A Minimalist Parts Manipulation System for a Self-replicating Electromechanical Circuit

In this paper, we describe a fully autonomous, selfreplicating, electromechanical circuit, and the minimalist manipulation system that the circuit uses as a substrate in order to function. In the context of a class project at JHU, we designed and built a prototype system consisting of basic electronic components and motors which had the ability to build a replica of its own control circuit. This artificial “self-replicating electromechanical intelligence” has the ability to identify the proper electronic components required, translate encoded instructions into mechanical tasks that create a replica of itself, and transfer all intelligence functions to the replica. The design is scalable and the components are modular, allowing many different levels of intelligence to be replicated. This concept is one of many which we are investigating to enable self-replicating robots to perform complex behaviors. The ultimate application of such robots is as subsystems in a self-replicating robotic factory. The presented prototype demonstrates active mechanical replication of the physical hardware required for intelligent behaviors, which is an initial step in the direction of self-replicating robots.