Following last week’s robot race in Beijing, an Embodied Intelligence Robot Games will take place in Wuxi in eastern China from April 24 to 26. The event, China’s first major foray into robotic sports competitions, will spotlight advancements in embodied intelligence robotics, and include competitive segments, themed talks, and a carnival.
Why it matters: As part of a strategic push in robotics and AI, the Jiangsu province event reflects China’s hope in strengthening its position in global robotics by integrating athletics, industry dialogue, and public engagement.
Details: The robot games will test robots’ perception, mobility, endurance, and most critically, their decision-making and planning skills.
- In the competition segment, the focus will be on athletic performance and application-based scenarios, according to Chinese media outlet Cailianpress. The athletics meeting includes sprinting, cross-country running, soccer, basketball, and dance. Application-based scenarios feature tasks such as object transport, intelligent grasping, indoor rescue, and demonstrations of innovative use cases.
- Unitree Robotics, Xiaomi Humanoid Robot, Leju Robotics, and other domestic robotics firms will take part in themed talks to discuss key technological bottlenecks in humanoid robotics and challenges of real-world application, the same Cailianpress report mentioned.
- “The carnival will offer scenario-based demonstrations, interactive games, and other activities that allow the public to engage closely with robots, experience the excitement of tech innovation, and help drive the adoption and growth of tech products,” said Li Yang, organizer of the event.
Context: On April 19, Beijing hosted the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon, with twenty teams from Chinese universities, companies, and research centers participating alongside 12,000 human runners. Tiangong Robot Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won the 21-kilometer race in two hours and 40 minutes.
- In the same race, the male champion from Ethiopia finished in 62 minutes, while the female champion, also from Ethiopia, completed the race in 71 minutes.
