A Chinese humanoid robot finished a 100-meter practice race in just 9.32 seconds, beating the human world record, Chinese media reported on Saturday.
That put the robot, called Lightning, at the finish line 0.26 seconds faster than Jamaican Usain Bolt, who set a world record at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in 2009 with a 100m time of 9.58 seconds.
Lightning’s preparatory run was for the second World Humanoid Robot Games that opened in Beijing on Saturday.
The sporting event is one of a kind where technology companies — mostly Chinese — and university groups gather to show off the many tasks their robots can do.
Lightning’s extraordinary race to the finish line is a big marker of progress in the field of artificial intelligence because the best of humanoid robots were struggling to complete a race just last year.
China progressing fast at humanoid robotics
Lightning, developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, also won the Beijing half-marathon (21 kilometers) earlier this April in 50 minutes and 26 minutes.
That was several minutes faster than the human world record holder, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who ran the same distance in 57 minutes, 20 seconds, in Lisbon this March.
Lightning stood 169 centimeters tall and had 95-centimeter legs at the half marathon.
Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda holds the men’s half-marathon record with a time of 57 minutes and 20 seconds. Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey holds the women’s record, having finished in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 52 seconds.
In a feat its human competitors would have a difficult time replicating, Lightning’s legs were lengthened by 10 cm to 1.05 meters ahead of the World Humanoid Robot Games, China Central Television reported.
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Edited by: Sean Sinico
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