This year marked the first-ever international sporting event to feature humanoid robots as athletes. These robots, with some help from the humans behind their creation, competed against each other in the World Humanoid Robot Games to showcase the athletic and practical abilities these machines possess.
Over 200 teams from 16 countries went head-to-head at what has unofficially been dubbed the “Robot Olympics.”
What is the World Humanoid Robot Games?
People have been pitting robots against each other for as long as robotics has been a hobby. With the advancement of AI and humanoid robots over the last few years, it was only a matter of time before an Olympic-style sporting event emerged. This year, China felt ready to take on this feat. The event was aptly held at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, which had originally been constructed for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Thursday’s opening ceremony consisted of several performances featuring both humans and humanoids, including dance routines and musical acts, a fashion show, traditional Chinese performances, and a peek at a robot break dancing routine that could rival that of Australian Olympian, Raygun. Though the robotic performers were generally slower and less fluid in their movements than their human counterparts, it was truly remarkable to see.
During the three-day event, robot athletes competed against each other in events such as track and field, 5-v-5 soccer, kickboxing, and gymnastics. Robots were also tested in scenario-based challenges such as picking up trash in a hotel room, dispensing medicine at a pharmacy, and industrial material handling. These trials were included and designed to showcase how these humanoids perform in real-world circumstances.
As physically and technologically advanced as these athletes are, many events turned out to be more comical than competitive. Throughout the weekend, soccer-playing robots crashed into each other, combat bots tumbled after failing to land kicks and punches, and various humanoids tripped over themselves and other downed competitors. Though some were able to right themselves, greatly pleasing the crowds, human intervention was frequently required. Additionally, while China’s own Unitree H1 excelled in track competitions compared to its robot counterparts, which were fond of losing body parts, it still fell far behind human competitors.
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13.8×13.8×3.9 in
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0.22 Liters
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Ecovacs
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$1,600
What Inspired this Event?
The World Humanoid Robot Games wasn’t all fun and, well, games. The event was primarily an opportunity for China to show off its latest advancements in both the AI and humanoid robotics sectors. In an effort to dominate the field, China has had a keen focus on humanoid robotics over the last few years, and according to an unnamed Chinese media outlet, it now aims to be capable of training 1,000 humanoids simultaneously for general-purpose use within the next two years. China’s Shanghai training facility, which is at the focus of this goal, is currently capable of simultaneously training over 100 units at a time.
Participating teams, however, took this as a chance to test “interesting new and exciting approaches” without losing money on failed products, as a member of the German robotics soccer team, HTWK Robots, stated to Reuters. As with other robotics competitions, the games also provided the human engineers and programmers involved with a chance to discover new approaches to old problems and network with other teams, while adding a healthy dose of competition to further stimulate innovation.
Not only were the robots’ agility and coordination tested. Teams also had the chance to observe the efficiency and endurance of their bots, how well components such as sensors and motors functioned, and how their machines’ decision-making capabilities played out in a foreign environment. Being that tech companies generally try to keep innovative technology under wraps until the big debut, this event also gave teams a clearer idea of the metrics they’re up against in the humanoid robot consumer market.
Racing Towards the Future
Though the athletes weren’t as fast or coordinated as human Olympians, the games were an excellent way to highlight how far technology has already come in the robotics, automation, and AI divisions. It wasn’t long ago that we were speculating what the age of AI would be like, and this event marks the beginning of those ideals fully coming to fruition.
As the games highlighted, it won’t be long before humanoid robots become a staple part of our everyday lives. Humanoid workers have already been introduced in restaurants, warehouses, and at tourist destinations around the world. World Humanoid Robot Games competitor, StarBot Inc., is a California-based company hoping to break into these lines of work with their contemporary ideas. Ideally, robots won’t be limited to the outside workforce, though. A large part of enhancing safety protocols and refining movements and decision-making capabilities is to prepare these humanoids for home use.
The humans and humanoids that participated aren’t the only ones holding the future in their hands; the spectators do as well. Not only can an event like this drive interest in personal humanoid robot purchases, but it’s also an educational opportunity. For many curious onlookers, this may have been their first demonstration of humanoid abilities, and for others, this may have sparked personal interest in these or related fields.
Though it will be a long time before we see AI like that of The Jetsons‘ Rosie the Robot or Iron Man‘s Jarvis, it’s certainly clear that society is moving closer and closer to that prospect. Robots competing as athletes and completing a parkour course, as with BostonDynamics‘ Atlas, used to be the punchline to a joke about robots becoming human. Now, it’s becoming another everyday part of our reality. Will you be tuning into next year’s World Humanoid Robot Games?