Bio-inspired self-organizing cellular systems

Bio-inspiration borrows three properties characteristic of living organisms: multicellular architecture, cellular division, and cellular differentiation. Implemented in silicon according to these properties, our self-organizing systems are able to grow, to self-replicate, and to self-repair. The growth and branching processes, performed by the so-called Tom Thumb algorithm, lead thus to the configuration and cloning mechanisms of the systems. The repair processes allow its cicatrization and regeneration mechanisms. The cellular design and hardware implementation of these mechanisms constitute the core of this paper. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.