Robots Take On the Humans in Half-Marathon

Congratulations, humans. You bested humanoid robot runners in a half-marathon billed as the first of its kind. Given the fast progress the robots are making, however, it might not pay to bet on next year's race just yet. Details:

• About 12,000 human runners and 21 humanoid robots participated in Saturday's 13.1-mile race in Beijing, reports Wired. The competition was hailed as the first time humans and bipedal robots ran in the same race, though they used separate tracks for safety reasons, notes the AP.

• Only six robots finished, and most dropped out early after falling or becoming overheated. The fastest, developed by UBTech and the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes, though human assistants had to change the batteries of "Tien Kung Ultra" three times in the equivalent of pit stops. That was well behind the fastest human time of 1 hour and 2 minutes, notes the Guardian.
• Still, the race shows that the hardware aspect of robotic tech has come a long way in a short time. "Until five years ago or so, we didn't really know how to get robots to walk reliably," robotics professor Alan Fern of Oregon State University tells Wired.
• "The robots are running very well, very stable. … I feel I'm witnessing the evolution of robots and AI," spectator He Sishu tells the Guardian.

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