Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Committee Chair

Russell Deaton

Committee Member

Hasan Ali

Committee Member

Madhusudhanan Balasubramanian

Committee Member

Max Garzon

Abstract

Inspired by self-assembled biological growth, the circuit tile assembly model(cTAM) is an abstract system that attempts to understand the effects of electricity ongrowth. The cTAM is based on the DNA tile assembly system with a unit tile thatcombines chemical glues with basic electrical circuit components. In the cTAM, thegrowth of resistive tiles is driven by a voltage source until the voltage at the terminus ofthe circuit is less than a threshold. This simulates a system with a finite resourceswhose consumption establishes self-control over the extent of its growth. Thisresearch has extended the cTAM to develop theoretical models that exhibits specificfunctionalities, namely replication and logical computation. The first result is areplicating cTAM that exhibits three essential properties of life: self-assembly,self-controlled growth, and self-replication. The second result is a Boolean cTAMmodel that implements a computationally complete set of Boolean gates that canmake decisions about the extent of its growth. The final research goal is to build asequential logic circuit with memory. This dissertation provides insight into the role ofelectric phenomena in biological form and function that might be useful for signalpropagation in bioelectric networks.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

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