The world's first robot sports festival, held in Beijing, China, from 14th to 17th, has concluded. About 500 robots from 280 teams participated in the competition. In Beijing, following a humanoid half marathon in April and a humanoid combat match in May, this month also saw the World Robot Conference and the unveiling of the world's first robot store, marking a series of major robot-related events. This robot sports festival is analyzed to hold industrial and policy significance, including ▲ verification of technical challenges ▲ experimental application technologies ▲ and the creation of an industrial ecosystem.
The biggest challenge of humanoid technology is the movement of hands and feet, and the brain (control system) that controls them. The human hand consists of 27 bones, over 30 joints, and more than 40 muscles. It performs tasks from fine movements like sewing to transporting objects while maintaining balance, all in response to instructions from the brain. To implement this in humanoids, a highly cooperative control system for the fingers, palms, arms, and upper body needs to be developed and trained.
China's state-run People's Daily reported on the 17th, citing a Beijing official, that "in addition to hand technology, developing feet that can adapt to diverse terrains and a control system that acts as the brain is a common challenge worldwide," and assessed that "this sports festival is a comprehensive competition for finished goods in robotics and a platform to test the precision and reliability of core components." It highlighted that the sports, as a culmination of human movement, provided an opportunity to verify and improve humanoid technology.
In particular, during this competition, Tian Gong from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center utilized autonomous navigation, visual recognition, and environmental perception technologies to complete the race track on its own without engineer intervention. Moreover, in a 5-on-5 soccer match, all participating robots autonomously made decisions and competed without human intervention. These cases are regarded as innovations in robot "brain" technology.
People's Daily reported that the ultimate goal of this sports festival is to prepare for a future where robots work alongside humans in industrial and daily life settings. The humanoid athletes of today may become the workers of tomorrow. The competition did not only include athletic events like track and soccer, but also demonstrated various scenes such as medication dispensing in pharmacies and hotel cleaning, as well as processes in factories and logistics centers. People's Daily noted that "the sports festival served as an example of future production and daily life scenarios," stating, "the robot athletes of today will become the robot workers of tomorrow."
The gathering of notable humanoids for this sports festival was made possible by the full support of the Beijing municipal government. According to People's Daily, the city announced a three-year roadmap twice since 2019, positioning Beijing as a "global hub for robot innovation and a demonstration city." Currently, Beijing's robotics industry is at the forefront of China, accounting for one-third of the entire national humanoid industry. In the first half of this year, related sales increased by nearly 40%.
According to the state-run Global Times, Beijing opened its first humanoid data training center this year. Covering about 3,000 square meters, it established a three-stage integrated training system that connects "data-training-application." Center Director Zheng Suijing explained to Global Times that "after approximately 10,000 hours of training, a highly refined model can be achieved."
Additionally, People's Daily reported that Beijing achieved various accomplishments, including nurturing 57 specialized robot corporations, securing 33 certifications for surgical robots, fostering 30 corporations for finished goods in humanoids, and building a lineup of 200 innovative products across 12 types.
Wang Xingxing, the founder of Unitree, a leading humanoid developer in China, evaluated at the robot sports festival that "the World Robot Sports Festival has generated greater momentum for growth across the industry." People's Daily stated, "the 'first step' of the robot athletes will be recorded not just as a mere competition score, but as a new starting point for the advancement of future science and technology and industrial innovation."