More than 300 humanoid robots will line up in Beijing on Sunday for China’s second robot half‑marathon a far more demanding race than last year, designed to showcase rapid advances in robotics as Beijing positions the sector as a major pillar of its future economy. Over 70 teams, nearly five times the number in 2023, will compete across a 21‑kilometre course featuring paved slopes and parkland terrain.
Industry analysts say the event will offer a rare look at how quickly the technology is evolving. “It will certainly be interesting to see the progress in durability of components and battery lifetime compared to last year,” said Georg Stieler, Asia managing director at consultancy Stieler. He noted that manufacturers are still struggling to balance product quality with intense price pressure.
A major shift this year is autonomy. While every robot in last year’s race was remotely controlled, nearly 40 percent of this year’s entrants will run the course independently a high‑profile demonstration of China’s growing capabilities in humanoid design. But the race is also expected to expose the challenges Chinese firms face in creating machines that can truly mimic human movement. In 2023, several robots crashed or toppled near the starting line, and although the winning Tiangong Ultra model finished well ahead of its rivals, its time of 2 hours 40 minutes was more than double that of the human winner.
This year, Tiangong Ultra will run fully autonomously, relying solely on its sensors and large‑scale simulation training to replicate human gait and avoid obstacles. “When the robot runs at speeds approaching those of professional human athletes, the time window for perception and decision‑making is extremely short,” the Center of Humanoid Robotics said, highlighting the enormous demands on computing power and system responsiveness.
Recent social‑media videos of nighttime training sessions in Beijing show mixed results: some robots running smoothly at speeds of up to 14 km/h, while others move stiffly, stumble or crash into railings signs that many may struggle to reach the finish line.
As China pushes to lead the global humanoid robotics race, Sunday’s marathon will be both a showcase of ambition and a reminder of how far the technology still has to go.
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