Humanoid robots to run half-marathon alongside people in Beijing

Beijing announced on Tuesday that it will hold the world's first human and robot marathon on April 13, a groundbreaking event featuring people and humanoid robots running together.

According to the event organizer, the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, humanoid robots from dozens of companies will participate in a half-marathon during the event.

During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Li Quan, deputy head of the area, said that the competition will have a cutoff time for robots at around three and a half hours.

"During the race, robots are allowed to change batteries," he said. "Robot teams from a company can also participate in the form of a relay by swapping robots. The performance will be evaluated based on the finishing time and the number of robot changes during the race. Each time a robot is changed during the race, a penalty of 10 minutes will be incurred."