A Combined Seed-Identification and Generation Analysis Algorithm for Self-Reproducing Systems

This paper is motivated by the need to minimize the payload mass required to establish an extraterrestrial robotic colony. The basic premise is that the colony will consist of individual robots that have the capability to self-reproduce. In this paper, self-reproduction is achieved by the actions of a robot on available resources. Hence, a seed for the colony consists of a set of robots and a set of resources. The technical problem addressed is the identification of a seed for a class of generation systems. An algorithm is provided for the solution of this problem, and is illustrated on a self-replicating system that has been documented in the literature.