

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    49 mins
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