Running robots put through their paces alongside humans in Beijing half-marathon
The race was used to showcase the Chinese tech industry and to test the robots’ ability to carry out various tasks
According to Chinese media reports, 21 humanoid robots, including machines from private firms and universities such as Tsinghua, were put to the test along the 21km (13-mile) route in the capital’s Daxing district.
Video footage from state news agency Xinhua showed several human-sized robots – one wearing a black sun hat and white gloves – alongside several much smaller ones running in parallel to the competitors.
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Running robots put through their paces alongside humans in Beijing half-marathon
One of them, the size of a small child, was dressed in a bright silver and blue suit and wore headphones.
The rules of the race allowed both manually or semi-manually controlled robots and fully autonomous ones to compete, and some of those taking part used the race to test their AI systems.
The teams operating the robots were allowed to change their batteries during the race or operate as a relay team.
While humanoid robots have previously featured briefly in a half-marathon in China, the event was the first time that robots officially took part alongside human runners.