self replicating machines

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NikPreviousAcct

No Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
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So self replication consists of programming a computer that looks like a tower of 3 blocks to know what it looks like, then setting new blocks down next to it in the same shape and saying the computer created a clone of itself? :confused:
 
DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 2002
8,820
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www.danj.me
Originally posted by: Nik
So self replication consists of programming a computer that looks like a tower of 3 blocks to know what it looks like, then setting new blocks down next to it in the same shape and saying the computer created a clone of itself? :confused:
Click to expand...

There is no spoon.
 
aircooled

aircooled

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
15,965
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Originally posted by: Nik
So self replication consists of programming a computer that looks like a tower of 3 blocks to know what it looks like, then setting new blocks down next to it in the same shape and saying the computer created a clone of itself? :confused:
Click to expand...

That's what i thought. It's not "creating" any new material. It's just attaching modular blocks.
 
DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 2002
8,820
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www.danj.me
Originally posted by: aircooled
Originally posted by: Nik
So self replication consists of programming a computer that looks like a tower of 3 blocks to know what it looks like, then setting new blocks down next to it in the same shape and saying the computer created a clone of itself? :confused:
Click to expand...

That's what i thought. It's not "creating" any new material. It's just attaching modular blocks.
Click to expand...

What about, SELF REPLICATING CATS?!?!! :Q
 
StageLeft

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
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Yeah this is pretty stupid, as Nik alluded to. It would be akin to me putting a computer inot a crane and teaching the crane to pick up another crane arm off the ground and then place it ontop of a base and pretending that the crane was self-replicating. This is about as impressive as a mitsubishi making it to 10k without the engine blowing up. It's unusual, but nothing really spectacular.
 
N

NikPreviousAcct

No Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
52,763
1
0
Originally posted by: DnaJ
Originally posted by: aircooled
Originally posted by: Nik
So self replication consists of programming a computer that looks like a tower of 3 blocks to know what it looks like, then setting new blocks down next to it in the same shape and saying the computer created a clone of itself? :confused:
Click to expand...

That's what i thought. It's not "creating" any new material. It's just attaching modular blocks.
Click to expand...

What about, SELF REPLICATING CATS?!?!! :Q
Click to expand...

I much prefer self replicating lines'o'coke :p
 
HomeBrewerDude

HomeBrewerDude

Lifer
Jan 18, 2001
14,465
1
0
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Yeah this is pretty stupid, as Nik alluded to. It would be akin to me putting a computer inot a crane and teaching the crane to pick up another crane arm off the ground and then place it ontop of a base and pretending that the crane was self-replicating. This is about as impressive as a mitsubishi making it to 10k without the engine blowing up. It's unusual, but nothing really spectacular.
Click to expand...

I disagree. The machine isn't merely following a program. Its sensing components in the environment and executing, with some intelligence, the process of replicating itself.

Each cube has an electronic brain that holds a blueprint for building new towers.
Click to expand...

This is a cellular approach to design. Very different from traditional mechanical design.

Here is a link to a Nature article by Hod Lipson:

Nature 2005

Self-reproduction of a four-module robot. a, Basic module, with an illustration of its internal actuation mechanism. b, Snapshots from the first 10 s showing how a four-module robot transforms when its modules swivel simultaneously. c, Sequence of frames showing
the self-reproduction process, which spans about 2.5 min and runs continuously without human intervention, apart from the replenishing of building blocks at the two ?feeding? locations
Click to expand...

From a Nature 2000 article:

Our approach is based on the use of only elementary building
blocks and operators in both the design and fabrication process. As
building blocks are more elementary, any inductive bias associated
with them is minimized, and at the same time architectural ¯exibility
is maximized. Similarly, use of elementary building blocks in
the fabrication process allows the latter to be more systematic and
versatile.
Click to expand...


No, its NOT a von Nueman machine, no one ever said it was. It is a machine that can replicate itself given the correct conditions. This IMO is something notable. All you really need to do now, is start nesting these systems together to get more complex functionality.



 
Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
126
I agree with Skoorb. It doesn't look like any real jump in technology to me... Until they come up with a material that can replicate with a couple of agents mixed together...or something like that, they're not going to be able to use it. Half of the issue of self replication is that a robot missing an arm will need a way to construct the new arm. They already said, that the reconstruction is simply placing a pre-made block somewhere in its configuration. It's dependent on too much already.
 
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