Taking a cue from ocean-dwelling species, University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers are developing synthetic skins that will support the emergence of next-generation “soft” machines, robots and other devices.
The skins closely approximate the mechanical action of the chromatophores found in cephalopods—squids, octopuses, cuttlefish and other species. Chromatophores are micrometer to millimeter-scale organs that contain pigment sacs that become more visible as small radial muscles pull on the sac, making the pigment expand under the skin.
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