BRN Discussion Ongoing

Frangipani

Top 20
At times, our company feels like a giant revolving door…

Not only have Chris Jones and Rudy Pei moved on in recent months, but so have others, who left BrainChip for companies such as Anduril, Axelera AI or Google:


BF2F9B6E-D3EE-415B-BE1E-E4FAA3733F2A.jpeg



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Others, while presently still with BrainChip according to their LinkedIn profile, are already eying jobs elsewhere, letting their LinkedIn network as well as recruiters know they are “Open To Work”:



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2BB8E2FA-D6B8-4A3B-B113-03CE2C5CFBF5.jpeg



27A4974F-8967-4516-AAFD-FA483055EB80.jpeg
 
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Frangipani

Top 20
And then there are also those who have recently joined BrainChip, such as Winston Tang and Aras Pirbadian, bringing along their individual talents, skills and interests:


1B4C9C2D-F0DC-4995-979D-BA3CDA55F49A.jpeg


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FJ-215

Regular
I'm expecting see an interview or two with Sean in the next day or so. Usually a given with Stocks Down Under following the AGM.
 
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Yes 100% we are on course with a great company 2025 is our year
Go brainchip
No revenue in 25, highly unlikely said by Sean
 
No revenue in 25, highly unlikely said by Sean
Of course there will all ways be negative spin however annoying they are. On a more positive note announcements coming this year will be satisfactory as they will bring the revenue next year. I am well happy with the progress under Sean’s management
 
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Motty

Member
No revenue in 25, highly unlikely said by Sean
Hi JK. Not sure he said no revenue. I thought he said no royalties. Happy to be corrected.
 
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manny100

Top 20
Of course there will all ways be negative spin however annoying they are. On a more positive note announcements coming this year will be satisfactory as they will bring the revenue next year. I am well happy with the progress under Sean’s management
Oddly enough revenue should be coming in by the end of the 5 year plan.
Seems to be on track.
The full commercialisation ASX ann was Jan'22.
 
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Labsy

Regular
Anduril Industries is actively collaborating with the U.S. government on the development of advanced augmented reality (AR) headsets for military applications.

I wonder if these are the headsets that were being referred to at the AGM?

As mentioned previously, it would be amaze-balls if Anduril and BrainChip were to team up.




Anduril is working on the difficult AI-related task of real-time edge computing
31b70ecce5ec6c51af8187d96e706187

Anduril Menace-T edge computing product · TechCrunch · Image Credits:Anduril
Julie Bort
Tue 6 May 2025 at 6:30 am AEST 3 min read

Anduril announced its ninth acquisition on Monday with the purchase of Dublin’s Klas, makers of ruggedized edge computing equipment for the military and first responders.
Anduril wouldn’t reveal financial details of the deal, and the purchase is subject to regulatory approval, but the company did say that Klas employs 150 people.

Relatedly, on Monday, Anduril also announced a new product called Menace-T.
We’ll give the company points for the interesting product name, especially for a device that’s really just a bundle of compute/network connectivity, rather than, say, a fantasy-style broadsword. (Compare the name Menace to Lockheed Martin’s C2BMC, the name for its Command, Control, Battle Management & Communications products.)
Klas’ flagship product, known as Voyager, is the ruggedized family of compute and networking systems that Anduril had already been using in its other Menace command center products. Voyager had also already been integrated with Anduril’s flagship Lattice software. Lattice brings sensors and AI to devices to perform tasks like object identification.
But while most of us envision a portable command system being the size of a truck — which many are — Menace-T fits into two carry-on cases that can be set up by one person in minutes, the company says. Its goal is to bring edge computing and communications to off-grid and/or inhospitable environments. Anduril says it’s already being used in military ground vehicles and maritime vessels.

