Humanoid robots hop to new heights in standing high jump competition

The ongoing 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games held a standing high jump showdown on Saturday in a display of mechanical muscle and algorithmic agility.

According to the event's organizer, robotic contenders were challenged to perform standing high jumps. Each robot had three chances within ten minutes. Only jumps with a stable touchdown were counted.

"Jumping is all about instantaneous force. It is a test of explosive power. It is also about the balance at landing. These are two important points," said Zhu Xinyu, a technician from team Magiclab.

The gold went to team Robotera, whose robot soared to 0.95 meters, outjumping its closest rival by eight centimeters. According to judges, however, some of the competitors proved even more capable than expected.

"We required vertical jumps from a stationary position, but some robots performed flips. We hold competition first, then technicians will review and determine score validity. Robots doing complicate maneuvers reflect advanced control and algorithmic precision," said Wang Hu, a standing jump judge of the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games.

The robots performance was collected for judgement by a 16 infrared cameras. The cameras, able to detect tiny reflective spheres attached to the robots, track every millimeter of ascent and descent.

This motion capture system does not just measure performance. It is also a training tool used off the field to fine-tune robotic movement.

"The motion capture system can collect data from robots. It also can collect data from elite human athletes, and that data helps us train robots," said Liu Haoyang, a judge of the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games.

Opened on Thursday in Beijing, the games have welcomed 280 teams from 16 countries, including the United States, Germany and Italy, competing from Friday to Sunday at the National Speed Skating Oval.

Competitors are taking part in 26 events, spanning athletic challenges such as running, long jump, free exercises and football, as well as skills-based tasks like moving materials, sorting drugs and cleaning across different scenarios.

Humanoid robots hop to new heights in standing high jump competition

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to China signals a policy shift towards building a more pragmatic relationship between the two countries, according to a Canadian researcher.

Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin an official visit to China through Saturday, which marks the first trip by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country in eight years.

Robert Hanlon, director and principal investigator of Canada and the Asia Pacific Policy Project (CAPPP) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that Carney's visit indicates Canada is recalibrating its strategic perception of China, which could cement the foundation for the country's economic diversification efforts and boost the development of bilateral cooperation.

"I think it's a clear message that he has moved Canada's strategy to a much more pragmatic, interest-based, -focused relationship with our trading partners, moving away from values-based narratives that we might have heard on previous governments. Canada has spoken about moving from what the Prime Minister's Office is calling "from reliance to resilience", and that means diversifying our economies and our trade everywhere in the world. And so China being our second largest trading partner, it makes perfect sense for our PM to head to Beijing," he said.

The scholar also noted the huge cooperation potential between the two sides in economic and trade fields, citing Canada's efforts to step up shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the planned construction of an oil pipeline in Alberta which aims to increase export access to Asian markets. "Canada and China both share tremendous economic opportunities together and so finding ways to enhance our exports. Canada specifically looking to build out its LNG and oil, kind of export market. We know Canada is a major producer of critical minerals and China is a buyer. And so there's a lot of synergy between that kind of those kind of markets," he said.

Canadian PM's visit to China paves way for more pragmatic trade ties: scholar