New Robots Clone Themselves

www.livescience.com...

Mimicking reproduction in living organisms, researchers have built a simple self-replicating robot out of automated blocks.

Machines that can copy themselves have been built before, but the earlier experiments were limited to two dimensions or confined to a track. Hod Lipson and his collaborators at Cornell University have designed modular cubes, called molecubes, that can assume a range of three-dimensional shapes.

"People think of robots as durable metallic machines, and the only way to make them last longer is to make them more sturdy," Lipson said.

Lipson and his colleagues are exploring a different paradigm, in which robots become more robust through self-repair.

"Animals survive longer than robots because they can repair themselves," Lipson explained in a telephone interview.

these robots have the ability to make copies of themselves!?!?!?

amazing!!!

check out the pics:

PIC: Basic module...

PIC: self-reproduction process

ENJOY!!!

This has been my fear since I took an intrest in robots. No matter how unlikely and controllable. This is what SciFi is made out of, robots heal and reproduce exponentially. Then due to A.I.'s 'learning' from mistakes, I could see an idea for a total silent but hostile movement.

Although who knows, maybe when an AI 'learns' (yes I use that very carefully) it will learn compassion and sympathy before all. The true logical test of good versus evil.

WOW this things are starting to be REAL advanced. I wonder if they can even think on their own with a powerful Artificial Intelligence. But would it be possible at all for them to Artificially "Think"?

"Robots building robots...now that's just stupid."-Will Smith, I Robot

Originally posted by BadMojo
"Robots building robots...now that's just stupid."-Will Smith, I Robot

GREAT...

and GREAT...

They are gonna take over the world. No more peanut butta jelly time.
These scientist need a virtual reality check. Jeeze. How the hell are we gonna defeat machines made of metal? Artificial smarts and all....
I'll keep makin my own damn dinnah, wipe my own butt, and seeings how I still live in the south...pick my own damn cotton too

Are those real? Oh my. I don't know technology has advanced so fast.....guess i am pretty outdated. I can't imagine a thousand years later where robots will take over our world.....

Reminds me of Stargate....soon theyll probably build em so they can digest stuff for fuel and built thereown parts from that......lol (the replicators silli!)

[edit on 13-5-2005 by Shadow88]

I'm studying a Masters degree in Cybernetics, and i;ve seen various stuff like this before, but only as a computer program proving the theory, to have actually built this is incredible! In the comp demonstration you had about 30 of these little blocks forming themselves into one long line, then another line on top, and moved like a catapila track, pretty neat stuff these reconfigurable bots...

As far as technology and the possiblitity of machines reproducing themselves, its a scary idea. Here we are, only about 10 years into the full integration of computers and internet into our daily lives, and were creating reproducable machines? We have software and hardware companies that cant even produce thier products without flaws. Its logical to assume that these robots would also be flawed.

If one was programmed to scrub toilets, and one day the programming was flawed, it could be dangerous. Then allow it to reproduce, and passing on a flaw in programming? Youll have toilet brush wielding killers. And it would be difficult if not impossible to integrate some kind of self destruct procedure, since they would eventually develop enough to eliminate this possiblity.

Im sure this technology is inevitable, so I guess I better start building my bunker.