China's Robotic Marathon Contenders stumble, smoke, and disassemble on debut

Some of China's top humanoid robots faced off against human marathon runners on Saturday. During the race, one robot stumbled right out of the gate. Another had its head detach and tumble to the ground. Yet another robot crumbled and shattered into pieces as it raced.

What was advertised as the world’s first half-marathon for androids Just four out of 21 robotic competitors finished the race at Beijing's southern technology center, E-Town, within the specified four-hour timeframe. The victor was Tiangong Ultra, standing five feet ten inches tall, who crossed the finish line in two hours and forty minutes. This time significantly lagged behind the one-hour record set by the human gold medalists. It took over three hours for the remaining three robots that successfully completed the 13-mile (20.9-kilometer) track to reach the end.

The human-against-machine contest was billed as a demonstration of China’s aspirations across various domains such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and semiconductor technology. Under President Xi Jinping’s administration, advancing these crucial technologies has been deemed essential, escalating trade disputes between China and the U.S.

Nevertheless, the outcome frequently turned out comedic, filled with mishaps and withdrawals all through the competition. Despite Tiangong maintaining a pace of roughly five miles per hour and appearing as a genuine competitor, numerous robots were not built for speed and couldn't complete the race inside the allotted timeframe.

The Tiangong Ultra variant was custom-designed for the competition by a team based in Beijing. X-Humanoid , a government-backed research institute that also has funding from Xiaomi Corp. and robotics upstart UBTech Robotics Corp Ltd.

“I’m very happy with the results, and everything met my expectations,” X-Humanoid’s Chief Technology Officer Tang Jian said in an interview. “This has been an extreme test of the robots’ resilience and stability. Our hope is that, whatever tasks robots perform in the future, they will be capable of operating around the clock, 24/7.”

Nevertheless, it required one misstep and three power cells before Tiangong claimed victory. The outfit-wearing automaton led the robotic competitors from start to finish. A human trainer, equipped with a signaling gadget attached to their lower back, moved in front of the bot so that it could imitate their actions. Many of the other robots were operated via joysticks held by humans who jogged beside them. Some bots were actually tethered with leashes. Twenty-four squads lined up at the starting point consecutively, trailed by small shuttle vehicles carrying reserves and technical staff ready to intervene.

In order to be eligible for the competition, the robots needed to possess a human-like form and move using bipedal locomotion. Teams could swap out batteries during the event or switch to reserve operators, but every substitution incurred additional time penalties. Spectators such as moms and dads alongside young children watched enthusiastically from the sidelines, and several human participants also stopped at the beginning of the course to capture pictures of these robotic competitors.

The robots differed in their looks, sizes, and masses. A towering competitor looked like a character from Japanese animated series, similar to the mobile suit Gundam, complete with propellers along its limbs. This machine went out of control and smashed into the barrier dividing the paths for humans and robots. Another participant, named Huan Huan—the one designed with a dummy-like head and stormtrooper-esque plating—toppled over right at the beginning of the event, causing pieces of its protective gear to scatter across the course. Both failed to get back up and resume racing.

Little Giant, developed by local college students, was the shortest contestant at a mere 75 centimeters (30 inches) high. It paced around 1.4 miles per hour and supported voice control, one of its engineers said in a live broadcast on national television. At one point, the machine paused briefly after smoke spewed out of its head. The team only intended for Little Giant to run the first three miles as it’s too slow, the engineer said.

Jiang Zheyuan, 27-year-old founder of Noetix Robotics , perched on a stool while reciting chants as he observed his N2 robot secure second place. Even after numerous sleepless nights, the race proved successful for the startup founded by the Tsinghua University dropouts, aiding their company in gaining recognition from potential clients, as mentioned to journalists upon reaching the finish line. The enterprise plans to dispatch 700 robots next month, each priced at $6,000—a price point lower than market value.

A second Noetix N2 bot, employing a distinct algorithm, came in third place across the finish line yet was pushed down to fourth due to utilizing three replacement units and receiving over an hour of penalties. The squad complained that the regulations had been altered unfavorably for them and mentioned they intended to file a grievance.

Some of China’s most promising robotics firms didn’t sign up for the race. Hangzhou-based Unitree put out a statement after its G1 bot fell at the starting line that a client had used the machine without deploying Unitree’s algorithms. The company — whose founder was among Xi’s guests of honor at a prominent meeting with entrepreneurs in February — is busy prepping for a fighting bout, according to the statement.

--With assistance from Saritha Rai.