First ‘breathing, sweating, shivering’ robot created for indoor-outdoor extreme heat wave research
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The world’s first walking manikin that generates heat, shivering, walking and breathing like a human could help scientists understand our bodies’ resilience to heat waves.
Scientists at Arizona State University (ASU) have redesigned a robot used by sporting goods apparel companies to mimic the thermal functions of the human body.
The test droid, ANDI, was equipped with synthetic pores for artificial sweat, temperature and heat flux sensors across the 35 different surface areas covering the doll’s body.
With a new internal cooling channel, this upgraded ASU ANDI is the first thermal manikin suitable for outdoor use – meaning scientists can now subject this climate change ‘test dummy’ to the extreme temperatures of the Arizona desert.
ANDI, the climate test droid in the state of Arizona, has synthetic pores for artificial sweating, temperature sensors and heat flux sensors on 35 different surfaces covering its body
Thousands of people die each year from heat-related illnesses, a figure that has risen due to climate change. ASU’s researchers hope to lower that number by conducting tests on ANDI to better understand how humans respond to temperature extremes
“You can’t put people in dangerous extreme heat situations and test what would happen,” says atmospheric scientist Jenni Vanos, an associate professor in ASU’s School of Sustainability.
“But there are known situations in the Valley where people die from heat, and we still don’t fully understand what happened.
“ANDI can help us find out.”
In the United States, thousands of people die each year from heat stroke and other heat-related illnesses, a figure that is rising due to climate change.
In Arizona’s Maricopa County alone, 425 people died from heat-related medical problems in 2022 — more than a hundred more than the heat-related deaths reported in 2021.
The thermal manikin can sweat, with custom internal cooling channels to circulate cool water throughout the body
The researchers at ASU hope to lower that number by better understanding how people of different ages with different body types and medical conditions respond to extreme heat waves, prolonged sun exposure and other harsh conditions.
However, this poses some experimental challenges.
“You don’t want much of it [tests] with a real person,” said Arizona State University professor Konrad Rykaczewski the Republic of Arizona. “It’s unethical and would be dangerous.”
Within ASU, ANDI’s lab work isn’t much different from the handful of other ANDIs sweating it out in the prototype stores of major sportswear manufacturers. It’s just a little more intense.
Housed in a heat chamber, the researchers have dubbed the “Warm Room,” ANDI is exposed to wind, solar radiation and temperatures of up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Between trials, ANDI can be reprogrammed to respond like different people based on weight, age, and other factors.
“A diabetic patient has a different thermal regulation than a healthy person,” said ASU researcher Ankit Joshi, who is leading the modeling work going into ANDI. ‘So we can justify all those modifications with our custom models.’
And the Warm Room can also be modulated to simulate different heat exposure scenarios common to any hot spot around the world.
Between trials, ANDI can be reprogrammed to respond to extreme heat as if they were different types of people, based on weight, age, medical history, and other factors
ASU researcher Ankit Joshi (above) leads the modeling work that allows ANDI to simulate the physical responses of different types of people when exposed to extreme heat
But it’s out in the southwestern desert heat where ASU’s modified ANDI takes on its toughest challenges and most important work.
The thermal doll can sweat, with custom internal cooling channels to circulate cool water throughout the body while simulating and recording human responses to heat from complex environments.
ANDI’s sensors collect various data about a body type’s response to solar radiation from the sun, infrared radiation rising from the warm asphalt ground, and heat convection circulating in the air. The hope is, in part, that the ASU team can explore solutions for community building plans.
When the ASU team drapes ANDI in a special fabric, the simulated sweat drains and cools the sensor-laden robotic surfaces, just as if it were a real and truly uncomfortable human sweltering environment in Arizona.
This summer, ANDI will team up with a new partner: ASU’s biometeorological heat robot, MaRTy, an array of complex heat sensors mounted on a garden cart.
“Marty can tell us how the built environment affects the amount of heat that hits the body,” says Ariane Middel, an ASU researcher whose urban planning and design work focuses on climate issues. “But MaRTy doesn’t know what’s going on in the body.”
“Marty measures the environment,” Middel said, “and then ANDI can tell us how the body might respond.”
ANDI and MaRTy’s first missions will take them around the ASU campus in Tempe, Arizona.
The duo will travel the Phoenix metro area collecting data on overheated and high-risk living conditionslike unshaded neighborhood streets and poorly ventilated old mobile homes with broken air conditioning.
ANDI came to ASU custom-built by the manufacturer Thermetics, thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation’s Leading Engineering for America’s Prosperity, Health and Infrastructure (LEAP HI) program.