In a half-marathon held in Beijing's Yizhuang district, humanoid robots have for the first time outperformed human participants to claim victory. The autonomously navigated robot Shandian completed the 21-kilometer course in 50 minutes 26 seconds to win the laurels, while the remotely controlled robot Lightning, which technically finished faster in 48 minutes 19 seconds, was denied the prize under the event's weighted scoring rules.

Both times surpassed the human world record for the distance, set by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March with a time of 57 minutes 20 seconds. This marks a significant improvement from the inaugural event in Beijing last year, where the fastest robot took over 2 hours and 40 minutes to finish.

The race featured thousands of human contenders alongside robots from 100 companies and research institutions, with barriers separating the robots' track from that of the humans. The course included over 10 types of terrain, such as flat roads, slopes, curves, and narrow sections, designed to test the robots' capabilities. State broadcaster CCTV reported that a robot also served as a traffic officer, directing participants with arm gestures and voice commands.

Not all robots managed to cope with the challenges: one fell flat at the starting line, and another collided with a barrier. According to Beijing E-Town, about 40% of the robots navigated the course autonomously, while the others were remotely controlled. China is seeking to become the global leader in the robotics industry and has implemented subsidies and infrastructure projects to boost local firms.

Source: www.dw.com