First human vs robots marathon sees lady thrown to floor as machine collapses
Humans and robots have locked in their first battle – it took place in the form of a half-marathon around the streets of Beijing, China, over the weekend
The future is now – or at leats it is in the Far East, where the first human vs robots marathon has been staged.
The race, staged in Beijing, saw 21 humanoid robots race alongside 12,000 runners around the 13-mile course on Saturday. The robots competing had to resemble humans and be able to walk or run.
Some of the bots had to be accompanied by human trainers – with some even having to be physically supported during the race. And there varied level of success from the robots.
One bot took a tumble on the starting line and decided to take a little rest for a few minutes before getting back to its feet. While another malfunction, sending it’s human operator the ground.
Another bot, with a female face, even winked at fans across the course.
Tiangong Ultra the winning robot, which crossed the finishing line with a time of two hours and 40 minutes, was quite a bit slower than the winning human.
Tang Jian, chief technology officer for the creator of the robot, the Beijing Innovation Centre of Human Robotics, said its performance was down to his long legs and an AI algorithm allowing it to imitate how humans run a marathon.
“I don’t want to boast, but I think no other robotics firms in the West have matched Tiangong’s sporting achievements,” he added.
Alan Fern, professor of computer sciences, AI and robotics at Oregon State University, told CNN he was “very impressed” that the robots managed within the time limit.
He joked he “would have bet that none of them would finish” before adding that here’s no “clear leader” between the US and China when it comes to being the leader in humanoid development.
“It’s gonna be interesting to see. I’m just excited that there’s so many options at this point in time,” he added.
