Robot runs faster than human holding 100-meter sprint record

A Chinese humanoid robot set a new 100-meter sprint record of 8.64 seconds in Beijing on Wednesday, breaking two previous robot records and running faster than the current record-holding human. The robot broke a previous robotic record of 9.39 seconds set on Saturday, and a record of 8.86 seconds set on Tuesday. The robot immediately fell after hitting the finish line each time, with sparks flying from its waist before catching on fire at the conclusion of  at least one of the runs, according to witness reports.

Experts continued to express amazement at the humanoid robot industry’s progress, while others insisting that the human record wasn’t really broken since the robots were machines. A number of online users insisted Jamaican runner Usain Bolt still held the 100-meter world record with his 9.58-second sprint in 2009.

Dennis Hong, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Associated Press that the sprint race marked a significant milestone, namely the mastery of the mechanics required to make a bipedal robot run at such speeds.

The race was part of China’s second Olympic-style World Humanoid Robot Games, which featured over 1,300 competitions involving more than 2,000 robots in 51 events. The robots competed in classic Olympic events such as running and long jump, but also took part in scenario games involving household tasks, hotel services, and emergency responses. The event showcased a wide mix of successes and failures, including one robot that “died” attempting to lift weights, crashing face-first into the judges’ table before being carried out on a stretcher, according to reporting by Coin Bureau, a site that covers artificial intelligence.