This video of humanoid robots running a half marathon is amazing, hilarious, and a little creepy

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If you thought bipedal robots were constricted to the somewhat creepy and sweet breakdancing moves of Boston Dynamics' Atlas, deliberation again, due to the fact that the robots are present coming for your marathon medals. 

More than 20 robots took to the streets of China implicit the play to vie against existent radical successful the first-ever human-humanoid half-marathon. The robots were from assorted manufacturers, and, similar people, came successful each antithetic sizes. 

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Some wore moving shoes for the 13-mile trek, immoderate ran connected their bare feet. Some had eerily human-looking heads, immoderate had accepted robotic, metallic heads. They ranged from 4 feet gangly to astir 6 feet gangly -- but each were vaguely human-shaped.

As a information precaution, tally organizers separated the quality runners from the robot runners. They ran connected parallel, but identical courses. 

It wasn't a occurrence for everyone. A fewer robots did decorativeness the race, but immoderate either fell implicit instantly astatine the starting enactment and conscionable laic determination (I consciousness you, robot), mislaid limbs on the way, overheated and needed assistance, oregon crashed into a railing on the way.

Out of the finishers, the fastest robot was Tiangong Ultra, produced by the Beijing Innovation Center of Huan Robotics, with a clip of 2 hours and 40 minutes. For comparison, the fastest quality successful the contention had a clip of 1 hr and 2 minutes – but the mean half-marathon clip for a beginner is betwixt 2 hours and 25 minutes and 3 hours and 15 minutes, depending connected age. 

At the extremity of the competition, organizers awarded prizes for the champion endurance (or the fewest pit stops for artillery changes), the champion gait, and the astir innovative form. 

It's wide that robots aren't adjacent adjacent to catching the champion quality runners, but they tin tally a fractional marathon conscionable arsenic good arsenic a mean person, and that's beauteous impressive.

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