The Tien Kung Ultra robot, developed by China's National and Local Co-built Embodied AI Robotics Innovation Center — initiated and largely invested by Nanshan-based company UBTECH Robotics — has made history by winning the 100-meter dash at the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games with a time of 21.50 seconds.

The World Humanoid Robot Games, held from Aug. 15-17 in Beijing, featured 280 teams from 16 countries competing in 26 events across 487 matches, showcasing cutting-edge advancements in humanoid robot intelligent decision-making and motion coordination.

The Tien Kung Ultra robot competes at the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games. File photo

What set the Tien Kung Ultra robot apart was its fully autonomous navigation system, making it the only competitor in the games to complete the race without any human remote control.

Standing approximately 1.8 meters tall and weighing 55 kilograms, the Tien Kung Ultra robot has demonstrated significant performance improvements this year, doubling its maximum speed from 6 km/h to 12 km/h. The robot’s intelligence has been further enhanced through the “Hui Si Kai Wu” general embodied intelligence platform.

In the 100m, 400m, and 1500m races, the Tien Kung Ultra robot utilized visual perception, environmental awareness, and multi-sensor fusion SLAM algorithms combined with an OCC surround perception module to achieve real-time environmental occupancy and semantic perception. The robot autonomously identified lane markings and maintained its position within the designated track despite interference from multiple robots running in the same direction and navigating sharp curves.

This precise environmental recognition, dynamic control, and autonomous execution capability lays the foundation for future robots to perform autonomous mobile operations in diverse terrains and scenarios.

Earlier in the competition, the Tien Kung Ultra robot had already impressed spectators by securing second place in the 1500m final with a time of 6 minutes and 55 seconds on the first day of the games.