--- license: cc-by-nc-sa-4.0 datasets: - ylecun/mnist metrics: - accuracy pipeline_tag: image-classification model-index: - name: febrifahmi/NoD (mnist_nod2_model10.keras) metadata: parameters: total: 116714 trainable: 116714 results: - task: type: image-classification name: Image Classification dataset: name: MNIST Test Set type: ylecun/mnist split: test metrics: - name: Accuracy type: accuracy value: 0.9883 tags: - biologically-inspired - neuromorphic - dendritic-computing - green-ai - small-parameters-footprint --- # Model Summary (directly go to the [demo page here](https://huggingface.co/spaces/febrifahmi/NoD-1-1D)) ## Background motivation The development of the latest neural network/deep learning model architectures (State-of-the-Art/SOTA) over the past two decades has seen a trend toward increasingly large-scale model development (in terms of the number of parameters, reaching billions, especially in LLM models), heavy computational burdens/requirement of capable hardware and infrastructure, large energy footprints, and large model sizes, as well as high and unsustainable memory and execution footprints. This may not be immediately apparent to end users, but it actually poses a real environmental threat. With the current trend of climate change, it is unwise to continue the paradigm and practice of developing and using neural network products that leave a high environmental footprint (energy footprint, memory footprint, inefficient use of resources during execution/inference). I propose a general neural network model architecture that is more sustainable (GreenAI) and has the potential to be applied to various NN tasks, namely the Network-of-Dendrites (NoD) model architecture. This model architecture is not specific to a specific domain, but rather represents a core architectural paradigm that is fundamentally different from the model architectures currently being developed. The architecture is fundamentally a computation and routing paradigm (a lean, modular "thinking core") rather than a standalone end-to-end sensor pipeline. The core paradigm of the NoD model architecture is minimizing the number of parameters by applying the principle of shared parameters, rather than increasing the number to billions. NoD was developed by emulating the basic idea of ​​how the brain's neurons learn and function biologically. Brain components, modeled as dendrites, go through two main phases: 1) the initial phase when the nervous system begins to learn and form new neural networks that become stronger over time after successfully learning from data (myelination); and 2) the phase when the nervous system is fully formed and the training and dynamic processing can be stopped and "locked in." In the context of the NN model architecture, this is achieved by dividing the model architecture into two phases: a. first phase: statistically searching/matching which data can be processed by which archetype/subMLP (gating/routing); after that, the data is fed into a shared-base of parameters before being fed to the selected archetype. This occurs in the first phase during training, where the most appropriate probability for dividing the data into each archetype is still being sought; c. Phase two: the locked-in phase, where the transition from soft probabilistic to deterministic occurs after the optimal routing probability to K other archetypes for processing the data is obtained from Phase one. ### Model Provenance & Lineage * **Base Architecture:** None (Built completely from scratch). * **Pre-trained Weights:** None (Trained with randomly initialized weights). * **Training Dataset:** Standard MNIST Handwritten Digit Dataset. ### Origin Statement This model is a custom-designed architecture developed independently. It is not a fork, fine-tuned variant, or distillation of any existing pre-trained model. All weights were trained from scratch exclusively on the attached MNIST dataset. ## Usage ## Create