In record time, this humanoid robot ends the Beijing half-marathon

In all, twenty-one humanoid robots participated in the competition. The Tiangong Ultra model, however, has a modest performance against the human winner who completed the course in 1 hour and 2 minutes. In general, an amateur runner ends the half-marathon in two hours.

Tiangong Ultra tape a beautiful record for half-marathon

The time of Tiangong Ultra must also be nuanced: the humanoid robot worked via a human assistant who ran before him with a dorsal signaling device. The machine then reproduced the movements of its model. The other models were mainly controlled by operators.

The Beijing half-marathon therefore reveals the current limits of robotics since only four robots crossed the finish line before the four-hour limit. The Shennong humanoid robot did not exceed the starting line after having stumbled his human assistant before crashing against a barrier and then breaking.

Little Giant, a small humanoid robot 76 centimeters high, immobilized before smoke escapes from his head.

To participate in the half-marathon organized by Beijing E-Town, the humanoid robots have had as a point of view to look like a human silhouette and run on two legs. Humans ran in a separate and fenced corridor, with progressive departures to limit the risk of collision. The battery changes were allowed since Tiangong Ultra did it three times. The replacement of a robot led to a time penalty.

Tang Jiang, Technical Director of X-Humanoid, told Reuters :: “I don’t want to boast, but I think no other Western robotics company has matched the sports performance of Tiangong.”

Despite the obvious limits, this feat shows China’s progress and ambitions in terms of humanoid robotics. The path remains long before these machines can compete with human performance.