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Self-Repairing Spacecraft Uses Ant Logic

Posted by Zonk on from the made-of-liquid-metal dept.

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."

2 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Happy birthday, Zonk! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic


    On one of your last posts you said your birthday was coming up. We wanted to wish you a good one, because this will be your last birthday before you get Bonked. We sure hope you enjoy it.

    Love from the Slashdot crowd.

    --
    Trolling all trolls since 2001.

  2. COCK SLAP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    thunk.