The ultimate bio-inspiration - how to build a self-replicating machine to colonise the Moon

摘要

Self-replication is the de facto hallmark of life and has thus far eluded efforts to mimic it in physical engineered systems. According to the John von Neumann self-replication model, there are four major components - (ⅰ) a physical instantiation of a program of instructions to build the self-replicator (DNA), (ⅱ) a mechanism for copying those instructions (DNA polymerase), (ⅲ) a controller to interpret those instructions into a set of physical procedures (proteins), and (ⅳ) a means to physically construct the self-replicator (ribosomes). The first and latter two parts constitute a universal Turing machine and universal constructing machine respectively. It is these three parts, in particular, with which we are concerned. The most important constraint is in physical closure which requires a: (ⅰ) minimum materials inventory; (ⅱ) minimal set of chemical processes; (ⅲ) minimum set of component part types; (ⅳ) minimal set of manufacturing methods; (ⅴ) minimal assembly requirements. This aids in the requirements for energy and information closure. We have identified (ⅰ) a minimal list of functional materials (demandite) to build the self-replicator; (ⅱ) a single electrochemical process to extract the metals supplemented with a small set of mineral pre-processing methods; (ⅲ) a set of two fundamental components that are key - the electric motor (which may be configured into any kinematic machine, i.e. universal constructor) and vacuum tube (active component of Turing-complete neural electronics, i.e. universal computer); (ⅳ) a set of additive manufacturing techniques to 3D print all parts including electric motors and vacuum tubes.