Medicine packaging introduced to 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games

The sorting and packaging of pharmaceuticals by robots were introduced as a competition event at the second World Humanoid Robot Games, highlighting the efforts of pushing robots from demonstration tools to practical productivity.

Jointly hosted by the Beijing municipal government and the China Media Group (CMG), the World Humanoid Robot Games mark the world's first multi-sport competition for humanoid robots. A total of 280 teams from 16 countries competed in the first edition of the event in 2025 with more than 500 robots.

The 2nd edition will open in Beijing on Aug 22, with qualifiers for some events already ongoing in the Chinese capital.

During the 20-minute competition, robots are required to complete three tasks in succession: packing medicine boxes, packaging medicines, and folding new medicine boxes. In addition to fulfilling the required numbers, the robots are also required to stack the medicine in a specified manner. Misaligned QR codes, damaged boxes, or exceeding the time limit would all affect the competition results.

Participating teams can choose to have the robot complete the tasks autonomously or remotely. However, if the task is completed remotely, the score will be multiplied by a factor of 0.5.

To encourage innovation among robotics teams, the participating teams are allowed to autonomously modify their robots within a certain scope.

"Some robots are specifically designed with a small suction cup for this task. It uses suction to lift, hold, and then put it back in," said Yin Tianan, a referee at the second World Humanoid Robot Games.

More than 40 teams have registered for the packaging competition, and 16 of them will advance to the finals. Participants said that the competition is not only a testing ground for technological advancements but also an accelerator for technology transfer, providing ideas and directions for future research and development.

"From my understanding, robots don't necessarily need to look very human-like. What matters more is functionality — they just need to be capable of handling tasks in large-scale scenarios," said Shen Guangrui, leader of a participating team.

Medicine packaging introduced to 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games

China's central authorities' lawful law-enforcement in the waters surrounding Taiwan is legitimate and just, said Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

She said Taiwan's DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) regime has distorted facts about it in an attempt to resist the central government to protect its selfish political interest, and such attempts are doomed to fail.

"Taiwan is a part of China. This is an indisputable and unchallengeable historical and legal fact. The relevant central authorities' lawful law-enforcement and rights-protection operations in the waters surrounding the island of Taiwan are legitimate and just actions to safeguard national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, protect the life and property safety of fishermen across the Strait, and maintain normal navigation and operational order in the relevant waters. The DPP regime distorts the facts and maliciously hypes the action in an attempt to resist the central government to protect and pursue their selfish political interest, but such attempts are doomed to fail," said Zhu.

Central authorities' law-enforcement in waters surrounding Taiwan just: spokeswoman