Self-replicating Kinematic Cellular Automata

It should take about 150 KCA cubes working together to assemble two subassemblies (0ne yellow, and one purple). It takes about 50 subassemblies to make up a cube. The research question remains: where do the subassemblies come from? Perhaps structural DNA-templating or other quasi-deterministic assembly of silsesquioxanes or other molecular building blocks. See also "Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines" by Robert Freitas and Ralph Merkle http://www.molecularassembler.com/KSRM.htm

Kinematic Cellular Automata are modular robots that may provide the real-world basis for the T-1000 of Terminator 2. They can be considered a primitive version of Josh Hall's Utility Fog (see http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0220.html or read his book "Nanofuture").
This video was made for the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (see "Modeling Kinematic Cellular Automata: An Approach to Self-Replication: Final Report", NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, April 2004, http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/883Toth-Fejel.pdf)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Modular
• Robot

[tyrantt23]

Now I know the reason for living and the meaning of life.

[TiagoTiagoT]

gray goo has never been so colorful

[chruseruserable]

versteh isch nisch

[mouse264]

Pretty valid argument.

[SuperXpress2]

@Isanion What do you mean?

[Mrw0fflez]

u got a measurment wrong :P

[sweetnoey313]

how did i not see it before? excellent

[NagarajVasuki]

When/if this technology rolls out, it will give the expression "culture shock" a whole new dimension of relevance.

[getoffmyinternet]

You should have just concurred. :p