Camouflage and Display for Soft Machines

TLDR

Soft machines made from polymers and flexible sheets are rapidly advancing, yet synthetic systems still struggle to replicate the color‑changing abilities of cephalopods, and current strategies only imitate their functions, not their anatomy. This manuscript aims to develop simple microfluidic networks that enable soft machines to change color, contrast, pattern, apparent shape, luminescence, and surface temperature for camouflage and display. The authors design microfluidic networks that modulate these visual and thermal properties simultaneously. The networks can change color simultaneously in the visible and infrared, a capability not found in organisms.

Abstract

Synthetic systems cannot easily mimic the color-changing abilities of animals such as cephalopods. Soft machines--machines fabricated from soft polymers and flexible reinforcing sheets--are rapidly increasing in functionality. This manuscript describes simple microfluidic networks that can change the color, contrast, pattern, apparent shape, luminescence, and surface temperature of soft machines for camouflage and display. The color of these microfluidic networks can be changed simultaneously in the visible and infrared--a capability that organisms do not have. These strategies begin to imitate the functions, although not the anatomies, of color-changing animals.