One interesting use case for Menace-T is compute/communications support for the military’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) VR headsets. The IVAS project was initially awarded to Microsoft in 2018 after it pitched the idea of developing ruggedized HoloLens headsets for soldiers. The project was awarded an initial $21.9 billion budget.
But after years of technical struggles, Anduril took control of the troubled contract in February — although Microsoft remains a cloud partner.
Lattice had already been added to Microsoft’s IVAS headsets, bringing computer vision AI that helps the headset detect, track, and classify objects.
Now Anduril thinks that the Klas technology that powers its Menace-T product can solve some of IVAS’s other historic problems, like reliable data processing.
With IVAS, “there are scenarios where those soldiers need to communicate with the tactical edge to send data, to receive data, to task autonomous systems, and that's a place where the Klas technology can help,” Tom Keane, SVP of Engineering, said at a press conference. “Klas has already been supplying technology to IVAS for several years in that context. So we expect to do more there.”


Yeah baby! Yeah!
Anduril Industries is actively collaborating with the U.S. government on the development of advanced augmented reality (AR) headsets for military applications.

I wonder if these are the headsets that were being referred to at the AGM?

As mentioned previously, it would be amaze-balls if Anduril and BrainChip were to team up.




Anduril is working on the difficult AI-related task of real-time edge computing
31b70ecce5ec6c51af8187d96e706187

Anduril Menace-T edge computing product · TechCrunch · Image Credits:Anduril
Julie Bort
Tue 6 May 2025 at 6:30 am AEST 3 min read

Anduril announced its ninth acquisition on Monday with the purchase of Dublin’s Klas, makers of ruggedized edge computing equipment for the military and first responders.
Anduril wouldn’t reveal financial details of the deal, and the purchase is subject to regulatory approval, but the company did say that Klas employs 150 people.

Relatedly, on Monday, Anduril also announced a new product called Menace-T.
We’ll give the company points for the interesting product name, especially for a device that’s really just a bundle of compute/network connectivity, rather than, say, a fantasy-style broadsword. (Compare the name Menace to Lockheed Martin’s C2BMC, the name for its Command, Control, Battle Management & Communications products.)
Klas’ flagship product, known as Voyager, is the ruggedized family of compute and networking systems that Anduril had already been using in its other Menace command center products. Voyager had also already been integrated with Anduril’s flagship Lattice software. Lattice brings sensors and AI to devices to perform tasks like object identification.
But while most of us envision a portable command system being the size of a truck — which many are — Menace-T fits into two carry-on cases that can be set up by one person in minutes, the company says. Its goal is to bring edge computing and communications to off-grid and/or inhospitable environments. Anduril says it’s already being used in military ground vehicles and maritime vessels.

One interesting use case for Menace-T is compute/communications support for the military’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) VR headsets. The IVAS project was initially awarded to Microsoft in 2018 after it pitched the idea of developing ruggedized HoloLens headsets for soldiers. The project was awarded an initial $21.9 billion budget.
But after years of technical struggles, Anduril took control of the troubled contract in February — although Microsoft remains a cloud partner.
Lattice had already been added to Microsoft’s IVAS headsets, bringing computer vision AI that helps the headset detect, track, and classify objects.
Now Anduril thinks that the Klas technology that powers its Menace-T product can solve some of IVAS’s other historic problems, like reliable data processing.
With IVAS, “there are scenarios where those soldiers need to communicate with the tactical edge to send data, to receive data, to task autonomous systems, and that's a place where the Klas technology can help,” Tom Keane, SVP of Engineering, said at a press conference. “Klas has already been supplying technology to IVAS for several years in that context. So we expect to do more there.”


Yeah baby yeaaah!!!
 
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Morning Quiltman,

That was an excellent appraisal, I agree.

I notice that no one appears to have made comment on the excellent presentation that Dr. Johnathan, I thought he was great, he spoke
clearly, is an excellent asset to our engineering team and explained our future runway, finishing with the comment that Akida 3 will see us clear for the next decade (or words to that effect) ...a very precise, easy to follow presentation.

