Humanoid robots seem to have a long way to go before catching up with human runners.
The high-tech hub of Beijing's e-town will host what is called the world's first humanoid half marathon on Saturday, with 21 humanoid robots competing with thousands of humans.
Bloomberg reports that the winning robot, Tiangon Ultra, was built by the government-supported laboratory X-Humanoid, and finished the race in 2 hours and 40 minutes. This is not an impressive time for humans. The race winner runner finishes in an hour and two minutes, and it is normal for a casual runner to complete a half marathon (a proud alert) within two hours.
The Tiangong Ultra needed human assistance to win. In particular, he advanced with a signaling device on his back, allowing the robot to mimic his movements. (Most other robots are remotely controlled, with human operators running sideways.)
According to Bloomberg, all other robots needed at least three hours to complete the race. Some robots barely passed the starting line. For example, Shenon tripped a human support runner before slamming it against a fence. At one point, the Little Giant (the shortest competitor, 30 inches tall) paused when smoke appeared from his head.
Beijing's E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon featured robots built not only by student groups but also by Chinese companies. (Unitree's G1 robot fell to the starting line, but the company said its client used the robot without an algorithm.)
To compete, the robot had to have a humanoid appearance and run on two legs. They ran from humans in different fenced lanes, with staggered start times to reduce the risk of hitting each other. Battery changes were allowed (Tiangong Ultra's battery changed three times).
Tang Jiang, Chief Technology Officer of X-Humanoid, told Reuters. “I don't want to boast, but I don't think other robot companies in the West are comparable to the achievements of Tiangon's sports.”