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Sands T. Bio-Inspired Space Robotic Control Compared to Alternatives. Biomimetics (Basel) 2024; 9:108. [PMID: 38392155 PMCID: PMC11154457 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics9020108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Controlling robots in space with necessarily low material and structural stiffness is quite challenging at least in part due to the resulting very low structural resonant frequencies or natural vibration. The frequencies are sometimes so low that the very act of controlling the robot with medium or high bandwidth controllers leads to excitation of resonant vibrations in the robot appendages. Biomimetics or biomimicry emulates models, systems, and elements of nature for solving such complex problems. Recent seminal publications have re-introduced the viability of optimal command shaping, and one recent instantiation mimics baseball pitching to propose control of highly flexible space robots. The readership will find a perhaps dizzying array of thirteen decently performing alternatives in the literature but could be left bereft selecting a method(s) deemed to be best suited for a particular application. Bio-inspired control of space robotics is presented in a quite substantial (perhaps not comprehensive) comparison, and the conclusions of this study indicate the three top performing methods based on minimizing control effort (i.e., fuel) usage, tracking error mean, and tracking error deviation, where 96%, 119%, and 80% performance improvement, respectively, are achieved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy Sands
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA;
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
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McCaskill JS, Karnaushenko D, Zhu M, Schmidt OG. Microelectronic Morphogenesis: Smart Materials with Electronics Assembling into Artificial Organisms. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2023; 35:e2306344. [PMID: 37814374 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202306344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 08/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
Microelectronic morphogenesis is the creation and maintenance of complex functional structures by microelectronic information within shape-changing materials. Only recently has in-built information technology begun to be used to reshape materials and their functions in three dimensions to form smart microdevices and microrobots. Electronic information that controls morphology is inheritable like its biological counterpart, genetic information, and is set to open new vistas of technology leading to artificial organisms when coupled with modular design and self-assembly that can make reversible microscopic electrical connections. Three core capabilities of cells in organisms, self-maintenance (homeostatic metabolism utilizing free energy), self-containment (distinguishing self from nonself), and self-reproduction (cell division with inherited properties), once well out of reach for technology, are now within the grasp of information-directed materials. Construction-aware electronics can be used to proof-read and initiate game-changing error correction in microelectronic self-assembly. Furthermore, noncontact communication and electronically supported learning enable one to implement guided self-assembly and enhance functionality. Here, the fundamental breakthroughs that have opened the pathway to this prospective path are reviewed, the extent and way in which the core properties of life can be addressed are analyzed, and the potential and indeed necessity of such technology for sustainable high technology in society is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- John S McCaskill
- Research Center for Materials, Architectures and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN), Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126, Chemnitz, Germany
- Material Systems for Nanoelectronics, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126, Chemnitz, Germany
- European Centre for Living Technology (ECLT), Ca' Bottacin, Dorsoduro 3911, Venice, 30123, Italy
| | - Daniil Karnaushenko
- Research Center for Materials, Architectures and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN), Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126, Chemnitz, Germany
- Material Systems for Nanoelectronics, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126, Chemnitz, Germany
| | - Minshen Zhu
- Research Center for Materials, Architectures and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN), Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126, Chemnitz, Germany
- Material Systems for Nanoelectronics, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126, Chemnitz, Germany
| | - Oliver G Schmidt
- Research Center for Materials, Architectures and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN), Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126, Chemnitz, Germany
- Material Systems for Nanoelectronics, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126, Chemnitz, Germany
- European Centre for Living Technology (ECLT), Ca' Bottacin, Dorsoduro 3911, Venice, 30123, Italy
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Chen Y, Ni J, Ong YC. Lotka-Volterra models for extraterrestrial self-replicating probes. EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL PLUS 2022; 137:1109. [PMID: 36248760 PMCID: PMC9540038 DOI: 10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-03320-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
A sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial civilization can send out a swarm of self-replicating probes for space exploration. Given the fast-growing number of such a probe, even if there is only one extraterrestrial civilization sending out such probes in the Milky Way galaxy, we should still expect to see them. The fact that we do not consist part of the Fermi paradox. The suggestion that self-replicating probes will eventually mutate to consume their progenitors and therefore significantly reduce the number of total probes has been investigated and dismissed in the literature. In this work, we revisit this question with a more realistic Lotka-Volterra model and show that mutated probes would drive the progenitor probes into "extinction," thereby replacing them to spread throughout the galaxy. Thus, the efficiency of mutated probes in reducing the total number of self-replicating probes is even less than previously thought. As part of the analysis, we also suggest that, somewhat counter-intuitively, in designing self-replicating probes, one should not program them to stop replicating when sufficient mutation causes the probes to fail to recognize the progenitor probes as "self."
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Chen
- Center for Gravitation and Cosmology, College of Physical Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, 180 Siwangting Road, Yangzhou City, 225002 Jiangsu Province China
| | - Jiayi Ni
- Center for Gravitation and Cosmology, College of Physical Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, 180 Siwangting Road, Yangzhou City, 225002 Jiangsu Province China
| | - Yen Chin Ong
- Center for Gravitation and Cosmology, College of Physical Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, 180 Siwangting Road, Yangzhou City, 225002 Jiangsu Province China
- Shanghai Frontier Science Center for Gravitational Wave Detection, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China
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Eiben ÁE, Ellers J, Meynen G, Nyholm S. Robot Evolution: Ethical Concerns. Front Robot AI 2021; 8:744590. [PMID: 34805290 PMCID: PMC8603346 DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2021.744590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Rapid developments in evolutionary computation, robotics, 3D-printing, and material science are enabling advanced systems of robots that can autonomously reproduce and evolve. The emerging technology of robot evolution challenges existing AI ethics because the inherent adaptivity, stochasticity, and complexity of evolutionary systems severely weaken human control and induce new types of hazards. In this paper we address the question how robot evolution can be responsibly controlled to avoid safety risks. We discuss risks related to robot multiplication, maladaptation, and domination and suggest solutions for meaningful human control. Such concerns may seem far-fetched now, however, we posit that awareness must be created before the technology becomes mature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ágoston E Eiben
- Department of Computer Science and Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Department of Electronic Engineering, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Jacintha Ellers
- Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Gerben Meynen
- Department of Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Department of Law, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Sven Nyholm
- Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
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Ellery A. Are There Biomimetic Lessons from Genetic Regulatory Networks for Developing a Lunar Industrial Ecology? Biomimetics (Basel) 2021; 6:biomimetics6030050. [PMID: 34449537 PMCID: PMC8395472 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics6030050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We examine the prospect for employing a bio-inspired architecture for a lunar industrial ecology based on genetic regulatory networks. The lunar industrial ecology resembles a metabolic system in that it comprises multiple chemical processes interlinked through waste recycling. Initially, we examine lessons from factory organisation which have evolved into a bio-inspired concept, the reconfigurable holonic architecture. We then examine genetic regulatory networks and their application in the biological cell cycle. There are numerous subtleties that would be challenging to implement in a lunar industrial ecology but much of the essence of biological circuitry (as implemented in synthetic biology, for example) is captured by traditional electrical engineering design with emphasis on feedforward and feedback loops to implement robustness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Ellery
- Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
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