Humanoid Robots Struggle in First World Half-Marathon
Humanoid robots faced a tough challenge at Beijing’s E-Town tech hub during the world’s first humanoid half-marathon, showing they still have a long way to go to match human runners.
The event, which took place on Saturday, featured 21 humanoid robots competing against thousands of human participants. The winning robot, Tiangong Ultra, developed by X-Humanoid, finished the race in two hours and 40 minutes, with the assistance of a human guiding its movements.
Most robots struggled to complete the race, with only four managing to finish ahead of the four-hour cutoff time. Some faced technical issues, like Shennong tripping a support runner and Little Giant emitting smoke from its head.
The competition included robots from Chinese companies and student groups, all required to have a humanoid appearance and run on two legs. The robots ran in a separate lane from humans to avoid collisions, with options for battery changes and substitute robots with time penalties.
X-Humanoid’s Chief Technology Officer Tang Jiang expressed pride in Tiangong Ultra’s performance, claiming it outmatched any Western robotics firms in sporting achievements.