NoDClassificationLayer class ``` import tensorflow as tf from tensorflow.keras import layers, Model, initializers, datasets from tensorflow.keras.models import load_model from tensorflow.keras.utils import plot_model import numpy as np import export_nod import monitor # Reuse the NetworkOfDendritesLayer implementation with Multi-Class Output adjustment @tf.keras.utils.register_keras_serializable(package='Custom', name='NoDClassificationLayer') class NoDClassificationLayer(layers.Layer): def __init__(self, num_inputs, num_classes, num_archetypes, archetype_configs, embedding_dim=16, **kwargs): super(NoDClassificationLayer, self).__init__(**kwargs) self.num_inputs = num_inputs self.num_classes = num_classes self.num_archetypes = num_archetypes self.archetype_configs = archetype_configs self.embedding_dim = embedding_dim self.is_locked = False self.temperature = 1.0 self.hard_assignments = None def build(self, input_shape): # Discovery parameters self.input_keys = self.add_weight( name="input_keys", shape=(self.num_inputs, self.embedding_dim), initializer=initializers.RandomNormal(stddev=0.1), trainable=True ) self.archetype_prototypes = self.add_weight( name="archetype_prototypes", shape=(self.num_archetypes, self.embedding_dim), initializer=initializers.RandomNormal(stddev=0.1), trainable=True ) # Bounded Bank of Archetype NPUs self.archetype_mlps = [] for cfg in self.archetype_configs: # Output of each mini-MLP now projects to `num_classes` so each pixel # contributes a non-linear vote to every class score. # input_shape(1,) is used to ensure the MLPs can process single pixel inputs and stick to 472 params/enforce True 472-params scale in Keras for this NoD arch. mlp = tf.keras.Sequential([ layers.Dense(cfg["hidden_dim"], activation=cfg["activation"], kernel_initializer=initializers.VarianceScaling(scale=cfg["init_scale"], mode='fan_in', distribution='normal'), input_shape=(1,)), layers.Dense(self.num_classes, kernel_initializer=initializers.RandomNormal(stddev=0.1)) ]) self.archetype_mlps.append(mlp) super(NoDClassificationLayer, self).build(input_shape) def lock_routing(self): similarity = tf.matmul(self.input_keys, self.archetype_prototypes, transpose_b=True) self.hard_assignments = tf.argmax(similarity, axis=-1).numpy() self.is_locked = True self.input_keys.trainable = False self.archetype_prototypes.trainable = False print(f"\n[SYSTEM] Routing Locked. Archetype distribution: {np.bincount(self.hard_assignments)}") def call(self, inputs): batch_size = tf.shape(inputs)[0] if not self.is_locked: # Phase 1: Soft Dynamic Routing similarity = tf.matmul(self.input_keys, self.archetype_prototypes, transpose_b=True) soft_routing = tf.nn.softmax(similarity / self.temperature, axis=-1) expanded_inputs = tf.expand_dims(inputs, axis=-1) # (Batch, 784, 1) all_npu_outputs = [] for k in range(self.num_archetypes): flat_in = tf.reshape(expanded_inputs, [-1, 1]) flat_out = self.archetype_mlps[k](flat_in) # (Batch*784, 10) npu_out = tf.reshape(flat_out, [batch_size, self.num_inputs, self.num_classes]) all_npu_outputs.append(npu_out) stacked_outputs = tf.stack(all_npu_outputs, axis=-1) # (Batch, 784, 10, Num_Arch) routing_expanded = tf.reshape(soft_routing, [1, self.num_inputs, 1, self.num_archetypes]) dendritic_outputs = tf.reduce_sum(stacked_outputs * routing_expanded, axis=-1) # (Batch, 784, 10) else: # Phase 2: Fully Vectorized Structural Execution Loop # self.hard_assignments contains the winning archetype index for each of the 784 inputs (Shape: [784]) # We map each input to its assigned archetype without breaking tensor flow. expanded_inputs = tf.expand_dims(inputs, axis=-1) # (Batch, 784, 1) flat_in = tf.reshape(expanded_inputs, [-1, 1]) # (Batch * 784, 1) # Compute outputs for all archetypes across all inputs first all_npu_outputs = [] for k in range(self.num_archetypes): flat_out = self.archetype_mlps[k](flat_in) # (Batch * 784, 10) npu_out = tf.reshape(flat_out, [batch_size, self.num_inputs, self.num_classes]) all_npu_outputs.append(npu_out) stacked_outputs = tf.stack(all_npu_outputs, axis=-1) # (Batch, 784, 10, Num_Arch) # Create a hard one-hot mask from self.hard_assignments: shape (784, Num_Arch) hard_mask = tf.one_hot(self.hard_assignments, depth=self.num_archetypes, dtype=tf.float32) # Reshape mask to broadcast correctly: (1, 784, 1, Num_Arch) routing_expanded = tf.reshape(hard_mask, [1, self.num_inputs, 1, self.num_archetypes]) # Select only the winning archetype's output for each input index deterministically dendritic_outputs = tf.reduce_sum(stacked_outputs * routing_expanded, axis=-1) # (Batch, 784, 10) # RMS Normalization over dendritic outputs rms = tf.math.sqrt(tf.reduce_mean(tf.math.square(dendritic_outputs), axis=1, keepdims=True) + 1e-8) normalized_outputs = dendritic_outputs / rms # Macro Neuron Aggregation Sum macro_sum = tf.reduce_sum(normalized_outputs, axis=1) # (Batch, 10) return macro_sum def get_config(self): """Serialization support for saving/loading the layer.""" config = super().get_config() config.update({ "num_inputs": self.num_inputs, "num_classes": self.num_classes, "num_archetypes": self.num_archetypes, "archetype_configs": self.archetype_configs, "embedding_dim": self.embedding_dim }) return config @classmethod def from_config(cls, config): """Deserialization support for loading the layer from a config.""" # config_copy = config.copy() return cls(**config) ``` ## Create the load balaced layer class ``` import tensorflow as tf from tensorflow.keras import layers class BalancedNoDClassificationLayer(layers.Layer): """ 1D Network-of-Dendrites (NoD) Classification Layer with Shared-Parameter Core and Load-Balancing Auxiliary Loss. """ def __init__(self, num_archetypes=8, archetype_dim=16, balance_weight=0.01, **kwargs): super(BalancedNoDClassificationLayer, self).__init__(**kwargs) self.num_archetypes = num_archetypes self.archetype_dim = archetype_dim self.balance_weight = balance_weight def build(self, input_shape): # 1D Shared-Parameter Core: Shape (num_archetypes, archetype_dim) self.archetype_core = self.add_weight( shape=(self.num_archetypes, self.archetype_dim), initializer='variance_scaling', trainable=True, name='nod_1d_shared_core' ) # Router network to compute soft routing gates across archetypes self.router_weights = self.add_weight( shape=(input_shape[-1], self.num_archetypes), initializer='glorot_uniform', trainable=True, name='nod_router_weights' ) super(BalancedNoDClassificationLayer, self).build(input_shape) def call(self, inputs): batch_size = tf.shape(inputs)[0] # 1. Compute routing probabilities via Softmax router_logits = tf.matmul(inputs, self.router_weights) routing_gates = tf.nn.softmax(router_logits, axis=-1) # Shape: (Batch, num_archetypes) # 2. Load-Balancing Auxiliary Loss (Prevents routing collapse) mean_gate_per_archetype = tf.reduce_mean(routing_gates, axis=0) uniform_target = 1.0 / float(self.num_archetypes) load_balance_loss = self.balance_weight * tf.reduce_sum( tf.square(mean_gate_per_archetype - uniform_target) ) self.add_loss(load_balance_loss) # 3. Weighted combination of the 1D shared archetype core parameters # routing_gates: (Batch, num_archetypes, 1) x archetype_core: (1, num_archetypes, archetype_dim) gates_expanded = tf.expand_dims(routing_gates, axis=-1) core_expanded = tf.expand_dims(self.archetype_core, axis=0) modulated_archetypes = gates_expanded * core_expanded output_features = tf.reduce_sum(modulated_archetypes, axis=1) # Shape: (Batch, archetype_dim) return output_features def compute_output_shape(self, input_shape): return (input_shape[0], self.archetype_dim) def get_config(self): config = super(BalancedNoDClassificationLayer, self).get_config() config.update({ "num_archetypes": self.num_archetypes, "archetype_dim": self.archetype_dim, "balance_weight": self.balance_weight, }) return config @classmethod def from_config(cls, config): return cls(**config) ``` ## Load and evaluate saved model ``` def evaluate_saved_model(model_path): print(f"[INFO] Loading model from '{model_path}'...") # 1. Load the model safely with compile=False loaded_model = load_model( model_path, custom_objects={"NoDClassificationLayer": NoDClassificationLayer}, compile=False ) print("[SUCCESS] Model loaded.") # 2. Load the official MNIST test dataset print("[INFO] Loading MNIST test dataset...") (_, _), (x_test, y_test) = tf.keras.datasets.mnist.load_data() # 3. Apply the exact same preprocessing used during training (Flatten & Normalize) x_test_processed = x_test.astype(np.float32) / 255.0 x_test_processed = x_test_processed.reshape(-1, 784) # Flatten to (10000, 784) print(f"[INFO] Running inference on {len(x_test_processed)} test samples...") # 4. Perform batch prediction # (If memory is tight, you can batch this, but for 784-dim tiny models, direct prediction is fine) predictions = loaded_model.predict(x_test_processed, batch_size=1024, verbose=1) # 5. Extract predicted classes predicted_labels = np.argmax(predictions, axis=1) # 6. Calculate True Accuracy correct_predictions = np.sum(predicted_labels == y_test) total_samples = len(y_test) test_accuracy = (correct_predictions / total_samples) * 100.0 print("\n" + "="*40) print(f" FINAL EVALUATION REPORT") print("="*40) print(f" Total Test Samples : {total_samples}") print(f" Correct Predictions: {correct_predictions}") print(f" True Test Accuracy : {test_accuracy:.2f}%") print("="*40) return test_accuracy # Test your custom images right away # batch_test("mnist_test_img") if __name__ == "__main__": # Point to your saved model file model_file = "mnist_nod_model.keras" evaluate_saved_model(model_file) ``` ## Implementation requirements The model was trained in a standard consumer laptop with no CUDA capable GPU. # Model Characteristics ## Illustration ### Data flow ![](https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F370655%2F1dcf4aa21a76f8d0d2776f57de09143a%2Fnod_detailed_archetype_math.png?generation=1785884433086261&alt=media) ### Model architecture ![](https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F370655%2F7231aba2eb56120a3d6b8c726891628f%2FFigure_3.png?generation=1785884729004447&alt=media) ### Inside the archetype ![](https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F370655%2Ff1a57a83c1966824dd23d13ea2f38150%2FFigure_4.png?generation=1785884826561527&alt=media) ## Model initialization The model was trained from scratch on MNIST dataset. ## Model stats ### NoD 1 (1D base shared parameters) Trainable Parameters: 13.080 File size: 218 Kbytes Architecture: NoD (dendritic non-linear routing and archetype sharing) Nr.of training epoch: 10 epoch True accuracy: 88.18% ![](https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F370655%2Fef77f0497a5382bd743aecc9c9fcd182%2FFigure_1_____%20-%20Copy.png?generation=1785826253853680&alt=media) Trainable Parameters: 13.080 File size: 218 Kbytes Architecture: NoD (dendritic non-linear routing and archetype sharing) Nr.of training epoch: 20 epoch True accuracy: 90.04% ![](https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F370655%2F565d78ebd018c2637d881d98180721a5%2FFigure_1_20epoch.png?generation=1785827897342886&alt=media) ### NoD 2 (2D base shared parameters) Trainable Parameters: 116,714 parameters File size: 455.91 KB (the actual model .keras file size uploaded is 1.4 MB) Architecture: NoD (dendritic non-linear routing and archetype sharing) Nr.of training epoch: 10 epoch True accuracy: 98.83% ![](https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F370655%2F4a4dba898b3db2e1c163563b11299e2a%2FFigure_2_NoD_2D_parameters_stats.png?generation=1785892488927732&alt=media) ## Other details The model is not pruned nor quantized. # Data Overview The model trained and evaluated using MNIST dataset and standard method to split train/val/test data. # Evaluation Results True accuracy on MNIST test set: 88.18% (10 epoch) True accuracy on MNIST test set: 90.04% (20 epoch)