Og. Clark et R. Kok, ENGINEERING OF HIGHLY AUTONOMOUS BIOSYSTEMS - REVIEW OF THE RELEVANT LITERATURE, International journal of intelligent systems, 13(8), 1998, pp. 749-783
This article is a general guide to the literature associated with the
development of highly autonomous biosystems. The specific context of t
he article is the EcoCyborg Project, in which computer models are used
to investigate the engineering of ecosystems combined with artificial
ly intelligent control networks. The project exists at the nexus of se
veral expansive fields of research, and the review therefore is not co
mprehensive. Instead, it is a general guide to the literature associat
ed with the relevant themes. First we give the definition of a biosyst
em as an adaptive, complex, dynamic system that is alive to some degre
e. A brief overview is given of the historical development of holistic
ecology, followed by a discussion of what it means for a system to be
''alive.'' Second we review the engineering of natural, modified, and
entirely artificial biosystems for various purposes. The next section
is on the engineering of biosystems for autonomy, including the chara
cterization of mind, artificial intelligence, the implementation of mi
nd in biosystems, and the history and current nature of the EcoCyborg
Project. Finally, mention is made of techniques for the characterizati
on and comparison of highly autonomous biosystems, since these techniq
ues are necessary both for the objective study of such systems and for
their own self-examination and control. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, I
nc.