Noting that he has made the commitment to Sean that Akida 3 will be ready during the first quarter of 2026, as they are further down the
design phase than they had originally anticipated, so he has given a clear timeline, which I like.

To say or think that the staff have been cruising is not only very disrespectful but totally false, the entire team at Brainchip have been
digging in and working hard.

For Steve to gain entry to the Board, either someone had to step down or the Board? decided to increase the number to 7, he is well
qualified in my opinion, but the timing wasn't/isn't quite right, regarding the shareholder targeting Peter at the end was a disgrace, knowing Peter he would have been rather embarrassed, some of the comments I have read on this forum regarding this personal attack on our Founder were also disgusting!

Peter was clearly happy to chat with the shareholder privately, which is his right, rather than having his personal comments recorded forever
on the record, Peter has the highest integrity, loves this company, showed great respect in standing up and backing his CEO.

I'll always defend him, such a pity there aren't more humans on this planet with his heart, mind and attitude towards his fellow man.

God bless you Peter ❤️
I truly felt embarrassed when that idiot got up and bashed Peter it was piss poor form.

Yes the Dr was the high light for me a great presentation, easy to understand and you can see he is comfortable in front of a crowd.

Sean not so comfortable which I understand as I personally hate public speaking

I wasn’t impressed with our chairman’s performance bit out of place
 
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MDhere

Top 20
I'm here! Anything you want me to tell these people?! 🤣

20250507_101054.jpg
 
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I truly felt embarrassed when that idiot got up and bashed Peter it was piss poor form.

Yes the Dr was the high light for me a great presentation, easy to understand and you can see he is comfortable in front of a crowd.

Sean not so comfortable which I understand as I personally hate public speaking

I wasn’t impressed with our chairman’s performance bit out of place
Antonio dropped the ball this year,
Looked ruffled and year after year the word Noted but its the same old arrogance,
Next AGM is make or break,
Something real real positive of note whether it's Revenue or more IP's has to be on the table,
If not and I feel it will be positive, it'll be a blood bath
 
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Slade

Top 20
I also attended the AGM, for the duration, yesterday.

I strangely find myself emotionally detached from proceedings, and perhaps worthy of some reflection of what was said & transpired.

Basically, I witnessed a US board and executive management team struggling to communicate with an Australian shareholder base. There was a clear cultural divide. The forthright manner, and at times brash, manner of Australian shareholders visibly threw Antonio & Sean (in Australia, respect is earnt, not given). In Antonio, the fight or flight response was to fight. Make of that what you will. No doubt it was not Antonio's finest hour.

However, my take-out is that any redomicile is on the back-burner for a while. Any move to de-list would require 75% vote via a special resolution, there is no chance that is getting up when they can't get 50% for the renumeration package. This was made clear early in the AGM, and IMO in Antonio's attempt to backtrack on the re-domicile subject tripped himself up and looked rather silly. However, when all is said in done, I reckon no move to the US ( unless dual listing ) in the immediate future.

On the journey over the last couple of years, a difficult pill to swallow. Essentially, the tech wasn't "commercial ready" , and the BrainChip team were unable to complete any enduring commercial deals. The licensing deals that were done seemed to be adhoc in nature, without integration between the companies involved (essentially selling a shelf item, with no idea what happens when it leaves the store). As a result of the commercial failure, the last 2 years have been a "pivot", or what I would describe as a desperate push to build & correct the deficiences in the product offer to make it "commercial ready" before the whole house of cards caves in. Communication has been lacking, perhaps partly because internally they knew they had to get their "shit" together before any major PR campaigns ( or else risk exposure for what was lacking, and completely decimate shareholder value ). All a bit depressing, and just my view.

However, the good news, very good news in fact, is that it would seem that we are now "commercial ready". The technical position seems very strong. The technology path for the next few years, strong. The real proof however, is in the companies that are finally putting pen to paper and doing deals with BrainChip ( in an integrated partnership, with full sight on progress )- the ultimate proof that BrainChip is now " commercial ready". This list includes RTX, Onsor, Chelpis, Frontgrade and Information System Labs.

