Slashdot Mirror
Open Source Self-Replicating Robot
Josilot writes "CNN.Com is running an article about a new self-replicating robot named RepRap. From the article: 'A revolutionary machine that can copy itself and manufacture everyday objects quickly and cheaply could transform industry in the developing world, according to its creator.' One part of the article that I think many slashdot readers will find interesting is near the bottom: 'To encourage that development, Bowyer plans to make the design of the RepRap available online and free to use, in the same way as open source software such as the Linux operating system or Mozilla's Firefox browser.' Is robotics the next big field for open source?"
The article is frustratingly vague. It sounds to me like the robot doesn't replicate itself but rather that Dr. Adrian Bowyer has created some type of system for replicating robot chasis. The picture clearly shows a plastic 'bot with attached motors, wiring, batteries, etc. From the information that the article gives, it seems like a human is still needed for the final construction. I wouldn't consider this self replicating because it is not autonomous.
exponential growth:
Generation 1 = 1 Robot
Generation 2 = 2 Robots
Generation 3 = 4 Robots
Generation 4 = 8 Robots
Generation 101 = 1267650600228229401496703205376 robots
Given that, perhaps, some day robots will share very close and very trusted relationships with human; e.g., give "freedom" of movement in their homes, offices, cars, etc. and perhaps given some spending authority, passwords, and other means to access resources on behave of the home/office they toil in... having their source and design as open source is a fairly critical to insure (on the macro level) that particular classes of robots don't contain lurking evil.
However, IMHO, it will take some type of trusted computer system (open sourced I hope!! please! Please!!), to insure that an individual robot isn't lurking in your home with evil within its programming...
[I've been trying to get my homeBot to clean up the kitchen but those damm spybots and Trojan Virus have it wacked out going around in small circles in the bathroom (and have had it lock itself in!; glad we have more than one bathroom...]
http://www.hawknest.com/
The here is the googled website: http://reprap.org/ I have always thought replicating machines would be cool (it's possible as can be seen from the "two-legged existence theorem"). Using a 3D printer sounds like the way to go about this today. However, I would think that whatever it is you are crafting with a machine has to necessarily be at a lower mechanical tolerance to the machine itself, so over several generations, the precision falls catastrophically. Some form of recovery or repair is needed (as in DNA). I have always thought we were a long way off from this sorta thing ... ...
The practical solution outlined or implied here seems workable in contrast - use your machine to make various parts, and have a human assemble them together. It was mentioned in
http://www.blog.speculist.com/archives/000293.html
that additional off the shelf spare parts might be needed. This certainly provides a practical trade-off for an almost self-replicating machine. Nice! Hmm
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