Ramona Adams
The Australian defense department’s science and technology group has partnered with the University of South Australia to produce adaptive camouflage cells that work to change tanks’ color patterns to match the environment, The Lead South Australia reported Tuesday.
Caleb Radford writes the camouflage cell technology was tested on a tank at the Australian military’s Cultana training facility and the trial results will be unveiled at the Future Land Forces Conference in Adelaide.
Peter Murphy, leader of energy and advanced manufacturing strand at UniSA’s Future Industries Institute, said the technology is designed to run on an energy source as small as a watch battery, change colors within a second and accommodate gradual color change, according to the report.
The report said researchers developed the cells using conducting polymers that are placed within polycarbonate casings and voltage is sent through the cells to facilitate the color pattern transformation process.
Australia’s DST group leads the country’s science and technology efforts to support defense and national security.
