Robots compete against humans for first time in half marathon

Robots have competed against humans in a half marathon for the first time in China.

Thousands of people raced against 21 humanoid robots in Beijing on Saturday (19 April).

Humans and robots ran along the same route on separate tracks over 13 miles.

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[WongPeter-txqq]

The title is misleading. It was a race of robots built by different institutions to see how each performance in running a half marathon. Those running beside the robots were engineers from the respective institutions who provided maintenance to the robots when necessary (such as recharging the battery.)

[MaximBordyug.]

I really need that robot to take me to the doctor and pick up groceries and go to the pharmacy for me.
Please 😢

[lachrymarum_]

i don't think this is dumb at all. it's pretty funny and the little guys are so cute! ❤ plus, it gives the engineers a chance to showcase their work, maybe get some more funding, and make the public more interested in advanced robotics.

[dougewald]

They're not competing against humans.
Put them in the crowd and not surrounded by their handlers - that'll be competition.

[Hopper-nf]

Do the robots come with remote controls?

[deerango]

And the purpose of having a robot run a marathon is? ...

[XXOOjg]

Buff Ok... cool... very uncomfortable... I guess, ¿I need more robot visual culture?

[liuxian]

We have all seen the movies & know the consequences why are we doing this ?

[ybit]

We only had two out of 21 that made it to the end, and they were using controllers, so these are not robots, they're radio-controlled.