Beijing: The world’s very first humanoid robot games started on Friday in Beijing, with more than 500 Androids interspersed between jerky tumblies and a glimpse of real power while competing in events of the 100-meter hordes to Kung Fu.
Hundreds of robotics teams from 16 countries go for gold in the national speed skating of the Chinese capital, built for the Winter Olympics 2022.
The games include traditional sports such as athletics and basketball, as well as practical tasks such as medicine categorization and cleaning.
“I believe in the next 10 years or so, robots will in principle be at the same level as people,” said enthusiastic 18-year-old spectator Chen Ruiyuan AFP.
Human athletes may not yet vibrate in their boots.
During one of the first events on Friday morning, five aside football, 10 robots of seven-year-olds around the field, often stuck in a scrum or they fall massively.
In a 1500 -meter race, however, the humanoids of domestic Unitree champion stamped along the track at an impressive clip, which easily surpass their rivals.
The fastest robot AFP Witness ended in 6:29:37, far away from the world record of the human men aged 3:26:00.
One mechanical racer that has run directly in a human operator. The robot stopped, while man was beaten flat, but did not seem to be injured.
‘National strategy’
Robot competitions have been held for decades, but the World Humanoid Robot Games from 2025 are the first to focus specifically on robots that look like human bodies, the organizers said.
The Chinese government has deposited support in robotics in the hope of leading the industry.
Beijing has placed humanoids in the “center of their national strategy”, the International Federation of Robotics wrote in a paper on Thursday.
“The government wants to show its competence and global competitiveness in this field of technology,” it added.
Authorities work to increase the awareness of the sector in society.
Cui Han, accompanied by her 10-year-old, said AFP That her son’s school had organized and paid for the trip to the Games.
“I hope it will encourage him to learn more about these new technologies,” she said.
In March, China announced plans for a one -off fund to support technological startups, including those in Robotics and AI.
The country has already shown the world’s largest market for industrial robots, official statistics, and in April Beijing held what organizers called the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon.
Chen, the viewer, told AFP He was about to study automation at the university.
“Here comes my passion for this field can cultivate,” he said. “My favorite is boxing, because … it requires a lot of agility and I can really see how the robots have improved earlier.”
In the meantime, on the Kung Fu Competition Area, a robot the size of a pint that looks like a popular transformer series to perform a movement, but fell flat on the front.
It turned on the floor while struggling to rise again, the crowd cheered happily.
