Chinese Optics Letters, Volume. 23, Issue 12, (2025)

Photonic reservoir computing based on micro-ring resonators for direction finding of unmanned aerial vehicles [Early Posting]

Yang Jingda, Chen Zike, Mao Jiqiang, Han Shufei, Xia Qianzhu, Shen Weihong, Gu Min, Zhang Qiming
Author Affiliations
  • University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
  • show less

    Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) face challenges in real-time, high-precision tasks such as data acquisition and environmental monitoring, which demand low-latency decision-making and high-speed data transmission. A photonic reservoir computing (PRC) based on silicon-integrated micro-ring resonators (MRRs) was demonstrated for UAV flight direction recognition, achieving an accuracy of 95.6%. The proposed PRC exhibits short-term memory effects, enabling the detection of subtle changes in flight direction. The PRC operates at the MHz-rate with milliwatt-level power consumption, enabling photonic edge computing with high speed and energy efficiency, providing UAVs the potential to make decisions autonomously and avoid external interference when operating in extreme environments.

    Paper Information

    Manuscript Accepted: Jul. 16, 2025

    Posted: Aug. 1, 2025

    DOI: 10.3788/COL202523.121301