Codd's Cellular Automaton: A Simpler Self-Replicating Machine
2025-05-04
In 1968, British computer scientist Edgar F. Codd devised a cellular automaton (CA) with only 8 states, simplifying von Neumann's 29-state self-replicating machine. Codd demonstrated the possibility of a self-replicating machine within his CA, but a complete implementation wasn't achieved until 2009 by Tim Hutton. Codd's work spurred further research into the necessary logical organization for self-replication in automata, inspiring later refinements by researchers like Devore and Langton, leading to less complex self-replicating designs.