Engineering Dynamic Skin
Abstract
The objective of this research is to develop the materials and mechanics necessary to fabricate soft skins that reversibly and rapidly change their surface texture. To achieve this objective we seek to: 1) understand how to synthesize and pattern highly extensible, resilient elastomers with graded elastic moduli, 2) develop principles for programing specific surface shapes by understanding the mechanics of pneumatically actuated elastomers with graded elastic moduli, and 3) validate that pneumatically powered, variable texture soft skins can be logically programmed to display and hide objects over the scale of millimeters to meters by blending into the textural context of the background environment. It is envisioned that technology using these skins will enable objects to blend in (camouflage) and stand out (display) from their background in a manner similar to cephalopods, such as the cuttlefish.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 11, 2018
- Source ID
- W911NF1610006
Entities
People
- Itai Cohen
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Cornell University
- United States Army