Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
SYMBRION - Symbiotic Evolutionary Robot Organisms
SYMBRION - Symbiotic Evolutionary Robot Organisms is a project intended to investigate and enable adaptation and evolution of multiple robot systems. A swarm of robots will create what amounts to a new, artificial "life-form."
(Cooperative swarm of bots)
The SYMBRION project is trying to see if robots in swarms could evolve new behaviors, and become self-healing and self-protecting. Such robots could reprogram themselves without the need for direct supervision by human beings.
Here's a short video on prototype robot swarms from Carnegie Mellon University:
(Shape-shifting robot swarms at Carnegie Mellon video)
Science fiction readers have already seen some great thinking on this topic from writer Stanislaw Lem, particularly in his 1954 novel The Invincible. In the story, human beings encounter (among other things), a vast cloud of tiny machines, a nanomachine swarm. Is it possible that these tiny machines evolved from the homeostatic robots created to maintain visiting ships?
"The robots were unharmed and left the ship. They were highly specialized homeostatic mechanisms, capable of withstanding the most difficult environmental conditions...We'd have to assume, of course, that these machines were capable of producing other machines according to their specific needs of the moment. ...the robots would have perfectly adapted to life on the continents of the planet.
...Hundreds of generations later the 'offspring' of the first mechanisms were no longer anything like the first products created by the Lyre civilization. Do you follow me? It was the beginning of an evolution of nonliving things, an evolution of machines."
(Read more about Stanislaw Lem's ideas on inorganic evolution)
Readers might also be reminded of the boppers from Rudy Rucker's novel Wetware as well as the Replicators from Stargate. (Note: there is a rather remarkable resemblance between one of the SYMBRION gallery photos and a picture of the earliest Replicators.
Here's a small swarm of related articles:
- Claytronics: Robot Swarm-Based 3D Shape-Shifting Objects
The idea is that each tiny robot can autonomously move into position relative to the others. It's basically programmable matter. - TETWalker: Shape-Shifting Robot Swarm
This bot is a prototype member of an autonomous nanotechnology swarm that can alter their shape to flow smoothly over rocky terrain. - SwisTrack Swarm Analysis Of Robots And Roaches
A great open-source tool for learning more about swarm behavior by watching insects, the original swarmers - and then to mimic them.
Read more about Self-Healing Mini Robots and Symbiotic Evolutionary Robot Organisms Project Seeks Self-Building Swarms. See also the SYMBRION project website.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/16/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.
HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent, 1934.
Robots For Hire En Masse
'...small investors profited, too.' - Raymond E. Banks, 1956.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Moscow Attacked By Hundreds Of Drones
'It hurtled on down with inconceivable speed until it was visible as thousands of tiny robot planes...'
Nifty Folding Electric Bicycles!
'Separate paths were provided for them...'
FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
'The population of Castle Hagedorn was fixed...'
Project Silica Offers 'Long-Term' Digital Storage
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'
Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'
Crystalline Structures In Space, You Say?
A massive space borne lifeform from ST:TNG.
Garçon! A Menu For Artemis II, S'il Vous Plaît
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'
Amazing Photonic Crystal Light Sail
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'
Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.
Rogue AI Replicated Itself
'Sapiro’s computer just kept dialing at random, hanging up on humans, until it got a fellow computer of the same type as itself.'
HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
When AI Takes Its First Breath
Any suggestions?
Chinese Aircar Light And Airy, Not For Blade Runners
Daytime version.
The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel
'If you surf over a bump, the spokes contract to roll over it.'
