5 minute read
Thermal manikin ANDI doesn't sweat the small stuff
Following the hottest year on record, ANDI offers unique insights into heat and human health solutions
Editor’s note: Global Futures Laboratory writers requested an interview with ANDI for this story, but he was unable to comment.
A certain heat specialist at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory is just like us. He breathes, sweats and shivers just like we would. He is also a manikin — but hey, who ever said you had to be a living thing to make major strides in science?
ANDI is a unique device, but those who work with him have a feeling that this fact doesn’t go to his head. The indoor-outdoor manikin is the first of its kind and mimics the thermal functions of the average human male’s body. Konrad Rykaczewski, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and Senior Global Future Scientist, said a small number of ANDI models do exist elsewhere in the world but are exclusively used indoors.
“Our ANDI is the only one that has undergone custom developments for ASU by Thermetrics, its manufacturer, to make it compatible with being outdoors,” said Rykaczewski, primary investigator on the project. “He gets dragged around and moved routinely, all for the sake of understanding how human bodies are impacted by extreme heat environments.”
In heat research, ANDI acts as a physical shell to simulate a human body. A program measures how heat moves in and out of the “body,” allowing researchers to measure the evolution of ANDI’s core temperature, skin temperature and hydration rate.
Using ANDI outside offers a more accurate glimpse into the relationship between human health and heat, which can vary depending on a person’s age, preexisting health conditions and even being in direct sun or shade. ANDI can reflect these variances as well: Data collected from ANDI and his inanimate friend MaRTy, an advanced mobile biometeorological station, can be used for computational simulations that reflect different BMIs, ages and medical conditions.
Ankit Joshi, an ASU research scientist leading ANDI’s modeling work, said this ability makes ANDI a groundbreaking tool for heat and health measurements.
“We are generating data that hasn’t been explored before but can be applied to just about anyone,” Joshi said. “One of the things that makes ANDI so unique is how interdisciplinary this data can be and how many different groups we can pull together.”
During the summer, ANDI can often be found in various places outside of the Walton Center for Planetary Health. This “fieldwork” experience allows heat experts to accurately measure factors such as intermittent wind conditions or other natural situations that cannot be replicated in a controlled environment.
Ariane Middel, an associate professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and Senior Global Futures Scientist, said ANDI is a measurement tool that could prove invaluable to changemakers seeking heat mitigation strategies.
“In the past, we haven’t always been able to answer how the human body is reacting to different conditions,” said Middel, who is also a co-principal investigator of the ANDI project. “ANDI gives us a way to answer those questions, and we can share those answers with others. If a city comes to us and asks what would happen to the human body if they planted more trees along public walkways, we can measure that with ANDI.”
Middel said ANDI can be used for both local and personal decision-making; ANDI can also be used to test the cooling effects of hats, umbrellas and other clothing items.
“We are really in the perfect location to do this research,” Middel said. “Conditions here are sunny and hot pretty much all throughout the summer, and these are conditions that other places around the world may experience in the future. So we can test things here and then as the world is warming and other places are catching up, they can adopt our findings.”
This potential is especially important as concerns of rising planetary temperatures grow. The scorching temperatures seen in 2023 marked the hottest year on record, in part due to the warming climate pattern El Niño. Heat researchers like Joshi, Middel and Rykaczewski, in addition to fellow co-principal investigator Jenni Vanos, an associate professor in the School of Sustainability, found their research featured heavily in a variety of scientific journals and media publications alike.
Last summer was also particularly rough on ANDI, even unrelated to the heat conditions: ANDI temporarily lost part of an arm and a foot, which has since been fixed by his manufacturer, Thermetrics.
“ANDI is a dummy, but he’s a pretty complicated dummy,” said Rykaczewski. “The way we use this technology is very new and we are learning a lot about where we can take it and how far we can go with it. We are learning a lot about heat and human health but also a lot about what it takes to keep a tool like this in use outside. It will be interesting to see how this kind of technology develops in the future.”
So far, ANDI hasn’t had any complaints.
“It’s probably a good thing he can’t talk,” Middel joked. “We don’t give him water, and he would probably ask for some sunscreen. And maybe a pair of pants.”
