It is people vs humanoids in China’s 21 km half-marathon race. Who received? – Firstpost

Twenty-one humanoid robots joined 1000’s of people to take part within the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday. This was the primary time robots raced in opposition to people in a 21 km course. In accordance with The Straits Instances, the robots got here from Chinese language producers corresponding to Droidvp and Noetix Robotics.

They got here in all sizes and shapes, some had been shorter than 1.2m, others as tall as 1.8m. One of many firms, which took half within the race, boasted that its robotic regarded virtually like a human with female options and will wink and smile. Some corporations had been testing these robots for weeks earlier than they took half within the race.

“The robots are working very properly, very steady … I really feel I’m witnessing the evolution of robots and AI,” mentioned spectator He Sishu, who works in synthetic intelligence. The robots had been accompanied by human trainers who needed to bodily assist the machines in the course of the race.

So who received?

The robotic, which received the race, was Tiangong Extremely, from the Beijing Innovation Centre of Human Robotics. It took the robotic 2 hours and 40 minutes to finish the 21 km race course. In the meantime, the boys’s winner of the race registered a 1 hour 2 minutes.

It’s pertinent to notice that 43% of the Beijing Innovation Centre of Human Robotics is owned by two state-owned enterprises, whereas tech large Xiaomi’s robotics arm and main Chinese language humanoid robotic agency UBTech have an equal share in the remaining.

“I don’t need to boast, however no different robotics corporations within the West have matched Tiangong’s sporting achievements,” Tang Jian, chief expertise officer of the robotics centre, mentioned after Tiangong received the race. He talked about that the robotic’s batteries had been switched thrice in the course of the race.

Whereas humanoid robots have made appearances at marathons in China over the previous yr, this was the primary time they raced in opposition to people. The nation is now hoping to include these robots in frontier industries. Nevertheless, some analysts query whether or not having robots enter marathons is a dependable indicator of their industrial potential.

With inputs from businesses.