This year, a Chinese humanoid robot named «Lightning», which participated alongside humans in the traditional half marathon in Beijing, showed impressive results: it crossed the finish line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
This year, a Chinese humanoid robot named «Lightning», which participated alongside humans in the traditional half marathon in Beijing, showed impressive results: it crossed the finish line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
According to NBC News, that’s almost seven minutes faster than the world human record for the half marathon, set by Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon last month.
This result is of particular interest given that robots were disgraced last year during the Beijing Half Marathon — the fastest robot last year completed the half marathon in 2 hours and 40 minutes, which is significantly slower than the speed of a professional human athlete, and a number of robots did not reach the finish line at all.
This year, all 12,000 human competitors stood no chance against «Lightning» — a bipedal humanoid developed by smartphone manufacturer Honor.
More than a hundred robots participated in the event in the Beijing Industrial Park this year, which is significantly more than in last year’s race, when 21 humanoids were presented there.
In addition to the successes of «Lightning», at least four humanoids showed a time of less than an hour, and far fewer robots failed.
Nearly 40% of the robots were autonomous and navigated the entire course, including turns, rough terrain, and other obstacles. The remaining participants were controlled remotely, with finishing times adjusted according to different categories.
The fastest person in the competition, 29-year-old Zhao Haijie, ran the distance in 1 hour, 7 minutes and 47 seconds.
Meanwhile, in Russia, humanoid robots, fortunately, do not feel so confident: one of them fell to the floor during his presentation.
Previously, the CEO of a Chinese tech company predicted how long it would take for humanoid robots to become mainstream.
