[Beijing = E-Daily Lee Myeongcheol Correspondent] In China, a group of humanoid robots is participating in a “sports day” featuring events such as running, high jump, soccer, and table tennis. While previous robot exhibitions have primarily focused on displays, this sports day is expected to serve as a testing ground to push the robots’ athletic capabilities to their limits.

According to China’s state-run China Daily and other sources on the 21st, the World Humanoid Robot Games (WHRG) will be held at the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval from the 22nd to the 26th. This marks the second edition of the robot games, following the event held last August.

This year, the number of participating teams has more than doubled to 666 from 280 last year. The number of registered robots alone has reached 2,056. The number of competition events has also increased from 26 to 51, and the variety of events has expanded.

While last year’s competition focused primarily on basic track and field events such as running and high jump, new events have been added this year, including the long jump, weightlifting, tug-of-war, and table tennis. The competition organizers described these additions as a major challenge for the robots’ “cerebrum” and “cerebellum,” as well as their physical structure and core components.

Zhang Guangzi, Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy, Information, and Technology and Deputy Executive Director of the competition’s organizing committee, stated at a recent press conference “A 1-centimeter increase in jump height and a 1-kilogram reduction in a robot’s weight are the result of engineers’ relentless efforts in design optimization, precision machining, and rigorous testing of joint motors and gear reducers,” he explained, adding, “Through such incremental progress, the cutting-edge technological capabilities of humanoid robots continue to reach new heights.”

The competition rules have also become stricter compared to last year. The time limits for the 100-meter dash have been reduced from 3 minutes to 1 minute, for the 400-meter dash from 15 minutes to 5 minutes, and for the 1,500-meter run from 40 minutes to 15 minutes. All track and field events, with the exception of the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles, must be completed entirely autonomously. In scenario-based competitions, autonomous robots are awarded 1 point, while remotely operated robots receive 0.5 points.

Until last year, operators remotely controlled the robots, but this time, the robots are programmed to move on their own in response to the starting signal. At the Humanoid Robot Half Marathon held in Beijing last April, a robot model running autonomously took first place with a time in the 50-minute range.

In scenario-based events designed to test whether robots can adapt to real-world environments, participants will demonstrate which tasks they can perform effectively in industrial settings and home environments. Unlike last year, this year’s competitions are scheduled to take place not in stadiums, but in actual factories, hotels, and model homes.

A series of tasks are expected to unfold, including precisely manipulating objects, cooking in restaurants, participating in firefighting operations at fire scenes, and folding clothes inside homes. In addition, various other events such as martial arts, artistic gymnastics, street dance, and Tai Chi will be held. Through these events, the organizers aim to transform humanoid robots from mere demonstration machines into entities capable of performing actual work.

Chen Jing, vice president of the China Institute of Technology Strategy, told the state-run Global Times (GT), “The standard for Chinese humanoid robots has shifted from simply completing tasks to how accurately and quickly they can finish them,” adding, “The scheduled competition events will reflect advancements in areas such as precise motion control and perception-based decision-making.”