The discussions around how we renumerate & reward US executives and employees, in a highly competitive environment, in a pre-revenue listed entity, against a backdrop of an ASX listing with associated benchmarks ( RSU's vs Options is a great example ), will continue to generate much angst. I can see no way of resolving this tension until such time as BrainChip has delivered success ( as measured by revenue, not "bookings" ), and will need to be managed as well as is possible.

Believe it or not, after this ramble, I actually think Brainchip is in the best position it has been in "ever", and remove the emotion, because now would be exactly the wrong time to sell, and probably what many institutional investors are depending on.
This is the most insightful post that I have read and I very much appreciate you taking the time to write it.
 
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Bravo

If ARM was an arm, BRN would be its biceps💪!
Oooopsies! SpiNNaker overheated after its cooling system failed.

I asked ChatGPT if BrainChip's technology could help address such overheating challenges and the response was very interesting.


elmo-flames.gif




Brain-inspired neuromorphic computer SpiNNaker overheated when coolers lost their chill​


Too much hot air brings down Manchester Uni based neural network project​


Tue 6 May 2025 // 11:29 UTC

Exclusive The brain-inspired SpiNNaker machine at Manchester University in England suffered an overheating incident over the Easter weekend that will send a chill down the spines of datacenter administrators.

According to Professor Steve Furber, now retired (although he told El Reg "SpiNNaker is still seen as my baby!"), a failure with the cooling on April 20 led to a rise in temperatures until the servers were manually shut down the following day.
The SpiNNaker (Spiking Neural Network Architecture) project is all about simulating a brain by connecting hundreds of thousands of Arm cores. While a human brain presents a huge challenge, Furber, one of the designers of the original Arm processor, reckoned a mouse brain was possible.
During a talk earlier this month to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the switch-on of the first Arm processor, Furber told the audience that the hope was to model "one whole mouse" at the required level of detail.
Assuming the hardware survived its baking.
"SpiNNaker," he told The Register, "is hosted in the Kilburn Building, which was completed in 1972 as a purpose-built computer building and, as such, has a plant room that supplies chilled water as a utility to all the central machine rooms.

"The SpiNNaker room was built to house the machine in 2016 in what used to be the mechanical workshop, and is cooled by circulating hot air from the back of the cabinets through a plenum chamber into chillers at either end that blow the air through a cooling system using the building's chilled water."
The problem was with the chilled water supply. Furber said, "If the chilled water isn't actually chilled, the chiller fans are adding to the problem rather than helping solve it."
And so the temperatures began to rise inexorably. Without an automatic shutdown, the servers struggled on. Furber told us that he believed there was an automatic over-temperature shutdown on the individual SpiNNaker boards, and said, "This may have protected the SpiNNaker hardware from damage," but even with the hard-to-replace boards off, the network switches and power supplies remained powered up.

The latter two component types suffered some damage, and without them, the SpiNNaker boards cannot all be tested, "so there may be more issues hidden behind the ones we know about."
Furber added, "We have had a few issues with the cooling system in the nine years that the machine has been operational, but these have not previously led to any damage." He reckoned that the long Easter weekend (in the UK, where Easter Friday and Easter Monday are both public holidays) might have contributed to the length of time it took to contain the temperature rise.
"We are looking into ways to fully automate the shutdown process in the future!"
As for the system's current state, Furber told us, "The machine is back up for internal users at around 80 percent of full capacity but still undergoing tests."
The good news is that the software is designed to work around partial hardware failures. The bad news is that replacing the failed parts will likely require further shutdowns. ®



In this exclusive it describes how the brain-inspired SpiNNaker machine at Manchester University in England suffered an overheating incident over the Easter weekend that will send a chill down the spines of datacenter administrators. What are the implications of this and could BrainChip's neuromorphic technology be utlitized to help reduce heating or else alert to over-heating before damage occurs?

