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History was recently made at a half-marathon in Beijing. In addition to welcoming 12,000 runners, the race also featured 21 robot participants. Though they didn't outrun the human competitors, they may have outshone them. Considered a world-first, this humanoid robot race turned out to be not only entertaining, but also insightful about the state of robotics on the other side of the world.
The only design rule for the competing robots was that they were bipedal instead of running on wheels. Otherwise, it was a free for all, resulting in interesting design choices with mixed results. Among the strategies used included robots with kid-sized sneakers, or shoes made out of duct tape. Some didn't have a head, while others did, resulting in teams patching them up mid-race to prevent them from falling. Others used knee pads to prevent them from breaking in case they took a tumble—and many of them did.
Wired reports that only six of the 21 robots finished the race. Running on a separate track from the human competitors, almost every robot faced difficulties, from falling down to overheating. One robot needed a cooling pad to make it to the end while others had liquid sprayed on them. All robots were accompanied by two or three human operators who ran beside them to help control their speed with control panels or to clear their path.
The winner was a robot named Tiangong Ultra, designed by UBTech and the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center. It finished the race in two hours and 40 minutes—by comparison, it took the slowest human competitor three hours and 10 minutes to make it to the finish line. Despite being the robo victor, its path was not free of mishaps either. It fell down once and its team had to change its batteries three times. Tiangong Ultra also stood out for being the tallest robot at 5 feet 9 inches. Meanwhile, its shortest competitor was only 2 feet 5 inches.
Despite the setbacks, the race attracted a lot of attention, not only abroad but even among the racers themselves, with many runners stopping to take selfies with Tiangong Ultra. It was undoubtedly a unique race, showing how much robot tech has advanced recently.
“Until five years ago or so, we didn’t really know how to get robots to walk reliably,” Alan Fern, a robotics professor at Oregon State, told Wired. “And now we do, and this will be a good demonstration of that.”
Fern also noted that there’s no market demand for running robots, which likely explains why it’s not a priority for developers. Still, it was definitely interesting to see them follow instructions in a challenging environment. As such, the half-marathon provided them with a platform to showcase their hardware robustness. Ultimately, there's no need to worry, a robot will likely not beat you in a race. Not right now anyway.
In a world first, 21 humanoid robots recently competed in a half-marathon in Beijing.
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The robot winner, named Tiangong Ultra, finished the race in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
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Only six of the 21 robots finished the race, which took place on a track separate from the 12,000 human competitors.
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The only design rule for the competing robots was that they were bipedal instead of running on wheels.
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All robots were accompanied by two or three human operators who ran beside them to help control their speed with control panels or to clear their path.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Sources: Stumbling and Overheating, Most Humanoid Robots Fail to Finish Half-Marathon in Beijing
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