World Robot Games: 'Olympians don't have much to worry about yet'

ITV News

2 days ago

The first ever Humanoid Robot Games got underway on Friday in Beijing, as ITV News Asia Correspondent Debi Edwards reports
It had been billed as the Olympics for Robots, and was even being held at one of Beijing's previous Winter Olympic venues.
The stage was set for a sporting event like no other - and it kicked off on the track with the 1,500 metres.
That's perhaps when we started to question the comparison between the first World Humanoid Robot Games and the Olympics.
One robot, from the Chinese company Unitree, streaked ahead, while many of the others struggled to make the distance or just took too long.
Several would have had grounds to complain about the ill-fitting running shoes wedged onto their feet. I spotted blatant signs of fixing and one team was running with a can of WD40 in hand.
For the controllers of the robots, the 1,500 metres was a good workout, if nothing else.
While the size and speed of the robots varied, enthusiasm appeared to be shared by all.
In the post-competition interview zone, we met He Yuheng with his robot from the Beijing University of Information, Science and Technology.
Their robot had proved to be a bit slow on the day, but he said the more knowledge they get from competitions like this, the more they can advance the technology that goes into the robots.
He confidently predicted they might be winners one day.
Boxing proved to be one of the biggest hits, despite the many misses thrown by the diminutive fighters in the ring.
Just when you thought they were down for the count, they would spring back up for another round. The agility and ability of the boxers was particularly impressive.
Five-a-side football can be frenetic, but not quite yet for robots.
Spacing and passing seemed to be a challenge - so did staying on two feet.
Teams had come from all over the world to take part, several European countries were represented and there was at least one team from the United States, South America and even the Middle East.
In the dance category, ancient China came to life with what I can only describe as a rather surreal but engaging performance by a troupe of high-tech Terracotta Warriors.
Traditional Chinese performances in kung-fu were also a crowd pleaser.
The audience was filled with many families, the Games a popular day out during the school holidays. We spoke to Henry who had come with his mum. He was able to list several robot companies in China and was thrilled to see so many of them in action.
But it must be said, the missteps and malfunctions did deliver a great deal of the entertainment.
One moment in particular stands out and has been replayed several times for our amusement.
We set up to film a dance robot, when it suddenly fell to the ground and was unceremoniously dragged away from the performance platform.
So, it doesn't look like the world's Olympians have much to worry for the moment.
Some of the humanoid's sporting displays were more comical than skillful - but you do get the impression we might not be laughing at them for long.
I am told Humanoids vs Humans could come sooner than we think.