A Practical Approach to Introducing Electrical Undergraduates to Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract

Artificial intelligence techniques are increasingly being applied to a variety of problems in the field of electrical engineering, and consequently universities worldwide are paying more attention to training electrical engineers in applying neural networks (ANNs) in practice. As part of the above training, an introductory practical project on ANNs has been offered as an elective to the undergraduates in the author's department. The project introduces a single layer ANN model consisting of two neurons. The algorithm, the hardware implementation and the test procedure concerning one of the neurons, are described. Then the students apply the same techniques for the other neuron and combine the two circuits to form the final ANN hardware. The agreement of the results conducted by the theoretical models with those obtained by the constructed circuits, allow the students to become familiar with ANN hardware techniques and realise that they present a practical and efficient solution.