Self-replication and evolvable hardware
Prabhas Chongstitvatana
Department of Computer Engineering
Chulalongkorn University
Living organisms can reproduce. This is perhaps the most
important aspect of evolution. Jon von Neuman introduced the theory of
self-reproducing automata to study the process of replication in a
machine. I believe that the study of self-replicable machines will lead
us to understand the principles of information processing better.
The application of self-replicable machines is far reaching, for
example, an adaptive device, a self-repair device, a self-assembling
device etc. I am interested in the application of evolvable
hardware to realise a self-reproducing machine.
Evolvable hardware is a marriage between reconfigurable circuits and
evolutionary algorithms. A reconfigurable device can change its
wiring hence its functionality by means of changing its configuration
bits. It is possible to do so at run-time and in real-time.
An example of reconfigurable device is the field programmable gate
array (FPGA) device. Evolutionary algorithms can be applied to
realise the real-time adaptation of the device, making the device
adaptive and changeable. This leads to an adaptive electronics.
In this talk I will introduce the field of self-replication. Its
historical perspective is very intriguing and exciting. The model
of computation based on cellular automata and its implication will be
explained. I will show how evolvable hardware can be realised
using the current technology. Finally, I will attempt to explore
the future work in investigating self-replication using evolvable
hardware.
Slide of the talk
Demo of Langton loop (in Java)
Mechanical system: from V. Zykov, E. Mytilinaios, B. Adams and H.
Lipson, Self-reproducing machines, Nature vol 435, 12 May 2005, p.163. (nature-v435-self-rep.pdf) 2
minutes video (wmv file 5 Mbytes)
Biography
Prabhas Chongstitvatana earned BEng (EE) from Kasetsart University 1980
and PhD from the department of artificial intelligence, Edinburgh
University, UK, 1992. Presently, he is with the department of
computer engineering, Chulalongkorn University. The research
included robotics, evolutionary computation and computer
architecture. The current work involves bioinformatics and grid
computing where he is actively promote the collaboration to create Thai
national grid for scientific computing. He believes in building
the community of research in Thailand. He is the member of
Thailand Engineering Institute, Thai Academy of Science and Technology,
Thai Robotics Society, Thai Embedded System Association and ECTI
Association of Thailand.