Multi-sensor passive manikin — verification and potential applications for improving human safety, health, comfort and energy efficiency

• A new method using a multi-sensor passive manikin to monitor human thermal exposure • Novel on-site calibration methods improve sensor accuracy for all thermal parameters • Mapping HVAC manikin to multiple thermoregulation models enables physiological prediction • Sensitivity analysis reveals air speed errors as key model output influencers • HVAC manikin application supports safer, energy-efficient designs in diverse environments The physical environment surrounding the human body, including the air temperature, air speed, relative humidity, and radiant heat flux, has a strong impact on human well-being. However, studies involving high-resolution, multi-dimensional, and quantitative characterisation of human exposure to different scenarios, especially in highly heterogeneous or potentially unsafe conditions, remain lacking. Conventional stand-alone environmental sensors often fail to capture the spatial variability and combined loads actually experienced at the body surface. This study aims to develop a new method, based on a multi-sensor passive manikin, of monitoring human exposure in unprecedented detail. Since this manikin was used for the first time in scientific research, it underwent scrutiny evaluation and corrective measures for undesired effects of electronic heating during long-term operation were proposed. Even though each sensor had been factory-calibrated, we established and tested systematic on-site calibration procedures for each sensor type directly on the manikin surface for ease of use in lab and field conditions. We then developed strategies for mapping the different thermo-physiological model segmentations and the manikin zones. The results show clear differences before and after calibration across various environmental conditions. A sensitivity analysis in combination with the thermo-physiological model revealed that measurement inaccuracies from air speed sensors are the primary source of error affecting the predicted human thermal responses. In general, the calibrated HVAC manikin outperforms a sparse set of conventional sensors by providing anatomically distributed, multi-parameter, and high-resolution measurements, providing a reliable tool without ethical constraints for improving human health and safety, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency.