Intl robot games eye industrial adoption

Beijing has unveiled the full lineup of events for the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games, with organizers increasingly positioning the competition as a bridge between technological testing and real-world industrial deployment, rather than a pure showcase of robotics capabilities.

The five-day games will be held from Aug 22 to 26 at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, featuring a total of 50 events, including 21 scenario-based competitions. More than 40 percent of this year's events are application-focused scenario contests, underscoring the games' role as a platform for promoting humanoid robot adoption, said Liu Weiliang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, at a press conference on Friday.

Liu said Beijing is exploring a new model that links competition performance with market opportunities, aiming to create an ecosystem where robot developers can both win medals and secure commercial orders.

To accelerate commercialization, organizers have invited potential users such as factories, hotels, universities and tourism operators to attend the event. Dedicated meeting spaces will be set up inside the venue to facilitate direct discussions between companies and clients, helping translate competition results into real deployment opportunities, he said.

Liu added that the ultimate goal is to enable robots to "receive orders through competition and take up jobs after the games".

Unlike traditional robotics contests that focus on isolated movements, the scenario-based events were designed after consultations with end users in sectors including retail, hospitality, education, manufacturing and emergency response. The competitions assess whether robots can complete full workflows in complex environments, requiring integrated perception, decision-making and manipulation abilities.

In the retail service event, for example, robots will be tested on tasks such as shelf restocking, merchandise sorting and order packing. "The new events mark a shift from testing individual movements to evaluating whether robots can understand tasks and complete full workflows," Liu said, adding that the competitions are designed to identify which robots can truly qualify as "model workers" in real-world tasks.

Beyond scenario-based tasks, this year's games will also expand into high-precision manipulation.

A dedicated dexterous-hand competition makes its debut, featuring what organizers described as "micro-level manipulation" contests across eight high-precision tasks, including power tool assembly, powder weighing and bottle opening, reflecting the broader focus on real-world application needs.

Robotera, a Beijing-based robotics startup, illustrates the growing market demand behind such capabilities.

Its founder, Chen Jianyu, said on Wednesday in a group interview that the company has built a fully integrated AI-native humanoid robotics system covering embodied intelligence, motion control, data systems, dexterous hands and hardware design.

According to the company, its robots have already been deployed at logistics centers operated by China Post and SF Express across multiple regions in the country. In some facilities, they have reached around 85 percent of human-level efficiency while operating continuously around the clock.

Organizers of the games released detailed rules for the new events on Friday, with registrations officially opening on the same day.