Digital Event Horizon
Scientists at Stevens Institute of Technology have made a groundbreaking discovery in surface measurement technology, revealing that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can now "feel" and measure surfaces using quantum sensors. This innovative breakthrough opens up new possibilities for applications in medicine, manufacturing, and beyond.
AI can now measure surfaces using quantum sensors. The new method detects tiny differences in surface roughness, opening up possibilities for applications in medicine, manufacturing, and beyond. The current limitations of AI systems in measuring surfaces are addressed by combining AI with quantum sensors. The researchers used photon-firing scanning laser to "feel" surfaces and detected speckle noise as valuable data. The method averaged a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of about 8 microns during early tests, improving to within 4 microns when averaging results across multiple samples. The technology has significant implications for industries such as medicine, manufacturing, and quality control.
ScienceDaily has made a groundbreaking discovery in surface measurement technology, revealing that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can now "feel" and measure surfaces using quantum sensors. The innovative breakthrough was achieved by researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology, who have developed a novel method to detect tiny differences in surface roughness, opening up new possibilities for applications in medicine, manufacturing, and beyond.
According to Dr. Yong Meng Sua, Professor of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology, the current limitations of AI systems in measuring surfaces are significant. "AI has more or less acquired the sense of sight, through advances in computer vision and object recognition," notes Sua. "However, it has not yet developed a human-like sense of touch that can discern, for example, a rough sheet of newspaper paper from a smooth and glossy sheet of magazine paper." This limitation is addressed by the new method, which combines AI with quantum sensors to measure surface properties.
The researchers employed a photon-firing scanning laser to "feel" the surfaces, generating a specially created beam of light that pulsed in short blasts at the target object. The reflected, back-scattered photons carried speckle noise, a random type of flaw that occurs in imagery. However, rather than viewing this as a detrimental factor, the team used AI to detect and process these noise artifacts as valuable data. This allowed them to accurately discern the topography of the object.
The research team conducted extensive experiments using 31 industrial sandpapers with surfaces of varying roughness, ranging from 1 to 100 microns thick. Mode-locked lasers generated light pulses aimed at the samples, which passed through transceivers and encountered the sandpapers before rebounding back through the system for analysis by the AI model.
The results showed that the new method averaged a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of about 8 microns during early tests, with accuracy improving significantly to within 4 microns when averaging results across multiple samples. Notably, the system performed best for finer-grained surfaces, such as diamond lapping film and aluminum oxide.
This breakthrough has significant implications for various industries, including medicine, manufacturing, and quality control. Dr. Daniel Tafone, a doctoral candidate at Stevens Institute of Technology, notes that "Tiny differences in mole roughness, too small to see with the human eye but measurable with our proposed quantum system, could differentiate between those conditions." The potential applications of this technology are vast, from improving medical diagnosis to enhancing manufacturing quality control.
As AI and quantum technologies continue to advance, we can expect even more innovative solutions to emerge. Dr. Yuping Huang, Director of the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, comments that "Our method enriches their capabilities with surface property measurement at very small scales." This development paves the way for new applications and advancements in fields such as robotics, materials science, and biotechnology.
The researchers' achievement highlights the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration to drive innovation. By combining AI with quantum sensors, they have successfully bridged a significant gap in our understanding of surface properties. As we continue to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge, it is clear that breakthroughs like this will play a crucial role in shaping the future of technology.
Related Information:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241116195651.htm
https://www.stevens.edu/news/invisible-touch-stevens-is-giving-ai-the-ability-to-feel-and-measure
Published: Sat Nov 16 22:37:13 2024 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
