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Chinese robot runs 100 metres in 9.32 seconds
A humanoid robot’s test sprint beat the human 100-metre mark, but it did not replace it.
What happened
Honor’s humanoid robot Lightning ran 100 metres in 9.32 seconds in a preparatory test in Beijing, faster than Usain Bolt’s human record. At the World Humanoid Robot Games, Tiangong Ultra won a preliminary heat in 9.39 seconds; Lightning finished in 9.47 seconds. The competition ends August 26.
Numbers
- 9.32 secondsLightning’s preparatory test time — Ahead of the Beijing games
- 9.39 secondsTiangong Ultra’s preliminary heat — Fastest reported competition heat
- 0.26 secondsMargin below Bolt’s human mark — Comparing the test times
- 14.5 m/sLightning’s reported peak speed — Listed by its maker
Questions
- Was this an official athletics record?
- No. Bolt’s 2009 mark remains the official human record, and the robot’s run was outside human sporting rules.
- Why did Lightning become faster?
- Researchers lengthened Lightning’s legs by 10 centimetres before the games, while its maker listed a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second.
- How did the games race compare?
- Tiangong Ultra won its heat after overtaking Lightning near the finish, despite Lightning’s faster preparatory test time.
- What else do the games test?
- Teams compete in sports and household tasks, including table tennis, boxing, football and folding laundry, to demonstrate robot capabilities.
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The catch
The robot results are not athletics world records and do not alter Bolt’s official human mark.
Different testing and sporting rules apply.