automated refineries

When I first brought up robotic refineries/factories, I was thinking about
something more near-term and do-able. NASAs Deep Space craft are being
built and flown today doing things like simple on-board diagnostics, and
on-board navigation decisions, based on computer analysis of reference stars
observed by the spacecraft's camera. I was thinking on extrapolating out in
that direction. I guess the features I was envisioning are:

1) extensive ground testing to prove reliability and try out all the
functions
2) simple on-board diagnostics
3) the robot is built to build a factory/refinery in space; it carries
plans and some equipment to do small things, but it is analogous to a tree
seed--it has instructions and the minimum amount of hardware required to
utilize the surrounding resources to best effect
4) designed to be small enough to keep launch costs down

I guess I had in mind a small fleet (6? 3?) of microsatellites that would be
sophisticated enough to build a factory out of asteroid regolith, which
would then build structural pieces, tanks to store the water, oxygen and
other gasses liberated from the asteroids, and build an assembler robot that
would then put the pieces together. It would be a feat of programming and
robotics
beyond anything we have currently, but not I think beyond imagining. If we
can imagine it, we can talk about it, work out some of the challenges. If
we can do that, we're that much closer to building it. Then, all we have to
do is launch it, flip the switch, and come back in a few years to move in.
Problems it avoids--lifting vast quantities of raw materials into space,
keeping crews of workmen in space for years doing manufacturing and
assembly, and all the costs involved with those.

What would the seed have to do?

1) Collect and use solar power.
2) get to an asteroid.
3) gather small bits of regolith to refine in small lots
4) forge the basic parts of the factory (not far-fetched, the PERMANENT
site discusses mining and forging in space in some detail)
5) assemble them (OK this might take a team of humans, depends on just how
good we get at building our seed)
6) flip the switch on the factory
7) keep the completed parts in one place until there are enough
8) assemble them into a O'Neill cylinder, Stanford taurus, or whatever
shape they were designed for

If you're skeptical, go outside and look at a tree.