Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The future of sprinting may have arrived on two mechanical legs.
A Chinese humanoid robot has stunned spectators at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing by completing the 100 metres in just 9.39 seconds, beating Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt’s iconic human world record of 9.58 seconds.
Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won its preliminary heat on Saturday after a dramatic late surge. The robot initially fell behind smartphone maker Honor’s Lightning but powered past its rival near the finish line to cross in 9.39 seconds.
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Lightning was close behind at 9.47 seconds, meaning both humanoid machines posted times faster than Bolt’s record, set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
The performance marked a breathtaking leap from last year. At the inaugural games, Tiangong Ultra won the 100 metres in 21.50 seconds, meaning its latest performance was more than 12 seconds faster.
FROM 21.50 SECONDS TO 9.39
The extraordinary improvement underlines the rapid pace of development in humanoid robotics.
Tiangong Ultra also made history last year by winning the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon in Beijing.
Lightning, meanwhile, had already raised eyebrows before Saturday’s race. Chinese state media reported that it clocked 9.32 seconds during a preparatory test, reaching a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second.
The robot also won this year’s humanoid half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, finishing at a pace faster than the elite men’s human world-record pace.
ROBOTS GET A ‘BOOST’
Lightning’s performance was aided by a major physical upgrade. The robot stood 169 cm tall during the half-marathon and had 95-cm legs. Researchers later lengthened its legs by 10 cm ahead of the games, according to Chinese broadcaster CCTV.
The dramatic sprint has added another chapter to China’s accelerating humanoid robot race, as companies and policymakers increasingly view the technology as a strategic industry.
CHINA’S ROBOT RACE GATHERS PACE
China is betting heavily on humanoid robots, with advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and hardware expected to drive their use in factories, logistics and consumer applications.
Investor enthusiasm has also surged. Shares of Unitree, one of China’s best-known humanoid robot makers, jumped more than fivefold during its Shanghai trading debut earlier this week, giving the company a market value of about $50 billion.
This year’s World Humanoid Robot Games have expanded dramatically, with 2,056 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries and six continents taking part, compared with 280 teams at the inaugural event.
Held at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval, the games feature 51 events, ranging from sprinting and football to dancing and industrial-task competitions.
And as Tiangong Ultra’s 9.39-second sprint showed, the race between humans and machines is no longer just science fiction.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
