Beijing’s E-Town technology park hosted the first-ever half marathon with humanoid robots. 21 bipedal robots ran 21 km alongside human runners. The results? There have been improvements in the past – but this is not yet a sport.
What happened:
- Only 4 robots reached the finish line in 4 hours.
- The winner – Tiangong Ultra (a product of X-Humanoid) – arrived in 2 hours and 40 minutes, but was controlled by a human assistant’s signal device.
- The rest got tired, fell, overheated – Little Giant even got stuck in the middle.
- Battery replacements and replacement robots were allowed – Tiangong made three “pit stops”.
Why is this important?
- All participants had to be bipedal — a stark contrast to quadrupedal robots like Boston Dynamics’ Spot.
- The robots are not fully autonomous — most are controlled remotely or operate semi-autonomously.
- The results showed serious problems with the robots’ balance, coordination, and energy efficiency.
What’s next?
- A race for humanoid robots is in full swing in China — with new approaches to mobility, autonomy, and appearance being developed.
- X-Humanoid claims its robot is “superior to its Western competitors” — a testament to China’s ambitions.
The marathon was more of a technological stress test than a sporting achievement. While far from an Olympic medal, humanoid robots are now moving out of the lab and into real-world testing. The first steps — albeit slow — have been taken.
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