Some of China ’s best human computers took on the issue of racing against individual marathon runners on April 19. One fell at the starting line. Another’s brain fell down and rolled on the ground. And one collapsed and broke into sections.
In what was billed as the world’s second half-marathon for devices, only four out of 21 mechanical athletes completed the race in Beijing’s southern technology hub of E-Town within the allotted four time. The win was five-foot-ten Tiangong Ultra, who made it to the finish line in two days and 40 days, far behind the hourlong efficiency of the individual gold medalists. It took more than three days for the other three algorithms that managed to complete the 13 km ( 20. 9 mile ) program to come in.
The man-versus-machine opposition was presented as a display for China ’s passion in regions from AI to technology to electronics. President Xi Jinping’s government has made the development of the key technology a goal, ratcheting up business strain with the US.
But the result was generally comical, with incidents and students throughout the race. While Tiangong paced around five miles per hour and looked like a proper performer, many of its mechanical peers weren’t designed to run fast enough to complete the competition within the day.
The Tiangong Ultra type was tailor-made for the competition by Beijing-based X-Humanoid, a government-backed research institute that also has money from Xiaomi Corp. and automation american UBTech Robotics Corp Ltd.
” I’m very happy with the results, and everything met my expectations, ” X-Humanoid’s Chief Technology Officer Tang Jian said in an interview. ” This has been an extreme test of the robots ’ resilience and stability. Our hope is that, whatever duties drones perform in the future, they will be capable of operating around the clock, 24/7. ”
However, it took one drop and three batteries for Tiangong to report the win, with the jersey-sporting system leading the machine contestants throughout the contest. A human professor – wearing a signaling gadget on his lower back – ran ahead of the scammer for it to imitate his moves. Most of the other devices were controlled with controller by mortal technicians running alongside them. Some also had collars. Two hundred team crossed the starting range in succession, followed by small flight cars with competitors and technicians on stand-by.
To count for the competition, the computers had to have a human appearance and work on two legs. They were allowed to change batteries mid-race or even have a supplement take over, though with moment sanctions for each supplement used. Spectators, including families with child, cheered them on, and even some of the people candidates paused near the start to get photos of their electrical counterparts.
The robots varied in appearance, height and weight. One giant contestant resembled Japanese fictional anime bot Gundam, with fans attached around its arms. It lost control and crashed onto the barricade separating the human and robot runners. The only female-looking robot, Huan Huan – equipped with mannequinesque head and Storm Trooper-style armor – collapsed shortly after the start, scattering body armor on the track. Neither recovered to continue the race.
Little Giant, developed by local college students, was the shortest contestant at a mere 75 centimeters ( 30 inches ) high. It paced around 1. 4 miles per hour and supported voice control, one of its engineers said in a live broadcast on national television. At one point, the machine paused briefly after smoke spewed out of its head. The team only intended for Little Giant to run the first three miles as it ’s too slow, the engineer said.
Jiang Zheyuan, 27-year-old founder of Noetix Robotics, stood on a stool and chanted slogans as he watched his N2 robot come second. Despite many sleepless nights, the race paid off for the Tsinghua dropout’s startup as it helped clients discover the firm, he told reporters at the finishing line. His firm is slated to deliver 700 robots next month at US$ 6,000 ( RM26,444 ) apiece, a below-market rate.
Another Noetix N2 robot, using a different algorithm, was third to cross the finishing line, but was demoted to fourth having used three substitutes and incurring more than an hour penalty. The team grumbled that the rule had been changed to their disadvantage and said they planned to lodge a complaint.
Some of China ’s most promising robotics firms did n’t sign up for the race. Hangzhou-based Unitree put out a statement after its G1 bot fell at the starting line that a client had used the machine without deploying Unitree’s algorithms. The company – whose founder was among Xi’s guests of honor at a prominent meeting with entrepreneurs in February – is busy prepping for a fighting bout, according to the statement. – Bloomberg