Typically viewed as a deterministic model of spatial computing, cellular automata are here considered as a collective system subject to the noise and lack of constraints of natural computing. The updating scheme, classically synchronous, is replaced by stochastic versions which either randomly update cells, or disrupt the cell-to-cell transmission of information. Applying our panel of updating schemes to Elementary Cellular Automata, we observe a wide variety of behaviours, which we study in the scope of macroscopic statistical phenomena and microscopic analysis of the internal mechanisms. Finally we discuss on the role of updating scheme in the emergent behaviours, and the interest in using them to probe models in order to reveal robust properties.