Robot winner is Tiangong Ultra from Beijing robotics centre.It took 2 hours 40 minutes more than twice the men’s race winner.
Twenty-one humanoid robots joined thousands of runners at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday, the first time these machines have raced alongside humans over a 21-km (13-mile) course.
Some firms tested their robots for weeks before the race. Beijing officials have described the event as more akin to a race car competition, given the need for engineering and navigation teams.
“The robots are running very well, very stable … I feel I’m witnessing the evolution of robots and AI,” said spectator He Sishu, who works in artificial intelligence.
The robots were accompanied by human trainers, some of whom had to physically support the machines during the race.
The robots from Chinese manufacturers such as DroidVP and Noetix Robotics came in all shapes and sizes, some shorter than 120 cm (3.9 ft), others as tall as 1.8 m (5.9 ft).
The winning robot was Tiangong Ultra, from the Beijing Innovation Center of Human Robotics, with a time of 2 hours and 40 minutes. The men’s winner of the race had a time of 1 hour and 2 minutes.
