With mechanical strides, dozens of humanoid robots joined thousands of their human counterparts on Beijing’s streets early Saturday for the world’s first half marathon, demonstrating China’s determination to lead the globe in advanced technology.
The 21-kilometer (13-mile) competition, which took place in the Chinese capital’s E-Town, a government-supported center for advanced manufacturing, is being hailed as a groundbreaking attempt to test the capabilities of bipedal robots under real-world circumstances. The robots lined up one by one and took their first hesitant steps as the starter pistol crackled and the Chinese pop song “I Believe” played.,
As they got ready to leave, curious human runners lined up on their side of the road and waited patiently, cell phones poised to shoot each machine. To thunderous applause, one of the smaller androids, which had been on the ground for some minutes, rose on its own. Another, shaped like a Transformer and propelled by propellers, swerved across the starting line before colliding with a barrier and toppling an engineer.
Before the event, Liang Liang, the deputy director of Beijing E-Town’s management committee, stated, “For humanoid robots, getting onto the racetrack may seem like a small step, but it’s a giant leap.” Engineers were jogging by their machines nearby. The marathon contributes to the manufacturing of humanoid robots.
