Meet ANDI: A robot that can breathe, sweat and walk

Hotter futures, stressed out humans

Thousands of people die in the U.S. from heat-related diseases every year, with Maricopa County alone accounting for 425 heat-related deaths in 2022, an increase of 25% compared to last year.

These figures are likely to rise even higher, with the country expected to experience more intense heat waves in the coming decades.

Jenni Vanos, associate professor in the School of Sustainability, and Ariane Middel, assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering, are working together with Rykaczewski to analyze the effects of heat stress on the human body.

“You can’t put humans in dangerous extreme heat situations and test what would happen,” said Vanos. “But there are situations we know of in the Valley where people are dying of heat and we still don’t fully understand what happened. ANDI can help us figure that out.” Vanos specializes in research connecting extreme heat to human health, especially for people with an active life, such as children and athletes.

Simulating the world outside.

ASU developed a heat chamber capable of simulating heat-exposure scenarios from around the globe for ANDI to reside. These temperatures can go up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit and solar radiation.

Internal cooling channels ensure that cool water circulates throughout ANDI’s body and keeps him cool against the extreme heat conditions simulated.

A variety of complex variables influencing our perception of heat, including solar radiation from the sun, infrared radiation from the ground, and convection from the surrounding air are then measured.

Researchers hope to understand human sweating mechanisms better by pairing ANDI with MaRTy, ASU’s biometeorological heat robot.

“MaRTy can tell us how the built environment modifies the amount of heat that hits the body, but MaRTy doesn't know what happens inside the body. MaRTy measures the environment, and then ANDI can tell us how the body can react,” said Middel.

“We can move different BMI models, different age and medical conditions (into ANDI),” said Ankit Joshi, an ASU research scientist and lead operator of ANDI.

The team believes that the data collected from ANDI and the insights thus gained will help design cooling clothes and exoskeletons for backpacks designed for cooling support.

“We’re trying to approach this from a very holistic point, but there’s not going to be a silver bullet for anything,” Rykaczewski added. The team welcomes undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students to join them in their venture.