Original Title: The First Robot to Cross the Finish Line May Not Be the Champion
The 2026 Beijing Yizhuang Humanoid Robot Half Marathon will kick off this Sunday in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. Yesterday, the event organizing committee held a media briefing to explain the competition rules in detail, helping more viewers understand the intricacies of the race. Since participating robots include two modes—autonomous navigation and remote control—the results of the remote control group will be multiplied by a 1.2 weighting coefficient. Additionally, time penalties may be incurred during the race, meaning the first robot to cross the finish line might not be the champion. Netizens can also participate in voting for the Best Gait Control Award for the robots.
Event Open for Global Registration
What kind of robots can participate in this half marathon? The event is open for global registration. Whether it’s humanoid robot R&D institutions, research institutes, tech companies, innovation teams, or individual developers, all are eligible to compete. The competition is divided into an autonomous navigation group and a remote control group. Both groups will be timed together and ranked uniformly, with final scores calculated according to the rules and weighting. Participating robots must strictly conform to three principles: “humanoid,” “bipedal,” and “self-propelled,” with a height requirement between 75 centimeters and 180 centimeters.
Compared to previous years, the difficulty of the track has been increased. The total course length is 21.0975 kilometers, and for the first time, an ecological section in Nanhaizi Park has been introduced. The track combines over 10 types of terrain, including flat ground, slopes, curves, and narrow sections, with 12 left turns and 10 right turns, including curves close to 90 degrees, posing a significant challenge to the robots’ path planning and dynamic balance capabilities. The competition has set up 7 standardized supply stations that can provide services such as battery replacement and emergency response.
Robots Standardly Followed by “Referee Vehicles”
Unlike a human marathon, the robot marathon uses an individual start method. The start employs a staggered, single-release format, with one robot released every 30 seconds. Compared to last year where many staff members ran alongside, this year’s robots will not have “pace runners” beside them. Instead, after each robot starts, a golf cart will follow behind, carrying referees and staff to “accompany” the robot, used for tracking and supervising the robot’s participation process and handling various unexpected situations.
What situations will lead to time penalties for robots? Station battery replacements will be completed under referee supervision, incurring no time penalty, but the time spent will be counted in the total race time. Off-station battery replacements are only allowed for emergencies like sudden battery failure; the first offense incurs a 5-minute penalty, the second a 10-minute penalty, increasing cumulatively. Replacing a robot has limits and penalties: a maximum of 2 times for the entire race, with the first offense incurring a 15-minute penalty and the second a 20-minute penalty. For the autonomous navigation group, human intervention is limited to four scenarios: start-up assistance, battery replacement assistance at supply stations, emergency obstacle avoidance for overtaking, and emergency shutdown due to failure. If unauthorized interventions exceed 3 times cumulatively, the robot’s results will automatically be calculated under the remote control group rules, requiring multiplication by the 1.2 weighting coefficient.
How are falls or collisions handled during the race? In the event of a robot falling, colliding, or experiencing a malfunction, the principle of graded handling with safety as the priority will be followed. For minor imbalance and stoppage, the robot must recover autonomously; human assistance is strictly prohibited. If the robot falls and stops, an application must be made to move it to a safe area for handling, where only actions like righting, restarting, cleaning, and cooling are allowed; operations like battery replacement, part repair, or parameter changes are forbidden. In case of severe structural failure, the robot must be immediately removed from the track; a backup robot can be substituted, or the team can withdraw from the race; on-site disassembly and repair are prohibited.
Setting Three Categories of Awards for Speed and Technology
Although it’s a robot competition, aspects like refereeing and timing are taken very seriously. The competition has established a referee committee, composed of referee experts, technical representatives, on-site referees, and accompanying referees, ensuring full-process law enforcement recording, openness, and transparency. For timing, this event will use a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip timing system with 0.1-second precision. Induction mats are set at the start, segment points, finish line, supply
