World Games for Humanoid Robots How Humanoid Robots Performed at the First World Games

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For three days, more than 500 humanoid robots from 16 countries recently competed in Beijing at the first World Games for Humanoid Robots – with impressive performances and also instructive mishaps.

"6 minutes and 34 seconds!" This was the winning time with which "H1," a bipedal robot from the Chinese startup Unitree, won the gold medal in the 1500-meter race. A remote control was still in use, as with most other metal athletes. However, the runner-up "Tianjiao," competing for its manufacturer Beijing-X-Humanoid, already ran fully autonomously. No trainer was needed to run alongside it at the edge.

Autonomous runner wins the 100-meter sprint

In the 100-meter sprint as well, the gold medal went to one of the few athletes already equipped with sufficient artificial intelligence to run fully autonomously. "Tiangong Ultra," also from Beijing-X-Humanoid, did not achieve the best time over 100 meters—another biped was faster. However, since the humanoid with the absolute best time was still using a remote control, its time was evaluated differently. Similar to a sailing race, technical differences are balanced out at the Robot Olympics through multipliers and a type of points system.

Humanoid robots competed in nearly 500 competitions

The premiere of these "World Humanoid Robot Games" took place from August 15 to 17 in the "Beijing E-Town," an industrial district for high-tech start-ups on the outskirts of the Chinese capital. Domestic and international robots competed as fairly as possible for the honor of stepping onto the winners' podium at the end. They managed to do this independently as well.

There were a total of 487 competitions in 26 "sports," although not all of them fit into familiar Olympic categories. The range spanned from athletics, kickboxing, and soccer to more practical skills like sorting pharmaceutical products or serving tables in a restaurant. After all, the humanoids participated here as amateurs, while in everyday life, they usually dedicate themselves to more useful tasks.

From basketball to synchronized dancing

The robot "Photon" from Guanggu Dongzhi won the synchronized dancing competition with a powerful performance called "Soul of the Terracotta Warriors," which was particularly well-received by the judges. A noticeably agile team of humanoids named Hustrobocon, on the other hand, fought until the last second but ultimately had to settle for the silver medal in basketball. Judging by the applause, however, they were one of the audience's favorites.

The start-up Unitree from Hangzhou won a total of 11 medals, including four gold, making it the most successful team overall.

Chinese teams ultimately dominated the medal table. The start-up Unitree from Hangzhou won a total of 11 medals, including four gold, making it the most successful team overall. Right behind was X-Humanoid from Beijing with ten medals, including two gold.

Also multi-talented humanoids

Many of the humanoids did not participate in just a single competition but proved to be true multi-event talents. The H1 Unitree team, for example, competed in four running events (400 and 1500 meters, 100-meter hurdles, and the 4×100-meter relay). X-Humanoid's machines secured victories in the 100-meter sprint as well as on the material handling course, where factory work was simulated.

Other Chinese teams also excelled. The two Beijing start-ups Neotix Robotics and Booster Robotics, founded by graduates of Tsinghua University, won gold medals in robotic gymnastics, long jump, and soccer.

Just like in real world championships, there were also bizarre incidents and heartbreaking defeats here:

• Some of the robots lost their orientation on the track. It looked as if they were exhausted, but it was likely more related to interference signals from opponents. One even collided with a human runner who was supposed to set the pace as a "pacer."
• Still others stumbled over their own feet, and some of the robots wildly flailed their fists in the air during kickboxing until they fell over themselves without having hit any opponent beforehand.
• An out-of-control humanoid had to be carried off the field by helpers like an injured track athlete.

These mishaps were, of course, a boon for the press, especially the foreign media, which was constantly looking for evidence that China still lags behind the USA or others in the field of AI or robotics.

Learning from mistakes

The developers themselves emphasized in interviews at the sidelines that every new mishap provides valuable feedback for the further development of their robots. They are still just at the very beginning. "No other industry has probably received so much attention so early on," one participant told a reporter from the Chinese portal Yicai, referring to the clumsy scenes. Every collision and every fall reveals weaknesses that need to be eliminated through improvements in mechanics and software, he said.

Max Polter, who participated in the competition with the robotic football team from the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, expressed a similar sentiment. "We came here to play and win. But we are also interested in research," Polter told the news agency Reuters. "In this competition, you can try out many interesting, new, and exciting approaches."

Good prospects for the humanoids

All in all, however, the spectacle was quite impressive. It is astonishing what humanoid robots made in China have already learned in recent years. This is a promising sign for their use in the manufacturing and service industries.

There is particularly great potential in the hotel industry, said Huang Siyuan, a member of the BIGAI-Unitree team, to reporters. Where hotel guests, for example, sometimes complained about the varying cleanliness of their rooms, robots could perform cleaning tasks in the future with consistent thoroughness, Huang explained.

Beijing promotes the robotics industry

The robot Olympics, which are set to take place again next year, also served as a showcase for the city of Beijing, which actively promotes this industry. One of China's largest robotics industry hubs is to be established in the Beijing E-Town.

The effort is an example of the attempts by Chinese provincial governments to meet the Beijing central government's directive to use science and technology more than ever as a central growth driver for the gross domestic product. Robots and "embodied AI" are an example of the "new, high-quality productive forces" currently being vigorously promoted.

Global robotics market continues to grow

Anyone laughing at stumbling humanoids in the Beijing Olympics should better read the latest forecast from market research agency IDC: By 2029, it is predicted that the global robotics market could grow to a total value of 400 billion US dollars (around 340 billion euros). Nearly half of that is expected to be generated in China, according to IDC.

By 2029, the global robotics market could grow to a total value of 400 billion US dollars (around 340 billion euros).