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Self-Repairing Spacecraft Uses Ant Logic
Elitist_Phoenix wrote to mention a New Scientist story about what could be the first steps towards a self-repairing spacecraft. From the article: "The team at CSIRO, Australia's national research organisation, is working with NASA on the project and has so far created a model skin made up of 192 separate cells. Behind each cell is an impact sensor and a processor equipped with algorithms that allow it to communicate only with its immediate neighbours. Just as ants secrete pheromones to help guide other ants to food, the CSIRO algorithms leave digital messages in cells around the system, indicating for instance the position of the boundary around a damaged region. The cell's processor can use this information to route data around the affected area."
I think its more of a 'start' of something..
You cant repair something if you dont know its broke...
So, this would be the logical first step.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
It is nice that these skin cells can detect that they have been damaged, yet I read nothing about if they have been damaged, how they plan to repair the damages caused?
Um, no, a skin cell cannot detect that it itself is damaged. Undamaged neighbors that can't communicate with a cell can decide it is damaged.
"repair" in the sense used means routing communication and tasks around the damaged cells.
for the very reason this technology was created.
to try and get rid of the central point of failure.
Saw an article some months ago in Popular Science about cars may eventually be made of this stuff so that when they get in a fender bender the "dent" in the car pops back out saving insurance companies millions of dollars currently going towards minor repairs. Also found an old article from 2001 here and here on the same subject.
Seems to be from Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams. It's a while since I read it too - had to look it up.