THE STREETS of Yizhuang will be crowded on April 19th. Humanoid robots will run alongside thousands of living, breathing humans in a half-marathon through the industrial-technology park in Beijing. More than 300 robots are expected to start—that is far more than at the first such race last year, when just 21 bots competed (only six finished; the rest tripped, overheated or otherwise ran out of puff).
Organised media tour to the Robotics Pilot Testing and Validation Platform of Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics in Beijing (REUTERS)
Last year’s robot winner was the imposing Tiangong Ultra, a tall lightweight bot painted midnight black. It crossed the line in two hours and 40 minutes (seven minutes and 35 seconds per kilometre). This year teams are hoping their robo-athletes will run faster and without needing to be controlled remotely. About four in ten of the entrants are autonomous; the rest are in some way steered by humans. For weeks, robotics teams based in China’s capital have been practising at night on Yizhuang’s empty streets.
Such technological contests are not new. In 2004 America’s defence agency offered a $1m prize for the winner of an autonomous-vehicle race in the Mojave Desert. That competition is credited with fostering early innovations in the self-driving car industry. More recently, America’s big tech firms have put up cash for academics and startups to compete at solving fiendish engineering problems in real-world environments.
The robots in Yizhuang will be judged on factors in addition to speed, such as their real-time decision-making, endurance and gait. China has more than 150 humanoid-robot makers, plus many more research teams in universities and government labs. All want attention, investment and state support, and the race can help to attract them. This year’s champion will win guaranteed orders worth over a million yuan ($147,000).
The state stands to gain, too. The race, hosted by Yizhuang’s administrative committee, is meant to prod fledgling robotics firms to innovate and compete. Yizhuang claims it has already attracted over 300 firms in the robotics supply chain to its industrial areas. Officials will test local champions against rivals from across China, and see if state money is being well spent. In August the town offered firms 100m yuan in computing resources, prototyping of early designs and subsidies for each robot sold. Officials want their firms to set the pace in the larger race against humanoid-robot makers elsewhere, especially those in America.
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