MINGHAO XU 

Delve Deep & Discern the Subtle

Outdoor Microclimate Data Survey with Customized Movable Robots

Research workshop @ Architectural DigitalFUTURES 2023

Students: Zhaohan Bai | Ziqi Lian | Tianyu Li | Yanhan  Li | Xiling Lu | Rong Xia | Minghao Xu

Assistant Professors: Jiading Zhong | Shaowen Wang

Instructor: Prof. Jianlin Liu | Prof. Yongxin Xie

*Names are sorted by initials.

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• Used the movable climate station to measure the outdoor microclimate with corresponding real-time GPS locations and collected people distribution, image data, sound data, etc. to measure the user perception of the outdoor space.

• Headed the design and fabrication of the movable weather station and participated in experiments program development, field experiments and research.

• Conducted presentation, defense and poster setup at an academic conference.

The quality of outdoor thermal environments in cities has a direct impact on the quality of life of residents. A poor outdoor thermal environment not only reduces the willingness of residents to engage in outdoor activities, but also leads to an increase in household energy consumption. In order to cope with the current low-carbon and sustainable development requirements, urban planning must be environmentally conscious and take full advantage of the smart conveniences offered by information technology. The Microclimate Monitoring Backpack serves as a convenient solution for community microclimate monitoring and provides a spatially and temporally continuous data collection solution. The microclimate monitoring backpack has many advantages over traditional monitoring methods. It can be carried in a lightweight backpack to monitor the microclimate in the vicinity of the researcher in real time, without affecting other users. With the microclimate monitoring backpack, urban planning can more flexibly and efficiently improve urban thermal environments and create more livable cities to meet the sustainable development needs of the future.

During the workcamp, the participants first learned the basic theories of human thermal comfort in outdoor environments, understood a series of cutting-edge thermophysiological models, and gained a preliminary understanding of the use of the microclimate monitoring series of instruments and software operation. After brainstorming, participants selected a park in Shanghai as the outdoor testing site. Prior to the test, participants worked in small groups to develop the test plan and build the microclimate monitoring backpacks. Upon completion of the fieldwork, participants collaborated on various parts of the final presentation based on their professional backgrounds, including background introduction, methodology introduction, data analysis, data visualization, and summary discussion.

Research method

Portable climate station design

Measuring path

Measurement process photo

Data Visualization (Air Temperature & PET)

Analysis of node microclimates