In a display of technological progress, humanoid robots outpaced human runners at a half-marathon in Beijing on Sunday, marking a major milestone in robotics.
The standout performer, a humanoid robot named “Lightning” built by Honor, completed the 21-kilometre race in just 50 minutes and 26 seconds. That time beat the current human world record set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo, who ran the same distance in 57 minutes and 20 seconds last month in Lisbon.
The race featured more than 100 humanoid robots alongside about 12,000 human runners, each group running on separate tracks to avoid collisions.
From stumbles to success
The contrast between this year’s event and last year’s inaugural race is night and day. In the inaugural edition, most robots struggled to even finish, with the winner clocking a sluggish 2 hours and 40 minutes.
This year, the field grew from 20 teams to over 100. Furthermore, the level of independence has spiked. About 40% of the robots navigated the course autonomously, meaning they thought their way through the terrain rather than being steered by a remote control.
It wasn’t a perfectly smooth ride for everyone, however. The race still saw its fair share of robot bloopers, including one machine that fell at the start and another that famously veered off-track into a bush after crossing the finish line.
Engineering behind the speed
According to reports, the winning robot was designed to mimic elite human runners. It featured long legs — about 90 to 95 cm — and a liquid-cooling system adapted from smartphone technology.
Du Xiaodi, an engineer on the winning team, explained the broader goal behind the innovation.
“Running faster may not seem meaningful at first, but it enables technology transfer, for example, into structural reliability and cooling, and eventually industrial applications,” Du said, according to Reuters.
The big picture: Body vs. brain
Despite the record-breaking speed, experts caution that being a track star doesn’t mean these robots are ready to take over the world just yet. While their bodies are becoming incredibly robust, their brains are still catching up.
Xue Qingheng, whose startup Intercity Technology saw their robot Xiao Cheng finish the race, gave a colorful comparison: “Robots today have the body of Mike Tyson but are still missing a brain like Stephen Hawking,” according to NBC News.
Alan Fern, a robotics professor at Oregon State University, according to The New York Times, noted that the achievement is more about manufacturing prowess than a scientific eureka moment:
“What appears to have changed this year is that some of China’s many humanoid companies have invested the engineering effort needed to make these systems robust enough for a long-duration race.”
Also read: A viral incident in China, where a humanoid robot struck a child during a dance performance, renewed debate over robot safety in public spaces.