Robots Showcase Skills at World Humanoid Robot Games

The second World Humanoid Robot Games, held in China, featured robots competing in various real-world tasks, including a restaurant-service contest where a humanoid robot used tongs to handle snacks and operate a microwave. The event, which ran through Wednesday, attracted 666 teams and 2,056 robots from 16 countries and regions, marking a significant increase in participation from the inaugural edition last year.

This year’s games included 51 competition items, up from 26, and the number of matches surged from 487 to 1,301. New additions included scenario-based contests in settings like factories and hotels, with tasks designed to reflect jobs that are repetitive or physically demanding.

Liu Weiliang, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, stated that the tasks were developed after surveying stakeholders in various sectors. The competition aimed to test robots' autonomy and performance in real-world scenarios, with judges assessing task completion and efficiency.