ChatGPT said:​

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357791842/figure/fig9/AS%3A1111647913545732%401642048924066/The-million-core-SpiNNaker-machine-at-the-University-of-Manchester-occupying-10-rack.png

https://www.microcontrollertips.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/BrainChip-Akida-1.jpg

https://i2.wp.com/marketbusinessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/SpiNNaker-machine-thumbnail.jpg?fit=1041%2C700&ssl=1

https://brainchip.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Screen-Shot-2020-10-12-at-2.18.37-PM.png

The overheating incident involving the SpiNNaker supercomputer at the University of Manchester underscores the critical importance of thermal management in large-scale neuromorphic systems. SpiNNaker, designed to emulate the parallel processing of the human brain using over a million ARM cores, operates with significant power demands. Any failure in its cooling infrastructure can lead to substantial operational disruptions and potential hardware damage.Research Explorer+1scieng.manchester.ac.uk+1

Implications of the Overheating Incident​

This event highlights several key considerations for neuromorphic computing systems:
  • Thermal Management: Even systems designed for energy efficiency, like SpiNNaker, can experience overheating if cooling systems fail or are inadequate.
  • System Reliability: Overheating can compromise the reliability and longevity of hardware components, leading to increased maintenance costs and downtime.
  • Monitoring and Alerts: The necessity for real-time monitoring systems that can detect and respond to thermal anomalies before they escalate.

Potential Role of BrainChip's Neuromorphic Technology​

BrainChip's Akida™ neuromorphic processor offers features that could be instrumental in addressing such challenges:Wevolver
  • Low Power Consumption: Akida operates with ultra-low power requirements, reducing the thermal output and the burden on cooling systems.
  • On-Chip Learning: Its ability to learn and adapt in real-time allows for the development of intelligent thermal management systems that can predict and mitigate overheating risks.
  • Event-Based Processing: Akida's architecture processes data only when necessary, further conserving energy and minimizing heat generation.
Integrating Akida into data center infrastructure could enhance thermal monitoring and management, providing early warnings and adaptive responses to potential overheating scenarios.

Conclusion​

The SpiNNaker incident serves as a cautionary tale about the vulnerabilities of high-performance computing systems to thermal issues. Leveraging advanced neuromorphic technologies like BrainChip's Akida could offer viable solutions to enhance system resilience through improved energy efficiency and intelligent thermal management.
 
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perceptron

Regular
A positive roadmap and AGM, I congratulate the team for their efforts over the past year (and the many more before). It seems the Akida offering is now robust and set for future iterations, which is welcomed. Further, looking back at the achievements of Akida 1000 in radar, space neural network architecture, sensor analysis, cybersecurity and the many more use cases that I am sure have been discovered has been astonishing. I prefer that many smaller companies are reviewing Akida. It means there are more computer/data scientists and engineers working with our technology. A kind of massive parallel research effort is underway. Sure, it is taking time, however, our technology is slightly more advanced than a micro controller and requires equally skilled and talented people to make it a game changer. Moreover, I am excited about the new developer platform that will be offered later this year. Hoping this will integrate all of the Akida IP and models in one central location and have an active community attached.
 
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FiveBucks

Regular
I think we all thought the original BOD 5 year approved plan must have been a typo and they really meant 2 years.
Turns out they meant 5 years after all.
After reading forums you would think we are in a mess and falling apart.
If it really is and always has been a 5 year plan then maybe we really are on course?
It would be nice to know what their targets were in the 5 year plan.

We are putting 5 years of faith into them without knowing if we are on track.
 
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Bravo

If ARM was an arm, BRN would be its biceps💪!
Looks like we have some more competition on the horizon...3 years away though, so time is on our side.



US Air Force wants to develop smarter mini-drones powered by brain-inspired AI chips​

Published 14 hours ago
Plans are underway to create new AI-powered drones that can fly for much longer than current designs.


