"Humanoid Robot Threatens Human Record"...169cm Robot Shocks by Cutting 7 Minutes Off

Chinese Humanoids Complete Half Marathon in Just Over 50 Minutes
Shattering the Human World Record by 7 Minutes (57:20)

Remotely Controlled Robot Finishes in 48 Minutes
Global Media Flocks to the Event

A humanoid robot has broken the human world record for the marathon.

On the 19th, Honer's "Shanden," participating in the "2nd Humanoid Robot Half Marathon" held in Yizhuang, Beijing, China, is rapidly running after the start. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to Yonhap News Agency, on the morning of April 19, the second annual "Beijing Yizhuang Humanoid Robot Half Marathon" took place at Tongming Lake Park in Yizhuang, Beijing.

The report stated that this marathon featured 105 teams, including more than 80 companies that have trained various humanoid robots from Chinese manufacturers such as Tiangong, Unitree, and Honer, as well as 20 research institutions and university teams, and overseas participants. The teams were divided into autonomous driving and remote control groups to compete for speed. Of the total participants, 42 teams competed with autonomous models, while 63 teams participated with remote-controlled models.

For the remote control group, a penalty was imposed by multiplying their travel record by 1.2. In the autonomous group, if there were more than three unauthorized manual interventions, the team's result was automatically reclassified into the remote control group. Additionally, while it was permitted to switch robots during the relay-style race, teams received penalties if they changed robots more than twice.

The most important aspect of the humanoid marathon is not simply speed, but rather "who can run well without any human assistance."

The winner of the day's competition was "Qitiantasheng," which entered the autonomous group after training Honer's 169 cm-tall humanoid robot, "Shantian." "Qitiantasheng" crossed the finish line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, greatly surpassing the human half marathon world record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds. The victorious robot was recognized as a milestone for China's robotics industry, as it completed the entire half marathon course to the finish line at Nanhaizi Park by perceiving its environment and making its own movement decisions using onboard visual cameras, LiDAR, and inertial measurement devices.

In terms of speed, another "Shantian" robot trained by the "Pofengshantian" team crossed the finish line in 48 minutes and 19 seconds, recording the fastest time. However, after receiving the remote control penalty, its final time was adjusted to 57 minutes and 58 seconds.

However, during the marathon, some robots appeared to experience issues with direction control or power systems while running. One robot failed to avoid a fence on a rotary section, fell, and broke down. Others nearly collided with other robots by moving in the wrong direction, staggered as if intoxicated, or were seen suddenly slowing down to a walk.

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, a Chinese local surnamed Wang commented, "The sight of the robots running fast was like a scene from a science fiction movie. It was much faster than I expected, and I was also impressed by how they swung their arms just like humans." Another local, surnamed Xu, remarked, "There were some mistakes, but I think that's part of the fun. Next year, I'm looking forward to seeing what changes will come in terms of speed or appearance."

Meanwhile, from early in the morning, hundreds of reporters from Chinese media and international outlets, as well as influencers, gathered at the venue, demonstrating the high level of interest in Chinese humanoid robots.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.