Cool Automatons: Humanoid Robots Have Been Given the Ability to Sweat

A novel design for robots allows them to "sweat", greatly improving thermal and mechanical integrity. The bot from SCHAFT was a top scorer in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials in 2013. The University of Tokyo's JSK Lab's Kengoro is a 1.7-meter (5.6 feet) tall, 56-kilogram (123 pounds) musculoskeletal humanoid crammed to the brim with circuit boards and 108 motors. These structural components generate a lot of heat which would constrain the bot's performance, and there wasn't much room for any cooling mechanisms. JSK lab developed Kengoro's 3-D frame to be porous, capable of maintaining a system of flowing water.