Ecobionics [1] [2] - (from other Greek. Οίκος + βίον - “home + element of life”) - applied science , which is one of the sections of bionics [3] and based on the concept of technology as part of the developing biosphere .
In ecobionics, the technological development of mankind is interpreted as a necessary condition for the transition of global biosocial and sociotechnical structures to noospheric structures. Such a transition involves the development of technical systems with the possibility of their initial integration into biospheric processes. Research in this direction is based on the study of fundamental processes inherent in living systems. First of all, these are processes of self-organization and the emergence of structural information [4] . Such studies have concentrated around the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems [5] , which received the general name - synergetics [6] . Apparently, the most promising direction for the further development of technology is associated with its “biologization”. In this regard, there are great opportunities both in terms of developing new technical concepts, and in solving global problems of the interaction of technology and the biosphere.
Content
The main directions of ecobionics
The basic concept of ecobionics is the creation of technical systems based on the fundamental principles of the development of biological systems. In this case, it is assumed not exact copying of biosystems, but the use of deeper mechanisms underlying the processes of self-organization of biosystems of various levels (from molecular to biospheric) for the implementation of technical solutions. First of all, studies relate to the creation of artificial systems that underlie the theory of technogenesis . In this regard, it is supposed to conduct research in two main directions, closely interconnected:
- Development of large-scale technical systems (enterprises, industrial complexes, regional technical complexes, the technosphere as a whole) in connection with their interaction with the biosphere [7] ,
- Creation of technical systems, including nanoscale . [8] , which are based on the biological principles of the organization of living matter.
Ecobionics Features and Development History
Ecobionics differs from traditional research in the field of bionics with a focus on research and the reconstruction of the emergent properties of a team of interacting technical and biological systems. Bionics, which arose in the early 60s of the 20th century, chose the principle “living prototypes - the key to new technology” as its motto. It seemed that it was enough to use many ideas and constructive solutions embedded in living systems, and it would be possible to create fundamentally new technical designs. However, the method of simple analogy without developing a deep theoretical foundation that was beyond the scope of purely technical issues could not lead to significant results. Over time, the enthusiasm associated with the traditional bionic approach gradually began to fade. However, research in the field of robotics , artificial intelligence , information technology , and the theory of technical systems has revived to a new level interest in biosimilar technical systems. Moreover, it became apparent that the patterns of development of modern technical systems are close to the patterns of development of biosystems . Such concepts as technocenoses , biotechnocenoses, sociotechnocenoses and the like have appeared. On the other hand, research in biology (from molecular biology to biosphere theory) has yielded a lot to develop new ideas in the field of technology. Another very important impetus for the development of the concept of ecobionics was the danger of an impending environmental crisis . One of the most important tasks of ecobionics is the development of technical systems that are organically integrated into biosphere ( environmental ) processes. At the same time, it is planned to develop such technological processes that would not unbalance the entire structure of complex interconnected environmental processes. The very concept of "ecobionics" was formed in the early 90s of the XX century. The authors of the term “Ecobionics”, in the sense that is used in this term in this article, were Kaganov Yu. T. and Shchelkanovtsev SV. A large role in the development of ecobionics was played by the works of B. Kudrin and his followers in the development of a new direction - technology [9] . Subsequently, the work of Redko V. G. on evolutionary cybernetics [10] and also the work of Anokhin K. V. in the field of the study of the brain and neurocybernetics made a significant contribution to the development of ecobionics. In 1996 at the MSTU. N.E. Bauman organized a permanent seminar "Ecobionics", which discussed the problems of technogenesis and its connection with environmental problems, the prospects for the development of robotics and artificial intelligence, development in the field of multi-agent systems and "artificial life" , artificial non-nets , genetic and evolutionary algorithms , fuzzy control systems and decision making . The seminar "Ecobionics" continues to work at the present time.
