Robots race up thousands of stone steps on China's Mount Tai in a new climbing contest

Nearly 90 teams of robots climbed the ancient stone stairways of Mount Tai, one of China's most famous mountains, on Monday in what organizers called the world's first robot competition on a real mountain, China's state news agency Xinhua reported.

The contest in Tai'an, in eastern China's Shandong province, had four main events:  a race for humanoid robots, a race for legged robots such as four-legged robot dogs, a race for legged robots carrying loads, and a test of exoskeletons, wearable robotic frames that help people walk and lift.

The results

The humanoid race covered about 1.6 kilometers, or 1 mile, with more than 600 steps.  A team from Zhishen Technology won in 27 minutes, 26 seconds.  It also finished a longer challenge stretch in 55 minutes, 34 seconds.

The legged-robot race ran about 3.9 kilometers, or 2.4 miles, with more than 3,100 steps.  Beijing Lingyi Technology's team won in 43 minutes, 41 seconds.  The load-carrying race, modeled on the porters who haul supplies up Mount Tai, was won in 1 hour, 51 minutes, 29 seconds.

Why stairs are hard

Stairs are among the toughest tests for walking robots.  Old mountain steps vary in height and width, so a robot must keep adjusting its balance with every step rather than repeating one motion, as it might on a flat factory floor.

The Mount Tai course showed us the direction for improving mountain climbing and load carrying

China has staged a string of robot contests, including humanoid half-marathons and robot games, as it pushes to lead in humanoid robots.  U.S. companies such as Tesla, Figure AI of San Jose and Agility Robotics are racing to build similar machines.

Source:  Xinhua.