A team of researchers from the University of Seoul has succeeded in creating a robot that emulates the chameleon’s ability to camouflage. Chameleons have several characteristics that place them among the most amazing animals on the planet. Their origin may date back millions of years, but their natural technology is very intricate. They undergo rapid color changes throughout their skin to camouflage themselves from potential dangers, as well as to control their body temperature.
It was originally believed that this quality was due to their ability to collect and disperse pigments within their dermal cells. However, a few years ago, a group of researchers at the University of Geneva found a network of nanocrystals present in their dermal cells. The iridophores (as they called them) function as a “selective mirror” that reflects different colors. And yes, it has been possible to mimic this behavior with cellulose nanocrystals, but doing so at the level of a chameleon-sized piece is costly and complicated.
Despite this, scientists are not giving up on the challenge of creating camouflage technology that mimics the behavior of the indomitable chameleons. However, finding materials that meet the basic requirement of changing colors at will, according to the surrounding light, is a real challenge. Artificial camouflage has faced the challenge of generating devices capable of transmitting a wide range of the visible spectrum that can be controlled and changed according to the colors of the environment. Significant progress has been made so far on small scales.
Liquid crystal emulating chameleons
Science always waits for the best moment to surprise us. And now, a team of researchers at the University of Seoul in South Korea has succeeded in emulating high-resolution camouflage patterns. They developed a technology based on thermochromic liquid crystal layers with strategically placed silver heaters to overcome resolution and pixel limitations.
To test the functionality of their masterpiece, and applying the principle described above, the authors fabricated a kind of chameleon skin. In turn, they placed it on the surface of a chameleon robot that has been tested to verify its artificial camouflage capability. They have shown that the chameleon robot can detect the local background color and not manipulate its skin. It is not only a matter of abrupt visible spectrum changes, but a progressive transition from the initial color until it reaches the spectrum of the environment in real-time.
The authors published the results of their research in the journal Nature, which are available to the public.
Text courtesy of Ecoosfera
Photos from Unsplash: Egor Kamelev
Translated by María Isabel Carrasco Cara Chards
