Update: I got selected to pitch for 5x5 night. It's a $5,000 grant and will be used for the hardware. The pitch needs to be in person, so I have to be in Michigan and need funds for that.
I want to train human neurons for pattern recognition, like playing games or classifying images, similar to early AI research. However, I encountered many hardware problems, as there isn't a good, homogenous platform where human neurons can be cultured, monitored, and trained all in one place. So, I decided to develop the hardware. It's called AxoMini, a 10 cm device that integrates neuron culturing, monitoring, and training, serving both research and drug development purposes.
AxoMini will feature an inbuilt incubator and environmental controls for culturing neurons, a microelectrode array to sense "action potentials" or "spikes" from the neurons, and a spike system (capable of amplifying weak analog signals to digital and vice versa) to interface with simulators inside our computers.
The project will focus on developing AxoMini. We will use off-the-shelf components for its development, with the main focus on integration and testing.
The AxoMini will be made available to researchers, providing them with a robust platform to develop their own training protocols and tackle real-world problems. Our aim is to facilitate advancements in biocomputing, driving innovation in a field that is still in its developmental stages.
AI Safety and Governance: The development of our hardware not only advances computational technologies but also provides a platform to explore and potentially define complex concepts such as consciousness and sentience. This could lead to the establishment of clearer guidelines and policies for conducting experiments and safely regulating AI systems as well.
The funding will be used to develop the prototype of AxoMini.
Budget Overview.
Spike system chips (Intan RHS 2116) - $2000
Microelectrode array (MEA) - $2500
Environment control parts - $400
Miscellaneous parts like Microcontroller, PCB, tools - $300
Vishnu brings a robust background in AI and engineering, complemented by expertise in cell culturing. By the age of 18, I had already constructed three advanced robots and subsequently led a team to develop an autonomous swarm of robots for 3D mapping, which sharpened my leadership and technical skills. I further enhanced my portfolio by designing a UAV swarm test platform aimed at firefighting, optimizing algorithms to manage wildfires more effectively. I recently graduated with a master's degree in Robotics and Autonomous Systems from ASU.
Researchers and drug developers need hardware that allows them to culture and train neurons in one place, facilitating easy entry into the biocomputing field. Without such advancements, they remain reliant on costly, bulky, and cumbersome equipment, which presents a significant barrier to entry and hinders collaboration between different labs and researchers.
Vishnu Muthyala
about 2 months ago
Update: I got selected to pitch for 5x5 night. It's a $5,000 grant and will be used for the hardware. The pitch needs to be in person, so I have to be in Michigan and need funds for that.
Austin Chen
about 2 months ago
(responding here to a Discord DM, to provide public feedback)
Congrats on the selection! I'm not very familiar with this area, and this writeup, the Axoniverse website and pitch video don't do a great job of explaining what your overall plans are or why you'd be well qualified to execute on them. For those reasons I'm declining to fund this at this time, but do let us know how the 5x5 pitch goes and if you end up winning the grant, I'd be curious to learn more!
Vishnu Muthyala
2 months ago
To provide some context, researchers usually culture neurons from stem cells (iPSCs) rather than taking neurons from actual human brains.