Alister Hamilton
Papers
6
Total Citations
71
H-Index
4
About
Alister Hamilton is a researcher whose career bridges neuromorphic computing, analog VLSI design, and bio-inspired robotics. His foundational contributions center on pulse stream neural network architectures implemented in custom silicon, most notably the EPSILON chipset — a landmark analog CMOS VLSI device capable of computing approximately 360 million synaptic connections per second. Developed through the early 1990s, EPSILON demonstrated the practical viability of pulse stream signaling for neural computation and incorporated innovative dynamic weight storage alongside amorphous silicon nonvolatile memory techniques. Hamilton subsequently advanced this platform with EPSILON II, improving electrical characteristics, interface flexibility, and architectural scalability, and established a broader system-level framework for analog neural computation in robotics applications. His later work took a distinctly bio-inspired direction, integrating MEMS wind sensors with analog VLSI circuits to replicate the cercal sensory system found in insects, culminating in a functioning insect-inspired robot. With his most cited work accumulating 27 citations and his EPSILON research garnering consistent recognition across nearly a decade of development, Hamilton's career represents a sustained and innovative effort to bring biologically plausible neural computation into real-world hardware systems.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Pulse stream VLSI neural networks22 citations · 1994
- 3PULSE STREAM VLSI CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS: THE EPSILON NEURAL NETWORK CHIPSET13 citations · 1993
- 4
- 5Pulse stream VLSI neural systems: into robotics3 citations · 2002
- 6The EPSILON processor card: a framework for analog neural computation2 citations · 2002