Versatile: British startup Pragmatic Semiconductor has unveiled a 32-bit microprocessor that may run machine studying fashions whereas additionally being bendable – all for beneath a greenback. Named Flex-RV, this chip is predicated on the open normal RISC-V structure and makes use of a wholly completely different materials to realize its extremely adaptable design.
That materials is named indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), which replaces the extra standard silicon. The important thing innovation lies in avoiding the complicated (and costly) packaging that silicon chips require to guard their brittle nature from the stresses induced by flexing. As a substitute, IGZO transistors will be printed immediately onto plastic substrates at low temperatures.
Pragmatic’s demo showcases the Flex-RV being rolled up round a straw after which unfurling to proceed executing code undisturbed. Whereas the demonstrator dealt with the board with additional care – suggesting you possibly can’t precisely flap it round – watching it curl up and maintain computing was nonetheless a reasonably spectacular feat.
Do not anticipate blistering efficiency, nonetheless. With solely 12,600 logic gates, the Flex-RV prototype achieves a most clock velocity of 60 kHz – that is 0.00006 GHz in PC gamer phrases. Regardless of these modest efficiency numbers, the chip efficiently integrates a low-power machine studying accelerator.
Pragmatic by no means meant the Flex-RV to coach GPT-4 fashions. Consuming lower than 6 mW of energy, this ultra-efficient chip is right for powering disposable medical units and a brand new frontier of versatile, body-conforming devices, similar to improved well being wearables, tender robotics, and even brain-computer interfaces. Moreover, by leveraging the free, open-source RISC-V instruction set, Pragmatic has prevented the dear structure licensing charges that sometimes inflate chip prices.
In testing, the resilient processor maintained accuracy whereas bent to a 5 mm radius curve. Throughput diverse by a couple of proportion factors, however general, it dealt with flexing like a champ. This marks a major improve over earlier bendable chips, which might solely be examined whereas resting on their unique wafers.
This is not the primary time somebody has tried to create a bendable PCB. In August, an enterprising engineer gave the basic Arduino Uno board a versatile makeover, calling it the “Flexduino.” That challenge integrated inflexible parts onto a versatile PCB; Flex-RV takes it a step additional – the built-in circuit on the board may twist and contort.
The total particulars have been revealed within the journal Nature on September 25.
