BEIJING – While the Chinese men’s soccer team hasn’t sparked much excitement lately, humanoid robot teams have captured the attention of fans in Beijing more for their advanced AI technology than for any display of athletic skill.
On Saturday night, in China’s capital, four teams of humanoid robots competed in fully autonomous 3-on-3 soccer matches entirely powered by artificial intelligence. This event was acclaimed as a first in China and served as a preview for the forthcoming World Humanoid Robot Games, set to be held in Beijing.
The organizers highlighted a crucial aspect of the match: every participating robot functioned autonomously, guided by AI-driven strategies, with no human interference or oversight.
Equipped with advanced visual sensors, the robots were able to identify the ball and navigate the field with agility
They were also designed to stand up on their own after falling. However, during the match several still had to be carried off the field on stretchers by staff, adding to the realism of the experience.
China is stepping up efforts to develop AI-powered humanoid robots, using sports competitions like marathons, boxing, and football as a real-world proving ground.
Cheng Hao, founder and CEO of Booster Robotics, the company that supplied the robot players, said sports competitions offer the ideal testing ground for humanoid robots, helping to accelerate the development of both algorithms and integrated hardware-software systems.
He also emphasized safety as a core concern in the application of humanoid robots.
“In the future, we may arrange for robots to play football with humans. That means we must ensure the robots are completely safe,” Cheng said. “For example, a robot and a human could play a match where winning doesn’t matter, but real offensive and defensive interactions take place. That would help audiences build trust and understand that robots are safe.”
Booster Robotics provided the hardware for all four university teams, while each school’s research team developed and embedded their own algorithms for perception, decision-making, player formations, and passing strategies—including variables such as speed, force, and direction, according to Cheng.
In the final match, Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics defeated the China Agricultural University’s Mountain Sea team with a score of 5–3 to win the championship.
Mr. Wu, a supporter of Tsinghua, celebrated their victory while also praising the competition.
“They (THU) did really well,” he said. “But the Mountain Sea team (of Agricultural University) was also impressive. They brought a lot of surprises.”
China’s men have made only one World Cup appearance and have already been knocked out of next years’ competition in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
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