IROS 2016 | This sweaty robot from the University of Tokyo can do push-ups for 11 minutes without getting hot

Recently, researchers from the University of Tokyo developed a humanoid robot called Kengoro. Humanoid robots are not new, but what is new is that it can "sweat".

Yes, everyone knows that robots and humans have one thing in common - when they work hard, their bodies heat up. Excessive heat affects the efficiency of robots and makes them more susceptible to permanent damage. The difference between humans and robots when dealing with overheating is that humans can dissipate heat and regulate body temperature through sweating, thereby maintaining normal physiological functions. You know, in the summer, office workers sweat about 300 grams a day, and the amount of sweat during physical labor can even increase by 10 times. But robots can't do it.

Before referring to the human sweat function, the research and development team of the University of Tokyo wanted to add a liquid cooling system to this robot that is more than 170 cm tall and weighs nearly 56 kg. However, they immediately realized that the existing structural components, circuit boards, engines and gears are already too heavy, which means that the big Kengoro cannot bear an additional cooling system.

Therefore, the research team decided to take a different approach and use Kengoro's existing components to mimic human body functions and cool itself by sweating, rather than letting liquid water flow inside the robot's frame. In this regard, the researchers said: "Generally, the robot's body frame only serves as a support, but we want to add more functions to it so that it can release heat."

Finally, each "bone" configured on Kengoro is made of aluminum powder through a laser sintering process and is designed in a honeycomb shape. The sponge-like gaps and channels in the fuselage frame are very permeable, so water released from the internal porous layer will flow to the more porous frame and then evaporate on the surface. These channels can transfer water to the whole body of the robot, just like humans sweat, instead of leaking cooling water on the floor. This process can effectively and quickly cool the 180 motors throughout Kengoro's body.

At the IROS International Conference held in Daejeon, South Korea, Kengoro did push-ups for 11 minutes without overheating the motor, using only a cup of ionized water. The researchers said that Kengoro can even run for most of the day without heating up.

Although tests have shown that Kengoro's sweat removal effect is three times better than air cooling and far better than systems that circulate water through internal channels, the R&D team still admits that the robot's sweat removal efficiency is still not as good as those of traditional radiators and fans.

via Daily Mail

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