Robots Capable of Sweating to Cool Down

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We as humans sweat pretty often. It helps us regulate our body temperature whenever we’re overheated, cooling us off and lowering the risk of hyperthermia. Similar to humans, robots also produce heat and most of the time they produce much more heat than us. However, robots don’t sweat, at best they utilize cooling systems such as vents and fans to stay cool. But what if robots were capable of sweating in order to cool down?

A team of researchers from Cornell University are working to answer just that. The researchers are studying robots that are able to shed moisture in order to improve the robot’s ability to handle hot objects without overheating or suffering any damage.

“Such sweating actuators exhibit a 600% enhancement in cooling rate over similar non-sweating devices,” writes one of the researchers. “Combining multiple finger actuators into a single device yields soft robotic grippers capable of both mechanically and thermally manipulating various heated objects.”

Using a robotic hand, which consists of five soft robotic fingers connected to a rigid robotic hand, the researchers tested the robotic hand’s resilience and grip strength, as the hand passively sweat hydraulic fluid.

The robotic hand’s ability to work in intense heat before quickly cooling off could be useful in a number of applications. These applications could involve anything that requires human-like finesse in a dangerous environment. This may involve loading artillery, carefully and quickly disposing of hot shells, or repairs in dangerous environments.  C4isrnet.com reports that the research was partly funded by the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program, so it is likely that many of the robot’s applications could be found onboard a military vessel.

However, much like humans, the robot needs liquids in its system in order to sweat. So in addition to energy to power the robot, the robot also needs liquids as an additional resource.