Beijing robot games open Saturday after grand rehearsal
Bastillepost · 2 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago1 MIN
Summary
A full rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the second World Humanoid Robot Games has offered a first look at a large-scale, Olympic-style production ahead of the event’s start on Saturday in Beijing. The five-day competition will bring together 666 teams and 2,056 robots from 16 countries and regions, with a much larger programme than the inaugural edition.
Key Points
- The games will be held from August 22 to 26 at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval, also known as the “Ice Ribbon”.
- Organisers have scheduled 51 events and 1,301 contests, adding long jump, weightlifting, tug-of-war and table tennis to broaden the challenge
- Chinese participation is dominant, with 157 companies and 200 universities and research institutes fielding 641 teams
- International entrants include teams from the United States, Germany and Japan, plus five RoboCup football teams from Brazil
- Shenzhen-based Honor Smart Technology Development is preparing its defending robot runner Flash for the 100m, 400m and 1,500m races
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the event offers a visible benchmark for how quickly humanoid robotics is moving from laboratory demonstrations into public competition and practical task testing. The inclusion of industrial, hotel, household, logistics and dexterous-hand events suggests the technology is being assessed not only for spectacle, but also for future commercial deployment