Latest news with #SkyProjectUltra
Forbes
27-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Watching Beijing‘s Spring Robot Race
3d rendering humanoid robot running or jumping with cityscape background It's official – over the weekend, the Middle Kingdom's capital city had its first half-marathon race in which humans ran side-by-side with a number of, well, non-human 'humanoid' participants. It's an interesting case study in what happens when we make big steps with robotic technology. There was the N2 from Noetix that's over 40 pounds, stands 3 feet tall, and can apparently do backflips. Unitree entered the G1, which is about twice that weight, and stands around 4 feet tall. Much smaller humanoids also competed, as did one robot on a stand with fans propelling it forward. There were more than 12,000 people, but only 21 humanoid robots, involved in the half-marathon activity, and although the government noted that the robot participants went under 'intensive training' before the race, not all of them finished the entire course. The winner – a model built at the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, ran the course in two hours and 40 minutes. This robot goes by the name Tiangong Ultra, or alternately, Sky Project Ultra. Some of these robots even wore running shoes and track suits. From some quarters, the response was ebullient. 'This represents a technological and engineering milestone,' ZongZe Wu, a research associate at Tsinghua University's Institute for Artificial Intelligence International Governance, said in a press statement. 'Although humanoid robots still have a long way to go, simply completing a course of this distance is a remarkable feat.' For similar enthusiasm, or at least acknowledgement of a milestone, Wired coverage quotes Alan Fern, a robotics professor at Oregon State University: "Until five years ago or so, we didn't really know how to get robots to walk reliably. And now we do, and this will be a good demonstration of that." Watching footage of the race, in which human handling teams shuffled next to many of the robots, you could see that there's still a long way to go in making robots that can really move their bodies in a fully human way. On the other hand, you can see how they've made enormous strides, (no pun intended), in building robots that can actually run for a long period of time, with consistent range of motion, and balance, up to a point. You can watch the winning robot break the tape at the finish line. You can also watch robots falling over and failing spectacularly. So there are conflicting images of how well robots do in a race. But overall, it's clear that in the right conditions, they can do very well. If robotics is anything like the emergence of LLMs themselves – and there's every reason to think that it is – we're going to get exponentially better technology as the years go by on a sort of hockey stick or S-curve projection. The Beijing event shows how Chinese culture is getting serious about acknowledging the capabilities of robots who will soon walk among us. When you see people standing with the robots in a ceremony after the race, you get a glimpse of what this is going to look like as we accept our mechanical brethren. America, as experts note hasn't been quick to catch up in his particular aspect of AI development. Globally, though it's only a matter of time until robots start doing a lot more human things alongside their flesh and blood counterparts.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watching These Humanoid Robots Try to Run a Half Marathon Is Hilarious and Bizarre
A half marathon foot race in Beijing, China, saw thousands of humanoid robots of various sizes running right alongside their flesh-and-blood counterparts for an attempt to take the crown. Footage shows the awkward bipedal robots trotting off, closely followed by their respective teams of two to three human navigators and engineers. As the Associated Press reports, the machines were separated by a divider from the hordes of human runners, making sure they didn't get trampled — or tipped over. But judging by their performance, it's unlikely the robots will be rivaling their human counterparts any time particularly soon. Many of them visibly struggled to maintain a jogging pace, with their human helpers having zero issues keeping up. Others fell over or overheated. However, the robots' goofy appearance made for an eye-catching show, with human runners and spectators alike taking photos and videos of the stiff-limbed contraptions. Instead of getting snacks and drinks along the way, the robots made pit stops to swap their batteries. A biped dubbed the Sky Project Ultra robot, developed by China's National and Local Co-built Embodied AI Robotics Innovation Center, took the top non-human spot, crossing the finish line in just over two hours and 40 minutes. That's quite a bit slower than the average time it takes for a fit human runner to cover the 13.1-mile distance. As Wired points out, the slowest time for a human was 3 hours and ten minutes, which meant that Sky Project Ultra was the only bot to qualify for a human participation award. A picture shows the Sky Project Ultra bot receiving a gold medal — which itself is in the shape of a humanoid robot. At five feet, nine inches, the robot was also the tallest of the bunch. Not every robot contender was as lucky. Plenty of metal contestants ended up falling flat on