Kinetix AI's SMASH high-dynamic humanoid table tennis system was exhibited at the Hang Seng Bank booth at HKFW 2026, where players from the Hang Seng Academy played matches against it. The original article did not disclose metrics such as the system's degrees of freedom, battery life, or match success rate.
Ubot's "Xingzhe Taishan" humanoid robot completed the official course as the only fully autonomous entrant in the first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition, taking second place. The entire climb was free of remote-control intervention, with the "brain" recognizing terrain and planning routes in real time and the "cerebellum" dynamically adjusting gait to handle uneven steps and slippery surfaces. Ubot says its commercial quadruped robot for inspection scenarios has carried out regular autonomous inspection in limited scenarios across multiple pilot projects in power and mining.
The project "Key Technologies and Systems for Highly Stable Mobile Manipulator Robots for Semiconductor Manufacturing," led by Youibot, won the first prize of the Technology Invention Award at the 2025 Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Awards. The project claims breakthroughs in three areas: material vibration control, wide-range navigation and positioning with end-effector grasping precision, and integrated "hand-eye-foot" safety control. The OW series and ATS series mobile manipulator robots have entered more than ten wafer fabs in China and abroad, integrating into 8-inch and 12-inch wafer and 28nm chip production processes and operating 24/7.
The first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition concluded on the course from Hongmen to Zhongtianmen in Tai'an, Shandong. The Unitree A2 robot dog won the legged robot sprint with a time of 43 minutes 41 seconds (actual 41 minutes 41 seconds plus a 2-minute penalty), using fully autonomous mode throughout to perceive and make decisions in real time on irregular stone steps.
Yobotics' "Xingzhe Taishan" humanoid robot fully autonomously traversed more than 3,100 stone steps on Mount Tai at the first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition, relying on its own perception and decision-making systems. The robot is equipped with multimodal perception, autonomously identifies step edges and obstacles, builds a map of the mountain path and plans its route, and then dynamically adjusts stride length, step height and landing posture through its self-developed joint modules and motion-control cerebellum. The team said the competition was a real-world validation of its full-stack self-development approach, and that it will next advance deployment in scenarios such as mountain inspection and emergency rescue.
On November 2, at the first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition, the Unitree G1 developer edition withdrew due to overheating and was carried down the mountain by staff on a stretcher. The author argues the problem is not just cooling components, but a zero-sum contest inside the chassis among compute, battery, and heat dissipation for limited space and power. The G1 has a 9000mAh battery and a runtime on the order of about two hours; during continuous ascent, joint motors sustain high-torque output, accelerating thermal degradation. The article also cites CAICT report data: in the first half of the year, global humanoid robot shipments exceeded 22,000 units, with more than 60% going to entertainment performances and science education/data collection, while intelligent manufacturing scenarios accounted for about 13%.
On October 26, the qualifier of the first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition started on the trail from Tai Shan's Red Gate to the Mid-Heaven Gate, with multiple domestic teams fielding legged and wheel-legged hybrid robots. The course runs about 3.8 km and includes more than 3,100 steps. Rain fell during the competition, and the slippery stone steps tested the robots' balance control, perception and decision-making, and endurance. The event also features a legged-robot load-carrying race and an all-terrain mobility pathfinding challenge. Zhishen Technology's "Tongchui M1" has a maximum payload of 30 kg and can clear obstacles 80 cm high; Dongtai Technology's robot finished the speed race in about 58 minutes with roughly 80% battery remaining.
The swarm control research group at the School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, presented platforms including the "BIT Zhixingzhe" humanoid robot and a quadruped robot dog on CCTV's program "Amazing, We Are 'Science' People." At the 2026 Beijing Yizhuang Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, "Zhixingzhe" completed the full 21-kilometer course, achieving zero falls and zero interruptions across more than ten types of complex terrain including urban roads, wetland parks, steep slopes, and near-90-degree sharp turns, and won second place for "Best Gait." The research group also independently developed Sigma, a simulation system for single-drone and swarm algorithms, which supports multi-scenario, multi-weather simulation training.
Robots from about 90 teams competed in the first World Mountain Robot Challenge on Mount Tai, on a 3.9-kilometer course with over 600 meters of elevation gain, requiring them to race or carry fragile items such as eggs and watermelons to the summit. A quadruped robot from Beijing Lingyi Technology (a Unitree subsidiary) won the quadruped speed category in 43 minutes 41 seconds, while a humanoid robot from the Beijing Zhishen Lingyue team completed a shorter course in 27 minutes 26 seconds. The event was hosted by China Media Group and included awards such as Fastest Robot and Best Load-Bearing Quadruped Robot.
