Sequence complexity in Darwinian evolution
Complexity - Complex Adaptive systems: Part I
Living technology: Exploiting life's principles in technology
Artificial Life
Contrasting views of complexity and their implications for network-centric infrastructures
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part A: Systems and Humans
The role of degenerate robustness in the evolvability of multi-agent systems in dynamic environments
PPSN'10 Proceedings of the 11th international conference on Parallel problem solving from nature: Part I
Distributed redundancy and robustness in complex systems
Journal of Computer and System Sciences
Natural Computing: an international journal
Natural Computing: an international journal
Introduction to recent developments in living technology
Artificial Life
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The capacity to adapt can greatly influence the success of systems that need to compensate for damaged parts, learn how to achieve robust performance in new environments, or exploit novel opportunities that originate from new technological interfaces or emerging markets. Many of the conditions in which technology is required to adapt cannot be anticipated during its design stage, thus creating a challenge for the designer. Inspired by the study of a range of biological systems, we propose that degeneracy-the realization of multiple, functionally versatile components with contextually overlapping functional redundancy-will support adaptation in technologies, because it effects pervasive flexibility, evolutionary innovation, and homeostatic robustness. We provide examples of degeneracy in a number of rudimentary living technologies, from military sociotechnical systems to swarm robotics, and we present design principles-including shared protocols, loose regulatory coupling, and functional versatility-that allow degeneracy to arise in both biological and man-made systems.