Stressing and overheating, most humanoid robots fail to complete a semi -marathon in Beijing

Although opportunities like dancing can be fun and appear, they do not really show how useful humanoid robots are in real situations, says Fern. Even if you can manage a semi -marathon is not a very useful indicator of their skills – it is not like a market search for robots that can compete with human runners. The comparisons that Furn tells him are essential are how well they can handle different tasks in the real world without step -by -step human instructions. “But I would expect to see China shifting this year to focus more on doing useful things, because people will get bored of dances and karate,” says Fern.

The robots that participated in the competition came in different forms. The shortest was only 2 feet tall and 5 inches tall. Sporting a blue -white tracksuit and removing viewers every few seconds, it was probably a favorite of the crowd. The highest, five feet, was the winner of Tiangong Ultra.

What all robots have in common is that they are two -time, instead of working on wheels, a requirement for participation in the competition. While the robots met this requirement, they were free to show creativity and the companies behind them accepted a wide range of strategies to try to gain an advantage over their competitors. Some wore sneakers the size of children (albeit fucked up to their pedals so they wouldn’t fall). Others were equipped with knee pads to protect their delicate parts of damage when they fall. Most of the robots were removed their fingers, and some were even missing heads – after all, you do not need such parts to run, and losing them reduces the weight of the robot and the amount of weight placed on their motors.

Tiangong Ultra and another model, N2 Robot, made by Chinese company Noetix Robotics, which won second place in the race, stood out for their consistent, albeit slow pace. The performance of the other humanoids was mostly catastrophic. A robot, called Juanhuan, who has a human head, moved only at the speed of a snail for a few minutes, until his head shook uncontrollably, as if he could fall at any time.

Another robot named Schenong looks like a real Frankenstein monster, with a head that resembles Gundam and four drones that face back. He sits at a foundation with eight wheels and it is not clear how this alone is not disqualifying. But this was not even the biggest problem of Shenong, as the robot immediately turned in two rounds, after flying out of the start line, hit the wall and dragged with its human operators with it. It was painful to look.

The channel bar turned out to be the most effective tool for solving problems. Not only the accompanying people made makeshift shoes with robots with a canal tape, but they also used it to glue the robot’s head back to their body after falling repeatedly during running, making some very trembling scenes.

Each robot had human operators, often two or three working next to them. Some kept control panels that allowed them to give the robot instructions, including how quickly they were going, while other operators led the path of their robots and tried to clear the potential obstacles on Earth. Quite a few of the humanoids were doing what it looked like, well, non -remedy. “You want to think about these robots more recently like launching a car for remote control through the race. But robots have no wheels,” Fern says.