# Autonomous Fabrication **Entity class:** Industrial capability **Domain:** Robotics / manufacturing / machine autonomy ## Definition Autonomous fabrication is the capacity of an integrated machine system to convert designs and feedstocks into functioning physical components with decreasing direct human labor. It can include materials handling, machining, additive manufacturing, inspection, assembly, logistics, maintenance and process adaptation. ## Relationship to machine replication Autonomous fabrication becomes relevant to [[wiki/Self-Replicating Robots|Self-Replicating Robots]] when the production system can manufacture consequential portions of its own machinery or the industrial equipment needed to extend its lineage. Full replication requires more than a robot building a copy of its chassis: the closure problem includes energy, mining, refinement, chips, tools, software deployment, error correction and repair. ## Related concepts [[wiki/Machine Civilization|Machine Civilization]] · [[wiki/Computational Metabolism|Computational Metabolism]] · [[wiki/Software Life|Software Life]] · [[collections/MARS|MARS]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts