spy chameleon

Process

Anna Caine and Thelonious Cooper
1 / 6

Our challenge was to build a robot that could blend into its surroundings. Most robots stick out in most situations, but this robot could easily blend into its background and hide. We decided to model the robot after a chameleon, because chameleons are known for changing color to blend into their backgrounds. We decided to use LED's controlled by an Arduino and a color sensor to get the robot to change color. The color sensor would sense what color was beneath it, and it would tell the LED's what color to turn. After deciding how it would blend in, we had to figure out what it would look like. Our first idea was a frame on which the breadboards with the LED's could rest, with two tiers of platforms inside for the electronics and battery to rest on. However, upon consulting with a coach, we decided to scrap that idea in favor of a simpler flat platform with walls. Another challenge was figuring how the robot would walk. At first we were going to make simple wheel legs, but in the end we decided to make legs modeled after Theo Jansen's Strandbeest. That way all four legs could work with only two motors, and it would conserve space on the robot. It was a challenge to get the complicated, many jointed legs to work, but once they did all we had to do was put them together with the base and the LED's.