Simplexity Robotics exhibited its i7 Pro and iX robots along with in-house arm and joint modules and other core hardware at the Sino-German Automotive Technology, Parts and Services zone of IZB 2026, held October 27-29 in Wolfsburg, Germany. The company presented embodied intelligence technology achievements centered on robot motion control, teleoperation and body development. Liu Minqiang, Director-General of the Investment Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Commerce, visited the booth for a tour and exchange.
Xuanji Dynamics' Hypertron series quadruped robots won the "High-Rise Fire Rescue Track" championship and first prize in the "Load-Bearing Climbing and Material Transport" category at the 2026 Guangzhou Safety Emergency Rescue Robot Competition. The Hypertron-SW01 is equipped with a self-developed high-torque joint motor module and a multimodal fusion perception system, features IP67 protection, and continued stable motion control, perception, and communication during a 3-minute continuous bake test at 120°C–130°C.
Taiying Technology Group has built an embodied AI robot mountain-climbing training ground at the foot of Mount Tai, replicating the 3.8-kilometer, more than 3,100-step terrain from Mount Tai's Hongmen Gate to Zhongtianmen, with 11 test tracks for humanoid robots and quadruped robot dogs preparing for the first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition. The training ground includes special tracks such as low-recognition steps, steep, slippery, narrow steps, and S-shaped sharp-turn steps, focusing on assessing environmental perception, dynamic balance, and gait-switching capabilities. It has been selected as one of Shandong Province's first batch of key-supported regional hub training grounds.
Yuequan Bionic's Bowen W-Bot 2.0 wheeled humanoid robot has been deployed in live-line distribution network operations and maintenance at State Grid in Hefei, independently completing the full live-line cable stripping process; the case was reported by People's Daily New Media's "Unimaginable Chinese Economy" program. The solution uses vehicle-mounted deployment on an insulated bucket truck, is equipped with the X-Hand M1 dexterous hand and 7-DOF humanoid arms, has a dual-arm payload of 20 kg and a whole-hand lifting payload of 50 kg, covers working heights of 0–2.2 meters, and has a chassis footprint of 0.238 m².
At the 6th Innovation Fair China-Europe Cross-Border Exchange Conference 2026, Zhujing exhibited its H1 humanoid robot "Xiao Zhu" and multi-scenario deployment solutions, with a live demonstration of writing the Chinese character "Fu," showcasing arm motion control and fine force-controlled manipulation. The company hopes to connect with European robot manufacturers, automation integrators, and research institutions to explore cooperation in industrial production, commercial services, and co-building high-quality datasets, and plans to work with ecosystem partners to build an overseas embodied intelligence ecosystem and drive the coordinated overseas expansion of its products and solutions.
At the 6th Innovation Fair China-Europe Cross-Border Exchange Conference 2026, Zhujing exhibited its H1 humanoid robot "Xiao Zhu" and multi-scenario deployment solutions, with a live demonstration of writing the Chinese character "Fu," showcasing arm motion control and fine force-controlled manipulation. The company hopes to connect with European robot manufacturers, automation integrators, and research institutions to explore cooperation in industrial production, commercial services, and co-building high-quality datasets, and plans to work with ecosystem partners to build an overseas embodied intelligence ecosystem and drive the coordinated overseas expansion of its products and solutions.
The State Administration for Market Regulation has approved and released China's first batch of 6 national standards for humanoid robots, numbered from GB/T 48316 to GB/T 48317.5, covering general provisions, environmental perception, decision planning, motion control, task operation, and simulation testing platforms. They take effect on April 1, 2027.
At the 2026 World IoT Expo (Wuxi), Galaxea is presenting three major embodied applications: a healthcare scenario deployment in partnership with Kunshu Xingqi, a robot front warehouse with on-site ordering and multi-robot collaborative autonomous picking and packing, and floor exercise champion Kengo taking on high-difficulty moves. The expo runs from October 30 to November 1 at Wuxi Taihu International Expo Center, Hall A3-03.
On October 26, the qualifying round of the first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition started on the trail from Red Gate to Zhongtian Gate in Mount Tai, with multiple domestic teams fielding legged and wheel-legged composite robots. The course is about 3.8 kilometers long with more than 3,100 steps. Rain during the race made the stone steps slippery, testing the robots' balance control, perception and decision-making, and battery life in a real mountain environment. One robot from Dongtai Technology completed the speed race in about 58 minutes with about 80% battery remaining. The event also includes a loaded-carrying race for legged robots, simulating mountain emergency supply delivery scenarios.
