Self-replicating machine is a type of autonomous robot that is capable of reproducing itself autonomously using raw materials found in the environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature.
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Self-replicating machine is an artificial self-replicating system that relies on conventional large-scale technology and automation.
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However, the term "von Neumann Self-replicating machine" is less specific and refers to a completely unrelated computer architecture that von Neumann proposed and so its use is discouraged where accuracy is important.
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Detailed conceptual proposal for a self-replicating machine was first put forward by mathematician John von Neumann in lectures delivered in 1948 and 1949, when he proposed a kinematic model of self-reproducing automata as a thought experiment.
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Von Neumann's concept of a physical self-replicating machine was dealt with only abstractly, with the hypothetical machine using a "sea" or stockroom of spare parts as its source of raw materials.
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The Self-replicating machine had a program stored on a memory tape that directed it to retrieve parts from this "sea" using a manipulator, assemble them into a duplicate of itself, and then copy the contents of its memory tape into the empty duplicate's.
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The Self-replicating machine was envisioned as consisting of as few as eight different types of components; four logic elements that send and receive stimuli and four mechanical elements used to provide a structural skeleton and mobility.
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Self-replicating machine went on to instead develop an even more abstract model self-replicator based on cellular automata.
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Self-replicating machine asked what is the threshold of complexity that must be crossed for machines to be able to evolve.
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Self-replicating machine's answer was to design an abstract machine which, when run, would replicate itself.
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Self-replicating machine chose the seashore as an initial habitat for such machines, giving them easy access to the chemicals in seawater, and suggested that later generations of the machine could be designed to float freely on the ocean's surface as self-replicating factory barges or to be placed in barren desert terrain that was otherwise useless for industrial purposes.
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Self-replicating machine's second proposal was a solar-powered factory system designed for a terrestrial desert environment, and his third was an "industrial development kit" based on this replicator that could be sold to developing countries to provide them with as much industrial capacity as desired.
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Fully capable Self-replicating machine replicators are most useful for developing resources in dangerous environments which are not easily reached by existing transportation systems .
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