This site has been permanently archived. This is a static copy provided by the University of Southampton.
--- abstract: 'JohnnyVon is an implementation of self-replicating automata in continuous two-dimensional space. Two types of particles drift about in a virtual liquid. The particles are automata with discrete internal states but continuous external relationships. Their internal states are governed by finite state machines but their external relationships are governed by a simulated physics that includes brownian motion, viscosity, and spring-like attractive and repulsive forces. The particles can be assembled into patterns that can encode arbitrary strings of bits. We demonstrate that, if an arbitrary “seed” pattern is put in a “soup” of separate individual particles, the pattern will replicate by assembling the individual particles into copies of itself. We also show that, given sufficient time, a soup of separate individual particles will eventually spontaneously form self-replicating patterns. We discuss the implications of JohnnyVon for research in nanotechnology, theoretical biology, and artificial life.' altloc: - http://extractor.iit.nrc.ca/johnnyvon/ERB-JohnnyVon.pdf chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: - '' - peter.turney - '' creators_name: - family: Smith given: Arnold honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Turney given: Peter honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Ewaschuk given: Robert honourific: '' lineage: '' date: 2002-08 date_type: published datestamp: 2002-08-31 department: Institute for Information Technology dir: disk0/00/00/24/40 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: ~ edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: [] editors_name: [] eprint_status: archive eprintid: 2440 fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/2440/1/ERB%2DJohnnyVon.pdf full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: National Research Council Canada isbn: ~ ispublished: unpub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: 0 item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: 'self-replication, mobile automata, virtual physics, continuous space automata' lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:59 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: ~ pagerange: ~ pubdom: FALSE publication: ~ publisher: ~ refereed: FALSE referencetext: | [1] Chou, H.-H., and Reggia, J.A. (1997). Emergence of self-replicating structures in a cellular automata space. Physica D, 110, 252-276. [2] Langton, C.G. (1984). Self-reproduction in cellular automata. Physica D, 10, 134-144. [3] Lerena, P., and Courant, M. (1996). Bio-machines. In Proceedings of Artificial Life V (Poster), Nara, Japan. [4] Penrose, L.S. (1959). Self-reproducing machines. Scientific American, 200 (6), 105-114. [5] Reggia, J.A., Lohn, J.D., and Chou, H.-H. (1998). Self-replicating structures: Evolution, emergence and computation. Artificial Life, 4 (3), 283-302. [6] Sayama, H. (1998). Constructing Evolutionary Systems on a Simple Deterministic Cellular Automata Space. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Information Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo. [7] Sayama, H. (1998). Introduction of structural dissolution into Langton's self-reproducing loop. In C. Adami, R.K. Belew, H. Kitano, and C.E. Taylor, eds., Artificial Life VI: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Artificial Life, 114-122. Los Angeles, California: MIT Press. [8] Sipper, M. (1998). Fifty years of research on self-replication: An overview. Artificial Life, 4 (3), 237-257. [9] Tempesti, G., Mange, D., and Stauffer, A. (1998). Self-replicating and self-repairing multicellular automata. Artificial Life, 4 (3), 259-282. [10] von Neumann, J. (1966). Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. Edited and completed by A.W. Burks. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. [11] Wolfram, S. (2002). A New Kind of Science. Champaign, IL: Wolfram Media. relation_type: [] relation_uri: [] reportno: ERB-1099 rev_number: 12 series: ~ source: ~ status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:44:50 subjects: - comp-sci-mach-dynam-sys - bio-evo - bio-theory succeeds: ~ suggestions: ~ sword_depositor: ~ sword_slug: ~ thesistype: ~ title: 'JohnnyVon: Self-Replicating Automata in Continuous Two-Dimensional Space' type: techreport userid: 2175 volume: ~