Text: Lin Arashi

At 2025:00 on October 0, 0 Beijing Yizhuang Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon started. This is the world's first humanoid robot marathon.

In this race, the human athlete and the humanoid robot start at the same time and have the same course, with a total length of 14.0 km, but the two tracks are separated by facilities. It is reported that the tracks are all public roads in the Beijing Economic Development Zone, with different slopes and 0 turns, as well as asphalt roads, potholes and cracks, stone roads, grasslands, gravel roads and other different road surfaces, and some sections are also distributed with tracks, which is a big test for robots.

In terms of specific competition rules, the robot is given a small stove - after the approval of the accompanying referee during the race, the battery can be replaced or the robot can be replaced. There is no penalty for replacing the battery, and there is a penalty for replacing the robot.

In the end, in the robot team, Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center and Tiangong Robot developed by UBTECH won the championship.

One small step for the robot

A big leap for humanity

The industry generally believes that the humanoid form is the ultimate form of a robot - it has too many advantages. First of all, human walking upright frees up hands and enables them to use a variety of tools. Secondly, through the human-like structure, humanoid robots can better adapt to the environment and tools of the human world. Third, humanoid robots have similar appearance and behavior patterns to humans, and compared with non-humanoid robots, it is easier for users to have a sense of closeness and trust, so they have more advantages in application scenarios such as service industry and family. Finally, because the body structure of the humanoid robot is similar to that of humans, a large number of human motion videos can be used as its training data, which alleviates the problem of data scarcity often faced by the training of embodied intelligence models to a certain extent.

However, these advantages also come at a cost. First of all, compared with robots with lower limb forms such as quadrupeds and wheels, humanoid robots face difficulties in stability and motion control. Due to the short contact time of its feet with the ground and the small space, the space-time domain for stable control is very limited. Secondly, the high energy consumption characteristics of bipedal robots put forward higher requirements for power systems and energy management. In lower limb sports such as running, the fuselage is generally required to be lighter, which makes it difficult to install a large battery on the fuselage, and the endurance is further difficult.

These costs are further magnified in the case of a half marathon, where robots also have to deal with long running hours, complex road conditions, and possible unexpected situations. Specifically, as introduced by Guo Yijie, the technical leader of the "Tiangong Team", the humanoid robot "Running Horse" needs to be fully prepared at the level of embodied intelligence "small and small brain" and ontology optimization. In terms of "brain", first of all, we should use algorithms to explore the peak boundaries of joint torque and rotational speed, and continuously improve the running speed; Secondly, it is necessary to improve the accuracy of the perception of one's own state and environmental state during exercise, and make corresponding adjustments to improve the stability of movement; In addition, by importing human movement data, the running posture of humanoid robots is more "anthropomorphic". In terms of "body", it is necessary to reduce the structural weight of the robot, find a balance between weight and strength, and improve thermal conduction and air-cooled heat dissipation technology to improve stability and endurance.

In this way, the half-marathon has become a "college entrance examination" to test the comprehensive ability of robots in a real field. As the organizer of the event said in the test match when answering reporters' questions, the marathon tests a series of cross-fusion technologies such as the movement efficiency, power battery, joints, and materials of the robot itself, which reflects reliability, safety and durability. Jiang Zheyuan, chief technology officer of Songyan Power, also believes that the half-marathon is a comprehensive test for humanoid robots, which tests both algorithm ability and hardware ontology in the case of long-distance and long-term continuous work. Because of this, the successful completion of these participating robots reflects the good development momentum of China's humanoid robot industry to a certain extent.

The competition is also of great significance to the subsequent development of the robot industry. Wang Guolin, deputy leader of the competition group, believes that the competition can comprehensively evaluate the multi-faceted capabilities of each robot and promote the development of the embodied robot industry. Xinhua News Agency also believes that the event will promote products to further participate in social and production scenarios such as disaster rescue, long-distance inspection, special dangerous operations, intelligent manufacturing, and sports sparring.

Why Yizhuang?

