Assembler 0 - A Self-Replicating Robot Framework

A low-cost, open-source robotics platform for researching progressive self-replication and autonomous assembly.

Assembler 0 is an experimental starting point for a robotic system that can progressively reproduce portions of its own structure. The framework combines low-cost 3D-printed arms, open-source control software, and imitation-learning datasets to explore partial self-replication — where structural components can be reproduced internally while relying on externally supplied electronics, actuators, and power.

Overview

Inspired by the self-replicating machine concepts first proposed by John von Neumann and later developed by Freitas and others to macro-kinematic systems¹, this project builds on recent advances in robotic learning and additive manufacturing. While earlier efforts like the RepRap Project achieved partial material replication but not assembly², today's technologies enable new possibilities: policies like ACT³ and HIL-SERL⁴ support dexterous manipulation, low-cost 3D-printed robot arms have become accessible, 6DOF robot end-effector-based 3D printing⁵ allows printing complex parts directly from an arm, and tool-using LLMs following the ReACT⁶ paradigm offer high-level reasoning and planning capabilities.

Rather than aiming for full self-replication, Assembler 0 provides a research and prototyping framework to study how mechanical, informational, and manufacturing processes can progressively transition from exogenous (externally supplied) to endogenous (internally produced) components.

System Architecture

Hardware

A modular three-arm setup based on open, 3D-printable designs:

• SO101 Gripper Arm — General assembly manipulation tasks
• SO101 Screwdriver Arm — Assembly tasks requiring screwdriving
• SO101 3D Printer Arm — For replication of printable structural components (coming soon)
• Bimanual Configuration — Coordinated teleoperation of gripper and screwdriver arms for complex assembly tasks. The printer arm will operate via preprogrammed G-code tool paths rather than trained policies (coming soon)

An earlier prototype was based on Koch's Low-Cost Robot⁷, but development has since shifted to the SO101 platform for its superior capability, ease of assembly, and growing community adoption.

All printable components and CAD files are available in assembler0-hardware.

Software

The control stack builds on LeRobot⁸ for exploring imitation learning and reinforcement learning:

• SO101 Gripper Arm: Standard gripper control (implementation)
• SO101 Screwdriver Arm: Specialized screwdriver manipulation control (implementation)
• SO101 3D Printer Arm: G-code-based control for additive manufacturing (coming soon)

See the robot package documentation for API details and usage examples.

Datasets

Training data for imitation learning are stored in LeRobot format:

• Screwdriver 391 — 391 demonstrations of screwdriving tasks

Tools for dataset management:

• LeRobot Data Studio⁹ — Merge, clean, and visualize datasets
• Recording scripts included in the robot package

Milestone 1

Freitas & Merkle define the concept of closure in Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines¹⁰.

Assembler 0's first research milestone focuses on demonstrating pathways toward partial closure rather than achieving full closure outright.

Closure Type	Endogenous (internal)	Exogenous (external)
Material	3D-printed structural components	Servo motors, screws, wiring, electronics
Energy	None	Wall power / battery supply
Information/Control	Autonomous operation via trained policies; preprogrammed 3D-printing toolpaths	Initial training

Milestone 1 Goal:
Establish a baseline platform capable of complete information/control closure and partial material closure through 3D-printed mechanical reproduction.
Energy closure is considered out of scope for this phase.

Quick Start

1. Install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jackvial/assembler0
cd assembler0

# Install the UV package manager
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Create a virtual environment and install dependencies
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv sync

2. Build Hardware

• Print parts from assembler0-hardware
• Follow the SO101 assembly guide¹¹ for base arm construction

3. Calibrate & Operate

./so101_calibrate.sh   # set ports, IDs, permissions
./so101_teleoperate.sh # run leader–follower teleop

For camera setup, recording workflow, and dataset cleaning, see the Robot Package README.

Roadmap

• Koch-based screwdriver arm hardware
• Koch-based screwdriver arm LeRobot integration
• Koch-based gripper arm with magnetic tip hardware
• Koch-based gripper arm with magnetic tip hardware LeRobot integration
• Dataset of 290 screwdriving demonstrations (Koch arm)
• SO101 Screwdriver Arm hardware
• SO101 Screwdriver Arm LeRobot integration
• SO101 Gripper Arm hardware (standard arm hardware)
• SO101 Gripper Arm LeRobot integration (standard SO101 LeRobot integration)
• SO101 3D Printer Arm hardware (coming soon)
• SO101 3D Printer Arm control software (G-code driven, planned)

Contributing

Assembler 0 is an open-ended framework intended for collaborative exploration and incremental contribution.

License

Released under the MIT License.

References

Footnotes

1. Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines (Freitas & Merkle) ↩

2. RepRap Project Paper (Jones et al., 2007) ↩

3. ACT: Action Chunking with Transformers ↩

4. HIL-SERL: Human-in-the-Loop Robotic Reinforcement Learning ↩

5. 6DOF Robot End-Effector-Based 3D Printing ↩

6. ReACT: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models ↩

7. Koch's Low-Cost Robot ↩

8. LeRobot ↩

9. LeRobot Data Studio ↩

10. Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines - Closure ↩

11. SO101 Arm Assembly Guide ↩