Posts tagged camouflage
Articles and news from the latest research reports.
HOW THE CAMO-ROBOT WORKS:
The soft robot can be seen in the video walking on a bed of rocks, before being filled with fluid to match the color of the rocks and break up the robot’s shape. By introducing narrow channels into the molds through which air and various types of fluids can be pumped, the robot can be made to change its color, contrast, apparent shape and temperature to blend with its environment.
It can also glow through chemiluminescence, and most importantly, achieve movement through pneumatic pressurisation and inflation of the channels. At a pumping rate of 2.25 milliliters per minute, color change in the robot required 30 seconds. Once filled, the color layers require no power to sustain the color.
The robot moves at a speed of approximately 40 meters per hour - without the colored fluid, it can move at approximately 67 meters per hour. Future research will focus on smoothing the movements; however, speed is less important than the robot’s flexibility. Soft robots are useful because they are resilient and can maneuver through very constrained spaces.
(Source: Daily Mail)
Researchers have developed a system that allows the soft robots to either camouflage themselves against a background, or to make bold color displays. Such a “dynamic coloration” system could one day have a host of uses, ranging from helping doctors plan complex surgeries to acting as a visual marker to help search crews following a disaster, said Stephen Morin, a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Chemistry and Chemical Biology and first author of the paper.
"When we began working on soft robots, we were inspired by soft organisms, including octopi and squid," Morin said. "One of the fascinating characteristics of these animals is their ability to control their appearance, and that inspired us to take this idea further and explore dynamic coloration. I think the important thing we’ve shown in this paper is that even when using simple systems – in this case we have simple, open-ended micro-channels – you can achieve a great deal in terms of your ability to camouflage an object, or to display where an object is."
"One of the most interesting questions in science is ‘Why do animals have the shape, and color, and capabilities that they do?’" said Whitesides. "Evolution might lead to a particular form, but why? One function of our work on robotics is to give us, and others interested in this kind of question, systems that we can use to test ideas. Here the question might be: ‘How does a small crawling organism most efficiently disguise (or advertise) itself in leaves?’ These robots are test-beds for ideas about form and color and movement."
Moths know how to melt into the background
Many species of moth are experts in camouflage, with the ability to make themselves practically invisible to predators by matching the pattern on their wings with that of their background. But surprisingly little is known about the behaviour surrounding this conjuring trick.