At 7:30 a.m. on the 19th (local time), a park in Beijing's Yizhuang (亦庄) where 12,000 marathoners had gathered. As the music signaling the start of the half marathon played and the starting chant rang out, thousands of front-runners set off all at once.
What stood out more than the marathoners was a red humanoid robot racing ahead at an overwhelming speed, "Shandian (闪电)." Hidden by the crowd and invisible at the start line, Shandian disappeared from view about 10 seconds after the start. True to its name, which means lightning, it streaked down the track, and the stands erupted with gasps of surprise at the much faster-than-expected pace. Marathoners on the track slowed their steps and took out their phones to snap photos.
Afterward, 104 humanoids left the start line at about 30-second intervals. Multiple Shandian units ran in succession, and last year's winning model, Tiangong (天工) from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, and a product from China's leading humanoid maker Unitree (宇树科技·Unitree) also stood out. Some humanoids sported distinctive wigs, hats, and outfits.
◇ This year's star is "Shandian"… developed by a Huawei affiliate
News of the victory came 50 minutes after the race began. It was Shandian, which astonished the crowd with overwhelming speed and stability. The Qitiandasheng (齐天大圣) team completed the 21.0975 km course via Autonomous Driving in 50 minutes 26 seconds. In terms of speed alone, the Pofeng Shandian (破风闪电) team set a 48-minute mark with the same model, but it missed the win because it competed under remote control and received a 20% time weighting.
Second and third place also went to Shandian units, with the Leiting Shandian (雷霆闪电) team and the Xinghuo Liaoyuan (星火燎原) team clocking 50 minutes 56 seconds and 53 minutes 01 second, respectively. That advances last year's winning time (2 hours 40 minutes) by more than double and is faster than human records. Shandian is a humanoid developed by Honor (honor), a Huawei affiliate, standing 169 cm tall and featuring Autonomous Driving. It made its debut in this year's race.
◇ Competition in Autonomous Driving technology on a tougher track
In its second year, the event showed marked improvement in both scale and performance over last year. Unlike last year, when even finishing was difficult, about half the teams completed the course this year. The number of competing robots rose from just over 20 last year to 105 this year, with 43 teams running the track via Autonomous Driving. To encourage Autonomous Driving, organizers applied a penalty that added time weightings to remote-control teams. The aim was to value the ability to run without human intervention over pure speed.
The track difficulty also increased. In addition to flat asphalt, uphill, downhill, gravel, and grass paths were added, and curves of up to 90 degrees were included. As a result, some humanoids that failed cornering fell and, unable to stand up on their own, were seen being hauled away suspended from small cranes.
The crowd and media were also fervent. From about 6 a.m., an hour and 30 minutes before the start, hundreds of reporters gathered, jockeying for spots with the best views. Broadcasters from regions beyond Beijing, including Shanghai, also came to the scene. In the stands, many influencers were seen filming videos with cameras and livestreaming in real time.
A teacher leading a student cheering squad to the venue said, "You can feel that public interest has grown significantly compared with last year. If last year felt like a Yizhuang-only event, this year it seems to be drawing nationwide attention," adding, "The robots in the race also appear to have advanced greatly in both performance and scale compared with last year. It's encouraging to be able to show children a frontline view of scientific and technological progress."