Humanoid Robots Race with Humans at Half-Marathon in China

Photo : Instagram / @chinaxinhuanews

On Saturday, 21 humanoid robots raced alongside thousands of runners in the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing. This was the first time robots joined humans in a race that was 21 kilometers long (13 miles).

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The robots came from Chinese companies like DroidVP and Noetix Robotics. They were different in size, with some being as short as 120 cm (3.9 feet) and others as tall as 1.8 meters (5.9 feet). One robot even looked almost like a human, with feminine features, and could wink and smile.

Some companies practiced with their robots for weeks before the event. People in Beijing said this race was like a car race because it needed special teams to take care of the robots' design and how they moved.

Humanoid robots have been seen in other marathons in China before, but this was the first time they raced with humans.

China hopes investing in technology like robots will help grow its economy. However, some experts are not sure if seeing robots in races is a real sign that they are useful.

Alan Fern, a professor at Oregon State University, said that running robots are not a new idea. He mentioned that the software that lets robots run has been around for more than five years. He said the race was more about showing how long the robots could run, not a huge breakthrough in technology.

He also said Chinese companies like to show off what robots can do, like walking, running, and dancing. But Fern believes these tricks do not really show if the robots can do important work or think for themselves.