Architectural considerations for self-replicating manufacturing systems

摘要

To achieve the levels of productivity that are oneof the desirable prospects of a molecular manufacturingtechnology, the techniques of self-replication in mechanicalsystems are a major requirement. Although the basic ideas andhigh-level descriptions were introduced by von Neumann in the1940s, no detailed design in a mechanically realistic regime ('thekinematic model') has been done. This paper formulates a bodyof systems analysis to that end, and proposes a higher-levelarchitecture somewhat different to those yet seen, as a result.