their faces. Many of the robots also overheated, forcing engineers to swap them out along the way or give up altogether. As the AP reports, robots were given awards for best endurance, gait design, and innovative form, so there were other opportunities to score a win without mastering the art of the road race. Besides, as experts told Wired, most of these robots weren't primarily designed to run as fast as possible. Many of them had vastly different jobs outside of the race. It's nonetheless a sign of how far the tech has come. "Until five years ago or so, we didn't really know how to get robots to walk reliably," Oregon State University robotics professor Alan Fern told Wired. "And now we do, and this will be a good demonstration of that." More on humanoid robots: Wild Video Shows Humanoid Robot Preparing Elaborate Breakfast
Euronews
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Euronews
Are humanoid robots faster than actual humans? China finds out in first half-marathon race
ADVERTISEMENT In one small step for robot-kind, almost two dozen humanoid robots ran alongside actual humans in a half-marathon in the Chinese capital on Saturday. The bipedal robots of various makes and sizes navigated the 21.1-kilometre (13.1-mile) course supported by teams of human navigators, operators, and engineers, in what event organisers say was a first. As a precaution, a divider separated the parallel courses used by the robots and people. A robot loses control at the start in what is billed as the world's first robot half marathon during the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon held in Beijing on Saturday, April 19, 20 AP Photo/Ng Han Guan But some of the robots struggled in the beginning. Media reported that one fell at the starting line and lay on the floor for a few minutes before getting up and taking off again. Another robot crashed into a railing, causing its human operator to also fall over. The robots were all different shapes and sizes. Four legged robots perform before the award ceremony for the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon held in Beijing on Saturday, April 19, 2025. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan While flesh-and-blood participants followed conventional rules, the 20 teams fielding machines in the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon competed under tailored guidelines, which included battery swap pit stops. The Sky Project Ultra robot, also known as Tien Kung Ultra, from the Tien Kung Team, claimed victory among the nonhumans, crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds. Spectators look at a robot after the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon held in Beijing on Saturday, April 19, 2025. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan The average half-marathon time for an average human is typically around 2 to 2.5 hours. But the humanoid robots were far behind professional runners. The half-marathon world record is held by Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda with a time of 56.42, who set it this February. Awards were also given out for best endurance, best gait design and most innovative form.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Thousands of humanoid robots take part in half marathon
In one small step for robot-kind – thousands of them, really – humanoid robots ran alongside actual humans in a half-marathon in the Chinese capital Beijing on Saturday. The bipedal robots of various makes and sizes navigated the 13.1-mile course supported by teams of human navigators, operators, and engineers, in what event organizers say was a first. As a precaution, a divider separated the parallel courses used by the robots and people. While flesh-and-blood participants followed conventional rules, the 20 teams fielding machines in the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon competed under tailored guidelines, which included battery swap pit stops. The Sky Project Ultra robot, also known as Tien Kung Ultra, from the Tien Kung Team, claimed victory among the non-humans, crossing the finish line in two hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds. Awards were also given out for best endurance, best gait design and most innovative form.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
No sweat: Humanoid robots run a Chinese half-marathon alongside flesh-and-blood competitors
BEIJING (AP) — In one small step for robot-kind — thousands of them, really — humanoid robots ran alongside actual humans in a half-marathon in the Chinese capital on Saturday. The bipedal robots of various makes and sizes navigated the 21.1-kilometer (13.1-mile) course supported by teams of human navigators, operators, and engineers, in what event organizers say was a first. As a precaution, a divider separated the parallel courses used by the robots and people. While flesh-and-blood participants followed conventional rules, the 20 teams fielding machines in the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon competed under tailored guidelines, which included battery swap pit stops. The Sky Project Ultra robot, also known as Tien Kung Ultra, from the Tien Kung Team, claimed victory among the nonhumans, crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds. Awards were also given out for best endurance, best gait design and most innovative form. The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio
