Scientists create a robot chameleon that changes colour!

Researchers in South Korea have created a robot chameleon that can change its skin colour to match its surroundings - just like a real chameleon!

The robot can change colour almost instantly by reacting to heat and using colour senses underneath its body.

Professor Sueng Hwan Ko, who designed the robot, believes that the technology used for the robot chameleon could pave the way for camouflage technology.

A chameleon can change the colour of its skin to help it control its body heat

How does it work?

By using colour sensors, tiny heaters and materials that react to changes in temperature, the team at Seoul National University were able to create a chameleon shaped robot that can change colour almost instantly.

The tiny heaters are made up of nanowires - nanowires are incredibly small, they are even smaller than a strand of hair!

The robot's 'skin' is made up of a liquid crystal ink that changes colour when the nanowires cause the temperature to change.

When the robot walks across three different colours, red, green, and blue. It uses colour sensors to detect any changes on the surface it walks across, and the skin matches what's underneath.

Researchers said that the changes were fast enough to be "comparable to the colour changes found in animals".

The robot's 'skin' can change colour just as quick as colour changes found in animals, researchers found

Choosing a chameleon model

The researchers initially had to pick an animal that was able to change colour so they could base their model on something.

The team had to decide whether to base the robot off a vertebrate (an animal with a backbone) or an invertebrate (an animal with no backbone, like an octopus).

The team wanted to base their robot on an octopus at first because it offers easier methods for it to move around, but they agreed that idea was too "ambitious" and chose to base the model on a chameleon.

Can you see the robot chameleon?

What can camouflage be used for in the future?

Professor Sueng Hwan Ko believes that the work the team have made could have a wider impact in cars and fashion. Maybe one day you could own a t-shirt that can change colour to hide those pesky stains.

"This chameleon skin, the surface, basically is a kind of display," Professor Sueng Hwan Ko says "it can be used for a soft or stretchable or flexible display."

In the mean time there is still work to do - the technology used to change colour relies on heat so it doesn't work too well in colder temperatures. The colours are also pre-programmed into the robot, so it would have difficulty camouflaging with surfaces that have patterns.