We take it for granted that robots can walk, talk, and learn, so would it surprise you to learn they can now camouflage themselves?

Engineers at Harvard University have created little robots that are able to change colour as they move, using dye pumped through microfluid channels into the silicon body.

The little quadruped looks like a starfish, and trailing an umbilical cord, through which the electronics and gases run, it is able to slowly inch its way across the ground. It’s certainly not the fastest robot out there, moving at a painstaking 40 metres per hour, but it makes up for that by changing the colour of its skin, according to its surroundings.

Movement is generated by pumping pressurised gas through the umbilical cord, and is directed by a human controller. According to Science, the bot is able to change not only its colour, but its temperature, pattern, and brilliance. The bot has the potential to blend, or alternatively, it can stand out from the crowd.

The price is something DARPA will smile about- at the moment they cost less than $100 each, which means in the future they will most likely sell for a song.

There have been murmurings that this new robot will be used to monitor and spy on people and networks, capitalising on its obvious stealth capabilities. However it may also be useful for machines that operate in the public sphere, but wish to remain discrete.

(image credit: S Morin, Harvard University)