Ecobionic System Development Levels
There are 5 levels of development of ecobionic systems:
- biological, associated with the creation of adaptation mechanisms and their support in the interaction of man and the biological infrastructure of the biosphere (for example, the creation of a hierarchy of biosphere reserves isolated from man-made sources of environmental impact);
- biotechnocenosis - the creation of ecologically closed biospheric structures with autonomy and certain target settings; each technocenosis should be well coordinated with the activity of biogeocenosis in the framework of which it is created;
- technogenic - the development of technical systems created on the principles of self-organization; such systems should have certain properties of living systems, and their “life activity” should be organically included in biosphere processes;
- biosocial - development and coordination of technical and socio-technical structures into single ecobiosocial complexes;
- psychological - the development of the theory of activity of technical systems, taking into account the interaction of human groups and ecobionic systems; in the future, the creation of new information technology will entail the creation of psychological theories related to the study and implementation of artificial intelligence systems and artificial intelligence .
The problem of creating ecobionic systems is closely related to the problem of human-machine interaction ( interface ). This problem has many aspects, of which the most important social , psychological and ergonomic aspects. The colossal leap in the development of information technology and communications, as well as control systems, has led to a fundamentally new look at technical systems and their relationships with humans. Technical systems acquire the character of sociotechnocenoses. It is no longer possible to consider the creation of technical systems outside the context of social and psychological problems. This is especially true in connection with the catastrophic information activity in the semiosphere. At the same time, computer technology plays a dual role, being both the cause and the means of taming the information explosion. This situation requires a thorough study of the social and psychological aspects of human interaction and information systems.
We emphasize several areas of ecobionic models related to the problems of psychology.
- “ Artificial life ” is a direction that emerged in the mid 80-ies of the XX century, is developing rapidly, using ideas that were formed in the early 60-ies of the XX century in the framework of the theory of cellular automata. A large role in this direction was played by work in the field of synergetics and the theory of evolutionary algorithms .
- "Neurointelligence" is a direction closely adjacent to the previous direction and related to research on the creation of neural-like computing systems with the ability to self-learn and form solutions together with a person in difficult situations.
- “Global Brain” - a direction related to the study of the collective intelligence of mankind, combined with the help of information and network ( Internet ) technologies into a single intelligent system.
See also
- Bionics
- Ecology
- Artificial Intelligence
Notes
- ↑ The Biggest Psychological Dictionary. Ed. Meshcheryakova B.G., Zinchenko V.P. // Yu. T. Kaganov . Ecobionics. - St. Petersburg: Prime-Evroznak / Neva / M: Olma-Press, 2004 .-- 672 p.
- ↑ “Synergetic paradigm. Nonlinear thinking in science and art. ” // Yu. T. Kaganov . Co-evolution of the biosphere and technosphere: problems and solutions. - M.: “Progress-Tradition”, 2002. - 685 p.
- ↑ " Problems of Bionics . Biological prototypes and synthetic systems. " Per. from English M .: World. 1965 .-- 560 s.
- ↑ Chernavsky D.S. Synergetics and information (dynamic information theory) - M.: URSS editorial, 2004. - 288 p. - ISBN 5-354-00241-9
- ↑ Loskutov A. Yu., Mikhailov A. S. Fundamentals of the theory of complex systems . M.-Izhevsk: Research Center “Regular and Stochastic Dynamics”, 2007. - 620 p. - ISBN 978-5-93972-558-3
- ↑ Haken G. Synergetics. Hierarchy of instabilities in self-organizing systems and devices. M: World. Translated from English, 1985 .-- 423 p. - UDC 536.42 + 536.75
- ↑ Malinetskii G. G., Kaganov Yu. T. Russia in the context of world dynamics. The journal "Ecology and Life". No. 6. 2008
- ↑ Golovin Yu. I. Introduction to nanotechnology. - M.: Mechanical Engineering, 2007 .-- 496 p. ISBN 978-5-217-03378-2
- ↑ Kudrin B.I. Introduction to technology. Tomsk: Tomsk Publishing House. state University, 1991 .-- 384 p.,
- ↑ Redko V. G. Evolution, neural networks, intelligence: Models and concepts of evolutionary cybernetics. - M .: KomKniga, 2005 .-- 224 p.