"Give me a self replicating device, and I'll give you a formidable economic power" - Ted Stalets


selfreplicatingdevice_image1 

 

A self replicating device is an artificial self-replicating system that relies on conventional large-scale technology and automation. The term evolved to distinguish such systems from the microscopic nanobots or "assemblers" that nanotechnology may make possible.

A self-replicating machine would need to have the capacity to gather energy and raw materials, process the raw materials into finished components, and then assemble them into a copy of itself.

A totally automated factory would have the following capabilities - mining robots to collect raw materials, construction robots to put new machines together, and repair robots to maintain itself against wear and tear.  Once the automated factory has been set up with self replication functionality, it would continue on its own with no human labor cost.

Such a system is not that far fetched - as all living organisms are self replicating during organic growth.

Please bookmark Self Replicating Device dot com as a useful source of information on this emerging capability - having both a macro existence in the visible world, as well as a micro existence in the world of nanotechnology.  Self replicating devices in recent times has been explored by K. Eric Drexler in his seminal book on nanotechnology, Engines of Creation.

As news items and other relevant articles become available, we will add them to this growing website.  Thanks for stopping by.