Robot runners beat humans in Beijing half-marathon

A humanoid robot has been declared champion at a half-marathon running race held in Beijing, China, on Sunday, far outpacing human participants and beating the world record.

The autonomously navigated robot Shandian was presented with the laurels after a remote-controlled robot, Lightning, who technically finished first, was denied the prize under the event's weighted scoring rules.

Big robotic improvement

Shandian completed the 21-kilometer (around 13-mile) course in Beijing's Yizhuang district with a time of 50:26, while Lightning achieved a time of 48:19.

Both times were faster than the human record for the distance set by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo, who ran a time of 57:20 at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March.  

In the inaugural event in Beijing last year, the fastest robot needed a little over 2 hours and 40 minutes to reach the finishing line.

For the race, thousands of human contenders joined robots from 100 companies and research institutions, with barriers separating the robots' running track from that of the humans.

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The course included more than 10 types of terrain, including flat roads, slopes, curves and narrow sections, to test the robots' capabilities.

A robot also served as a traffic officer, directing the participants with arm gestures and voice, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Not all robots managed to cope, with one falling flat at the starting line and another colliding with a barrier.

Beijing E-Town said 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 put in place subsidies and infrastructure projects to boost local firms.  

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Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah