Robots race humans in Beijing half-marathon
Dozens of robots took to the streets of Beijing early on Saturday to race against humans in a world-first half-marathon.
The 13-mile (21km) event held in the Chinese capital's E-Town – a state-backed high-tech manufacturing hub – was billed as a groundbreaking effort to test the limits of bipedal robots in real-world conditions, and showcased the country's drive to lead the global race in cutting-edge technology.
At the crack of the starter's gun, the robots began taking their first tentative steps as the Chinese pop song 'I Believe' blared out from loudspeakers.
Curious human runners lined the roadside, phones in hand ready to photograph each machine as it began the race.
One smaller-sized android fell over and lay on the ground for several minutes, before getting up by itself to loud cheers.
Another, powered by propellers, veered across the starting line before crashing into a barrier and knocking over an engineer.
Despite a mid-race fall, first to cross the finish line more than two hours later was the tallest droid and one of the heaviest in the competition.
At nearly 6ft (180cm) tall and weighing 115lbs (52kg), the metallic black 'Tiangong Ultra' posted a time of 2:40:42.
The men's and women's winners, both from Ethiopia, finished in 1:02:36 and, 1:11:07 respectively, according to state media.
Joining enthusiastic spectators cheering the robots on was Huang Xiaoyu, who said: 'My daughter... got up really early and asked to come watch the robot marathon.
'It was quite a breathtaking experience – we were able to see some of the most cutting-edge robots in our country.'
Tang Jian, chief technology officer of the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center (BHRIC) which developed Tiangong Ultra, told reporters the company was 'very happy with the results'.
'We had set three goals for ourselves: first, to win the championship; second, to complete the entire half marathon with a single robot – a very important goal for us; and third, to finish the race in under three hours,' he said.
'We collected real-world running data from professional athletes and trained the robot so that its gait, cadence, stride length, and various postures could match those of professional runners as closely as possible.'
The BHRIC, first established by the government, is now owned by Chinese tech firms Xiaomi Robotics and UBTech Robotics as well as two state-owned companies, according to business data provider Tianyancha.
Around 20 teams from across China participated in the competition, with robots ranging from 2ft 6in to 6ft (75 to 180cm) tall and weighing up to 194lbs (88kg).
Some jogged autonomously, while others were guided remotely by their engineers. Robots and human participants ran on separate tracks.
'Getting onto the race track might seem like a small step for humans, but it's a giant leap for humanoid robots,' Liang Liang, Beijing E-Town's management committee deputy director, said.
Engineers said the goal was to test the performance and reliability of the androids – emphasising that finishing the race, not winning it, was the main objective.
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