You could go some way with 1980s-level integrated circuits for all the onboard electronics. The manufacturing requirements are much more tolerable. But even 1980s semiconductors require a couple of dozen chemically exotic and ultra pure feedstocks. The Autofacs would have to build a complex chemical industry before they could start building chips.
You could go some way with 1980s-level integrated circuits for all the onboard electronics. The manufacturing requirements are much more tolerable. But even 1980s semiconductors require a couple of dozen chemically exotic and ultra pure feedstocks. The Autofacs would have to build a complex chemical industry before they could start building chips.