For example, they say adding in a cooling system may widen the temperature range and hasten the robot’s reflexes. ![]() Nature makes it look so easy, but the response time and the arbitrariness of patterns in chameleon skin are hard to replicate.Ĭognizant of the weaknesses Morin points out, Ko and Hong’s team already have several solutions in the works. Morin admits that replicating color shifting in robots is tricky. And Morin says that the skin color may be affected by its surroundings, especially in chilly weather or under direct sunlight on a hot day. Furthermore, the temperature ranges the robot uses are rather narrow, from room temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit to approximately human body temperatures of 97 degrees. First, he says the skin is easier to heat than to cool down, so it may not switch from a hot color like blue to a cold color like red as fast as it would switch from red to blue. The thermal control of the liquid crystal coat has several limitations, says Steven Morin, a chemist at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. “This is more towards the future of autonomous color-changing devices,” says Xu. Xu says the researchers do a good job of integrating several technologies, such as the color detection and temperature controls, to attain the most lifelike chameleon robot yet. Instead, Hong and Ko’s team fully decked their chameleon model in a coat that alters color on its own. He adds that previous studies usually showcased color-switching technologies only in small devices controlled by humans. Temperature-sensitive liquid crystals aren’t new, but the simplicity of how the researchers use them to create a chameleon effect is impressive, says Chengyi Xu, a materials engineer at Stanford who wasn’t involved in the study. Spot the robot: An artificial chameleon holes up amidst flowers and foliage without camouflage, in monochromatic mode or with pops of color matching the hues in the background. The researchers demonstrated that the robot can hide effectively against a backdrop of leaves and flowers it gives off tiger-like stripes by activating several heater patterns at once. The resulting robot can color-match its environment within half a second as it tromps along the floor. A device tucked inside the robot keeps the heating temperature in check to hold the colors steady. The sensors relay the color information back to the robot’s control unit, which cranks up the heaters to best match the colors and markings on the floor. ![]() Up to ten color sensors sit on the underbelly of the robot to take stock of the hues beneath the robot’s feet. So, the researchers stacked prepatterned heater strips under the fake lizard’s skin. The liquid crystals change their orientation-and their color-based on temperature. A larger repeating arrangement gives reddish tints. The size of the structures dictates the color displayed. When these particles assemble into larger helical structures, they can reflect a specific color of light. ![]() To construct the robot’s coat of many colors, the researchers made a “skin” using a thin glaze of liquid crystal ink that can take on any color, depending on the alignment of its molecules. “It is not necessary to match the background perfectly,” says study author Sukjoon Hong, a mechanical engineer at Hanyang University, “because as as it is complex enough, then we can get sufficient amount of. The combination of these pre-patterned dots, stripes and curlicues capture the complexity of most backgrounds for the robot to execute its great disappearing act. To copy this capability, the researchers give the skin several patterns to choose from, each which can flash on or off independently. The skin doesn’t exactly mirror a nearby background, but even real-life chameleons shift their shades not to reflect their surroundings, but to blend in. In addition to different colors, the robot can display several preprogrammed patterns on its exterior.
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