FPV kamikaze drones flying in the sky.

Although neuromorphic computing was first proposed by scientist Carver Mead in the late 1980s, it is a field of computer design theory that is still in development.

Scientists are developing an artificial intelligence (AI) chip the size of a grain of rice that can mimic human brains — and they plan to use it in miniature drones.

Although AI can automate monotonous functions, it is resource-intensive and requires large amounts of energy to operate. Drones also require energy for propulsion, navigation, sensing, stabilization and communication.

Larger drones can better compensate for AI's energy demands by using an engine, but smaller drones rely on battery power — meaning AI energy demands can reduce flying time from 45 minutes to just four.
But this may not be a problem forever., Suin Yi and his team at the University of Texas have been awarded funding by the 2025 Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program (part of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research) to develop an energy-efficient AI for drones. Their goal is to build a chip the size of a grain of rice with various AI capabilities — including autonomous piloting and object recognition — within three years.

AI-powered miniature drones​

To build a more energy-efficient AI chip, the scientists propose using conducting polymer thin films. These are (so far) an underused aspect of neuromorphic computing; this is a computer system that mimics the brain’s structure to enable highly efficient information processing.

The researchers intend to replicate how neurons learn and make decisions, thereby saving energy by only being used when required, similar to how a human brain uses different parts for different functions.
Although neuromorphic computing was first proposed by scientist Carver Mead in the late 1980s, it is a field of computer design theory that is still in development. In 2024, Intel unveiled their Hala Point neuromorphic computer, which is powered by more than 1,000 new AI chips and performs 50 times faster than conventional computing systems.

Meanwhile, the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center develops AI software and neuromorphic hardware. Their particular focus is on developing systems for sharing all sensor information with every member of a network of neuromorphic-enabled units. This technology could allow for greater situational awareness, with applications so far including headsets and robotics.
Using technology developed through this research, drones could become more intelligent by integrating conducting polymer material systems that can function like neurons in a brain.
If Yi’s research project is successful, miniature drones could become increasingly intelligent. An AI system using neuromorphic computing could allow smaller and smarter automated drones to be developed to provide remote monitoring in confined locations, with a much longer flying time.


 
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manny100

Top 20
Oooopsies! SpiNNaker overheated after its cooling system failed.

I asked ChatGPT if BrainChip's technology could help address such overheating challenges and the response was very interesting.


View attachment 83942



Brain-inspired neuromorphic computer SpiNNaker overheated when coolers lost their chill​


Too much hot air brings down Manchester Uni based neural network project​


Tue 6 May 2025 // 11:29 UTC

Exclusive The brain-inspired SpiNNaker machine at Manchester University in England suffered an overheating incident over the Easter weekend that will send a chill down the spines of datacenter administrators.

According to Professor Steve Furber, now retired (although he told El Reg "SpiNNaker is still seen as my baby!"), a failure with the cooling on April 20 led to a rise in temperatures until the servers were manually shut down the following day.
The SpiNNaker (Spiking Neural Network Architecture) project is all about simulating a brain by connecting hundreds of thousands of Arm cores. While a human brain presents a huge challenge, Furber, one of the designers of the original Arm processor, reckoned a mouse brain was possible.
During a talk earlier this month to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the switch-on of the first Arm processor, Furber told the audience that the hope was to model "one whole mouse" at the required level of detail.
Assuming the hardware survived its baking.
"SpiNNaker," he told The Register, "is hosted in the Kilburn Building, which was completed in 1972 as a purpose-built computer building and, as such, has a plant room that supplies chilled water as a utility to all the central machine rooms.

