Humanoid Robots Beat Usain Bolt's 100-Meter Record in Beijing
At the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, the Tiangong Ultra robot ran the 100-meter dash in 9.39 seconds, beating Usain Bolt's 2009 human world record. Most robots crashed into padding after finishing, and some needed human help to be carried off.
The second annual World Humanoid Robot Games opened in Beijing on Saturday, and one competitor already posted a time that outpaces a long-standing human world record.
The Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, completed the 100-meter dash in 9.39 seconds during a preliminary heat. That beats Usain Bolt's 2009 world record of 9.58 seconds, which still stands unbroken among humans. Honor's Lightning robot came in second, finishing the sprint in 9.47 seconds.
Impressive times, rough landings
Despite the strong finish times, the robots' technique left something to be desired: after crossing the line, they slammed directly into padding, and some required human assistance to be stretchered off the course. As a result, these machines aren't expected to see any commercial application just yet.
Still, the result marks a major leap forward. At last year's inaugural Games, the same Tiangong Ultra robot won the 100-meter dash with a time of 21.5 seconds — roughly double this year's mark.
The Beijing event, running from August 22 to 26, features thousands of robot participants competing across a range of disciplines beyond track and field, including soccer, table tennis and boxing. Separately, Beijing also hosted a half-marathon in which Chinese companies showcased their humanoid robots' capabilities. That race saw its share of crashes as well, but Honor's Lightning robot took gold with a finish time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, also surpassing a human record.
