The world’s first walking manikin that generates heat, shivers, walks and breathes like a human could help scientists understand our body’s resilience to punishing heat waves.
Scientists at Arizona State University (ASU) redesigned a robot used by clothing companies for sports gear to mimic the thermal functions of the human body.
The test droid, ANDI, was fitted with synthetic pores for artificial sweating, temperature, and heat flux sensors across the 35 different surface areas covering its manikin body.
With a novel internal cooling channel, this improved ASU ANDI is the first thermal manikin fit for outdoor use — meaning that scientists can now subject this climate change ‘test dummy’ to the extreme temperatures of the Arizona desert.