Robots run half marathons slowly
Humanoid robots still have a way to go before they catch up with human runners.
Beijing’s E-Town technology hub hosted the world’s first humanoid 1/2-marathon, which saw 21 humanoid robotics compete alongside thousands of human runners.
Bloomberg reports the winning robot was Tiangong Ultra. It was built by X-Humanoid, a government-sponsored research institute, and finished the race within two hours and forty minutes. This is not a time that would be impressive for a human – the winning male runner completed the race in just one hour and two minute, and casual runners can complete a half marathon in about an hour and a half.
Under two hours
Tiangong Ultra required human assistance to win – specifically, a human who ran in front with a signaling unit on his back to enable the robot to mimic his movements. Most other robots were remotely controlled with human operators running alongside them.
Each robot took at least three hours for the race to be completed, and only four robots finished before the four-hour deadline.
Bloombergreports that. Some robots barely got past the starting line, such as Shennong
tripped a support runner (human)then slammed against a fence, and shattered. Little Giant, the shortest competitor at 30 inches tall, paused when smoke began to emerge from its head.
Beijing E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon included robots built by Chinese firms, as well student groups. (Unitree’s G1 robot fell on the starting line. However, the company stated that a client used the robot without the algorithms.)
To compete, robots had to have a humanoid look and run on two feet. They ran in a separate fenced-off lane, with staggered starting times, to reduce the chance that they would run into each other. Batteries were allowed to be changed (Tiangong Ultra had its battery changed three times) and substitute robots can even be swapped with a penalty.
X-Humanoid Chief Technology Officer Tang Jiang
Reuters: “I don’t think any other robotics firm in the West has matched Tiangong’s sporting achievements.”
Anthony Ha, TechCrunch’s weekend editor. He has worked as a reporter for Adweek, a senior at VentureBeat and a reporter for the Hollister-Free Lance. He was also vice president of content in a VC company. He lives in New York City. View Bio