北京市對機器人產業十分重視，目前已發佈《北京具身智慧科技創新與產業培育行動計劃（2025-2027 年）》等專項政策，並設立了總規模 1000 億元、存續期 15 年的政府投資基金，重點支持人工智慧、機器人等未來產業發展。

而亦莊作為北京唯一的國家級經濟技術開發區，對機器人產業格外關注。其出臺的《建設全球一流具身智慧機器人產業新城行動計劃（2024-2026 年）》，為機器人產業提供資金、場地、技術驗證等全方位支援，並釋放超萬個機器人應用機會和近 50 億元採購需求。同時，亦莊打造的全市首個類人機器人未來產業育新基地、機器人柔性敏捷製造平臺、國家機器人檢測評定中心平臺和標杆機器人孵化器等，為這次賽事的順利開展提供了有力支援。

With the support of policies and funds, Beijing Yizhuang has formed a whole industry chain ecology from the core components of robots to the manufacture of complete machines. In the field of core components, there are enterprises such as Zhitong Technology and SMC that focus on the production of key components such as motors, reducers, and sensors; In the field of machine manufacturing, there are well-known enterprises such as UBTECH and Xiaomi Robot. These enterprises work closely together in R&D, production and application to form a well-coupled industrial chain. This enables the robot marathon to be held in Yizhuang, which can provide rich technical and product support for the event, and can further promote industrial exchanges and development with the help of the event.

In addition, Beijing Yizhuang, as the permanent host of the World Robot Conference, has accumulated a lot of experience in organizing robot "gatherings". Therefore, the guarantee team can carry out careful planning in the design and operation, venue layout, event services, security services, technical support and other links to ensure the high-quality conduct of the event.

There are some shortcomings behind the victory

Although it was a winning tournament overall, there were some regrets about this competition.

First of all, most robots do not run completely autonomously. Even if the runner is as strong as heaven, he needs the human leader to be equipped with a guide device to "accompany the runner"; And it can be seen from the scene that the staff also needs to mention the "handrail" on the back of the robot's shoulder from time to time to ensure its stability. Some robots, such as Tsinghua University and Songyan Power's team, need staff to be nearby with remote control to assist in control. At the same time, almost every robot has carried out several battery swaps in the middle, and some robots have also carried out "substitution" relays due to failures and other reasons. It can be seen that although the medium and long-distance running technology of the participating humanoid robots has made significant progress, there is still room for improvement.

The absence of some participating teams is also a little regrettable. On the one hand, there are no well-known foreign robots to participate, such as Tesla's Optimus, Boston Dynamics' Atlas, OpenAI's EVE, etc. On the other hand, some well-known robots in China have not been "gathered" for various reasons, such as the humanoid robot PM2 of Zhongqing Company, which is also good at running, in addition to Fourier's GR-0, Xiaomi's CyberOne, etc.

Finally, the format of the marathon competition is mainly to test the performance of the robot's lower limbs. The movement of the lower limbs is only one of the "basic skills" of the robot, which is essentially a problem of "how to maintain balance under the movement of the rigid structure", and there are relatively few direct application scenarios. In contrast, upper limb movement, especially the use of dexterous hands, may be more critical in the practical application of robots.

Perhaps the moving thing about this event is that it unabashedly shows the "adolescence" of technology and industry in the form of live broadcast - both the highlight moment when the robot crosses the line, and the rush when the battery is changed halfway; There is not only the ecstasy of the breakthrough of the control algorithm, but also the helplessness of the limitation of the motion hardware. Just as an individual loss of marks in an exam does not hinder the overall development of a long life, this event deserves to be viewed from a more inclusive and encouraging perspective.

As Liang Liang, deputy director of the Management Committee of Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, said, the robot race is not the end, but the starting point of industrial development, exchanges and mutual learning, and this event may only be the prelude to the take-off of the robot industry. With the implementation of the policy and the injection of the "trillion fund", China's future humanoid robots will surpass the marathon track and run faster in scenarios such as intelligent manufacturing, disaster relief, and home applications.