| On 2009-04-03 at 15:00:00 (Brussels Time) |
Abstract
Self-assembly and developmental processes go hand-in-hand with design, through evolution by means of natural selection, to create the plethora of complex biological systems we see throughout nature. However, designing and creating artificial self-assembling systems continues to be extremely challenging. One aspect that remains an open problem is how to design a set of components and their environmental conditions such that the set of components self-assemble into a desired entity. Techniques have been developed for a few specific applications, but a general approach has not been achieved. The focus of my PhD is on the design aspects of self-assembly. I will present an overview of the bottom-up design process that I am currently developing, and which forms the basis of my PhD. As well, I will present preliminary research on an extension of the Tile Assembly Model and the utilization of rapid prototyping, all in the pursuit of working towards the automated design and manufacture of self-assembling systems.
Keywords
Self-assembly, Rapid Prototyping, Tile Assembly Model, Evolutionary Computation