"The SpiNNaker room was built to house the machine in 2016 in what used to be the mechanical workshop, and is cooled by circulating hot air from the back of the cabinets through a plenum chamber into chillers at either end that blow the air through a cooling system using the building's chilled water."
The problem was with the chilled water supply. Furber said, "If the chilled water isn't actually chilled, the chiller fans are adding to the problem rather than helping solve it."
And so the temperatures began to rise inexorably. Without an automatic shutdown, the servers struggled on. Furber told us that he believed there was an automatic over-temperature shutdown on the individual SpiNNaker boards, and said, "This may have protected the SpiNNaker hardware from damage," but even with the hard-to-replace boards off, the network switches and power supplies remained powered up.

The latter two component types suffered some damage, and without them, the SpiNNaker boards cannot all be tested, "so there may be more issues hidden behind the ones we know about."
Furber added, "We have had a few issues with the cooling system in the nine years that the machine has been operational, but these have not previously led to any damage." He reckoned that the long Easter weekend (in the UK, where Easter Friday and Easter Monday are both public holidays) might have contributed to the length of time it took to contain the temperature rise.
"We are looking into ways to fully automate the shutdown process in the future!"
As for the system's current state, Furber told us, "The machine is back up for internal users at around 80 percent of full capacity but still undergoing tests."
The good news is that the software is designed to work around partial hardware failures. The bad news is that replacing the failed parts will likely require further shutdowns. ®



In this exclusive it describes how the brain-inspired SpiNNaker machine at Manchester University in England suffered an overheating incident over the Easter weekend that will send a chill down the spines of datacenter administrators. What are the implications of this and could BrainChip's neuromorphic technology be utlitized to help reduce heating or else alert to over-heating before damage occurs?

ChatGPT said:​

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357791842/figure/fig9/AS%3A1111647913545732%401642048924066/The-million-core-SpiNNaker-machine-at-the-University-of-Manchester-occupying-10-rack.png

https://www.microcontrollertips.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/BrainChip-Akida-1.jpg

https://i2.wp.com/marketbusinessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/SpiNNaker-machine-thumbnail.jpg?fit=1041%2C700&ssl=1

https://brainchip.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Screen-Shot-2020-10-12-at-2.18.37-PM.png

The overheating incident involving the SpiNNaker supercomputer at the University of Manchester underscores the critical importance of thermal management in large-scale neuromorphic systems. SpiNNaker, designed to emulate the parallel processing of the human brain using over a million ARM cores, operates with significant power demands. Any failure in its cooling infrastructure can lead to substantial operational disruptions and potential hardware damage.Research Explorer+1scieng.manchester.ac.uk+1

Implications of the Overheating Incident​

This event highlights several key considerations for neuromorphic computing systems:
  • Thermal Management: Even systems designed for energy efficiency, like SpiNNaker, can experience overheating if cooling systems fail or are inadequate.
  • System Reliability: Overheating can compromise the reliability and longevity of hardware components, leading to increased maintenance costs and downtime.
  • Monitoring and Alerts: The necessity for real-time monitoring systems that can detect and respond to thermal anomalies before they escalate.

Potential Role of BrainChip's Neuromorphic Technology​

BrainChip's Akida™ neuromorphic processor offers features that could be instrumental in addressing such challenges:Wevolver
  • Low Power Consumption: Akida operates with ultra-low power requirements, reducing the thermal output and the burden on cooling systems.
  • On-Chip Learning: Its ability to learn and adapt in real-time allows for the development of intelligent thermal management systems that can predict and mitigate overheating risks.
  • Event-Based Processing: Akida's architecture processes data only when necessary, further conserving energy and minimizing heat generation.
Integrating Akida into data center infrastructure could enhance thermal monitoring and management, providing early warnings and adaptive responses to potential overheating scenarios.

Conclusion​

The SpiNNaker incident serves as a cautionary tale about the vulnerabilities of high-performance computing systems to thermal issues. Leveraging advanced neuromorphic technologies like BrainChip's Akida could offer viable solutions to enhance system resilience through improved energy efficiency and intelligent thermal management.
Thanks, early warnings and adaptive responses via AKIDA could save their brand name plus a lot of $$.
 
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