Spiking neural networks (SNNs) show great potential in mapless navigation tasks due to their low power consumption, but the continuous representation of spatial information poses a challenge to SNN training. Neuroscience findings reveal that spatial cognition cells encode spatial information through population spike patterns. Inspired by this, we propose a navigation method based on SNNs, leveraging spatial cognition cells, which include grid cells (GCs), head direction cells (HDCs), and boundary vector cells (BVCs). Our method integrates spike-based information to achieve precise navigation goal encoding and egocentric environment perception, significantly improving SNN navigation capabilities in complex environments. Simulation and real-world experiments demonstrate that our method achieves significant improvements in navigation success rate and energy efficiency, showcasing superior adaptability across environments. Our work provides a novel approach to developing efficient brain-inspired navigation systems.

Reinforcement Learning (RL) has shown promise in robotic navigation tasks, yet applying it to real-world environments remains challenging due to dynamic complexities and the need for dynamically feasible actions. We propose a hierarchical control framework based on Spiking Deep Reinforcement Learning (SDRL) for robust robot navigation in real environments. Our approach utilizes a two-layer architecture: a high-level decision layer powered by a Spiking GRU network for handling partially observable environments, and a low-level executive layer employing Continuous Attractor Neural Networks (CANNs) to ensure precise and continuous actions. This hierarchical structure allows real-time decisionmaking that respects the physical constraints of the robot. Experimental results show that our method adapts effectively to new environments without fine-tuning and surpasses existing methods in performance. We also explore the implementation on the Darwin3 chip, paving the way for biologically inspired motion control in future robotic applications.