The winner of a half-marathon held on Sunday in Beijing featuring humanoid robots alongside amateur runners broke the human world record, finishing the race in 50 minutes, 26 seconds, as China showcased its rapid progress in robotics technology.
In the second such sporting event following the “world’s first” half-marathon for robots hosted by the Chinese capital last April, the winning robot’s time of 2 hours, 40 minutes, 42 seconds was vastly exceeded by the champion humanoid.
In March this year, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo set the new half-marathon world record in a Lisbon race, clocking 57:20.
The number of participating robot teams increased from 20 last year to about 100, with humanoid runners operating in either autonomous navigation or remote control modes. According to Chinese media, about 40% of the participants operated autonomously.
The robots varied in height, with the tallest standing at 180 centimetres and the shortest at 75 cm. Separate courses, each just over 21 kilometres long with slopes and curves, were prepared for the robot and human runners.
Some teams experienced technical issues at the start, with several robots staggering or falling down.
As it engages in an intensifying technology rivalry with the United States, China has been keen to promote the development of cutting-edge products, such as artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots and new energy vehicles.
According to media reports, the participating teams in this year’s half-marathon included robotics startups and academic institutions, such as Tsinghua University, as well as teams from overseas, including those from Germany, France and Brazil.