Can Developmental Biology Inspire Amorphous Computing?

Systems constructed from vast numbers of tiny processors / sensors, connected together in a nonprescribed way, form the basis of novel computing paradigms such as amorphous computing, ubiquitous computing and pervasive computing. Within these systems, the individual computational units may be fragile, unpredictable and only able to communicate locally. However, despite these individual restrictions, they still need to be able to self-organise to robustly and efficiently carry out a set of collective functions. By looking at the development of multicellular organisms, this paper examines how the challenges faced by these amorphous systems are similar to those faced by, and solved by, biological systems. We also examine the properties of developing systems that may be useful for amorphous computing; such as self-organisation, robustness and scalability.