In Beijing’s Yizhuang half-marathon, humans won the race and won the race with ease.
In a world-first 21 km (13 miles, 352 yards) challenge on Saturday in the Chinese capital, thousands of runners took on 21 human-roboid robot competitors.
Not all bots, however, were capable of solving the problem. One fell to its feet moments after the initial gun went off, and the other lay motionless for a while. After a few quick steps, another hit a wall, causing its handler to fall as well.
Some machines made it to the finish line, but they still badly outpaced humans. The Beijing Innovation Center of Human Robotics’ Tiangong Ultra clocks in at 2 hours, 40 minutes. More than an hour prior, the men’s champion finished.
These are generally interesting demonstrations, according to Alan Fern, a professor of robotics at Oregon State University, but they don’t really show how useful work or any other basic intelligence can be.
He Sishu, a local AI engineer who was watching from the sidelines, observed that the robots are running very well and stable.
Although technically speaking, the robots weren’t exactly autonomous athletes. Some of the engineers were traveling alone, and some needed physical support to maintain balance.
Chinese businesses like DroidVP and Noetix Robotics produced robots of all sizes and shapes, with a few of them sporting headbands and boxing gloves. Officials compared the competition to a traditional race, with more of a motorsport vibe.
Source: Aljazeera
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