Researchers have developed a chameleon robot that is capable of crawling like a reptile and automatically changing the color of its artificial skin to blend in with its surroundings in real time.
The real chameleon is known for severalfeatures: his eyes can move in different directions, and his body – imitate the color scheme of the environment in which it is located. A team of engineers from Seoul National University and Hanyang University were able to reproduce similar biomimicry on a small robot.
To do this they wrappedmechanical flexible multilayer deviceimitation leather with a thin coating of liquid crystal ink, which changes color depending on the orientation of the molecules. Transformations occur when heated to certain temperatures. Various combinations of the three basic colors (blue, red and green), allows you to get any other.
Several layers are responsible for the change in temperature.silver nanowires located under the outer layer of artificial leather, which, under the action of an electric current, heat the ink to the desired level. The degree of exposure is determined by optical sensors on the bottom of the robot body, which record the color range of the environment. This information is processed and transmitted to the nanowire inspection system. The color change of the artificial skin occurs within 0.5 seconds.
The team tried to bring it closer to naturalby adding patterns of guanine crystals that take on different shades. In the future, the researchers plan to accelerate the color change of liquid crystals by adding cooling mechanisms for nanowires.
Although the robot itself is virtually useless, the technologydynamic camouflage can find applications in the military sphere. For example, combat vehicles with a protective coating that can perfectly adapt to the environment.
We also previously reported on the development of microrobots that change shape to perform various tasks.
text: Ilya Bauer, photo and video: NPG Press / YouTube, Nature Communications
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