Research Spotlight | The Gorodetsky Group creates octopus inspired camo
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The Gorodetsky Group at the University of California Irvine explains how they create new camouflage technologies inspired by cephalopods like the octopus, cuttlefish, and squid.
March 2018 Publication on the work in Science: http://science.sciencemag.org/content...
UCI Article: https://news.uci.edu/2018/03/29/now-y...
Gorodetsky Group Website: https://gorodetskygroup.org/
Transcript:
Alon Gorodetsky (AG): I mean, I would love to make a squid cyborg
We are standing in one of the laboratories at the Irvine Material Research Institute.
Priyam Patel (PP): In our group at UCI, we research cephalopod inspired materials for camouflage applications. Essentially what we're doing is taking the cephalopod family of organisms (squid, cuttlefish, and octopi), seeing how they're able to dynamically change their colors and try to recreate that using synthetic materials.
AG: The type of technologies we're envisioning are analogous to what you might see in one of the x-men movies, where a character basically turning into someone else.
Erica Leung (EL): This research is pretty amazing. It's going to push us to make better camouflage materials, and this system makes it really easy.
PP: It's really remarkable to me that with one system you can do both metal and organic depositions really easily, potentially even within the same pump down.
AG: I think the next step will be integrating some of the camouflage materials that we've developed into textiles, into clothing. Making them wearable and autonomous. Those are very very challenging goals, so it's fantastic to have nice equipment that can make those goals possible.
EL: I have had very little background in terms of thin film deposition, but with the way that this one is set up, it was very easy for me to figure out how to use it.
PP: The software makes it really easy to customize your process. Yeah, it's fabulous. The pumps switch over automatically when it reaches the pressure setpoint. You can theoretically just start your process, walk away and come back when it's done. The system is just that reliable.
AG: They have the best customer service and customer support that I've seen out of almost any company. I'd say that their attention to detail and hand in hand relationship with the customer is unrivaled. They go above and beyond what they have promised to make sure you get the very best instrumentation possible.
EL: I found that when we've had any issues with the equipment that they're always willing and happy to help us out even with the time difference.
PP: Angstrom has been really great to work with. If I want to learn how to deposit new material, I can contact the materials people at Angstrom, they give me very valuable advice. What kind of sources to use, what kind of conditions would be useful for my applications. So much so that I've been using Angstrom as my preferred vendor for my deposition supplies. The materials I get from them are high quality, and the advice I get from them is invaluable, so I’m very happy with this combination of services that Angstrom provides. I’d definitely recommend an Angstrom system to any lab trying to start thin film development.
AG: I would say don’t think twice about it. You get a customized and designed system for exactly what you need it to do, you get all the support necessary to set it up, and then it runs like a well-oiled machine.
"octopus camouflage"
"thin film deposition"
"gorodetsky group"
"Variable Angle stage"
"sputter deposition"
"physical vapor deposition"
"nanotechnology"