The 32-to-16 qualifying round of the first URKL Global Humanoid Robot Free Combat League has ended, with 16 teams advancing to the group stage and each receiving an EngineAI T800 robot. The qualifiers held six days of offline training at the Dasha River Cultural and Sports Center in Nanshan, Shenzhen. All teams used the T800 as their unified hardware platform, deploying code refined in simulation onto real robots for the first time, and were evaluated on basic combat moves such as getting up after a fall, navigating complex terrain, and punching and kicking. The event features a prize pool of tens of millions, and industry partner Dison Digital will provide the top 16 with motion capture experience benefits.
Anno Robotics' "Anno AI Robot Latte Art Coffee Printing Bar" won the Gold Prize at the 2026 Canton Fair Design Innovation Award (CF Award). A total of 2,112 companies and 4,218 products were entered, and only 222 won awards. The product uses a self-developed six-axis robotic arm and motion control system to complete the full process from grinding, extraction, and milk frothing to latte art and printing, producing a cup in 90 seconds with repeat positioning accuracy of ±0.03mm, and it connects to Alibaba's Qwen large model to support one-click AIGC image generation. The machine occupies less than 2㎡, supports 24-hour unattended operation, and has entered more than 100 cities in China and been sold to more than 80 countries and regions.
Taiying Technology Group has built an embodied AI robot mountain-climbing training ground at the foot of Mount Tai, replicating the 3.8 km, more than 3,100-step terrain of the Mount Tai section from Hongmen to Zhongtianmen, with 11 test tracks for humanoid robots and quadruped robot dogs to test and tune for the first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition. The training ground includes special tracks such as low-recognition steps, steep, slippery, narrow steps, and S-shaped sharp-turn steps, focusing on assessing environmental perception, dynamic balance, and gait-switching capabilities. It has been selected as one of Shandong Province's first batch of key-supported regional hub training grounds.
The first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition is about to begin. The course runs from Hongmen to Zhongtianmen and covers more than 3,100 natural stone steps, with steep slopes and sharp turns that become slippery under the influence of temperature, dew, and precipitation. It is designed to test the autonomous, stable mobility of humanoid and quadruped robots in unstructured mountain terrain. The event features humanoid and legged robot racing, loaded transport and exoskeleton assistance special events, and an all-terrain mobility pathfinding challenge for wheeled, tracked, and wheel-legged composite configurations.
AgiBot organized 110 Expedition A3 humanoid robots to complete a group dance challenge at the Jinan Yellow River International Convention and Exhibition Center, with a Guinness World Records adjudicator presenting the certification on site. The challenge relied on the self-developed LinkBots group control and scheduling system to uniformly manage motion trajectories, action timing, and formation changes, combined with UWB centimeter-level fusion positioning and 5G/WiFi dual-mode communication to achieve millisecond-level synchronization, and supports fault isolation and empty-slot avoidance. These robots will subsequently enter subway stations, scenic areas, and other settings to take part in information guidance, patrol assistance, and cultural tourism performances.
Honor's self-developed humanoid robot Lightning (HONOR Robotics D1) held multiple 20-meter sprint interactions on October 20 with marathon sub-2 runner Sabastian Sawe and trail-running champion Zhao Jiaju. Lightning stands 169 cm tall with an effective leg length of 1.05 m; its 100-meter sprint relies on pure visual recognition through hip cameras, and it previously won the Beijing Yizhuang humanoid robot half-marathon in 50 minutes 26 seconds. Honor's move is brand preheating for its consumer-grade humanoid robot focused on three scenarios: shopping malls, factories, and homes.
The "space-air-ground integrated desert planting robot" project from Fudan University's Qi Lizhe team won the innovation gold award in the university exhibition area at the 26th China International Industry Fair. The robot integrates autonomous perception, precise navigation, and integrated planting functions, combining BeiDou, inertial navigation, LiDAR, and stereo vision positioning, and has completed field operation verification in the desert of Dalad Banner, Ordos, Inner Mongolia. The team has filed 7 core invention patents, and the single-vehicle platform will later integrate four planting mechanisms, with operating efficiency reaching more than 10 times that of traditional manual work.
Fa'ao Robotics announced at the 2026 China International Industry Fair that it has completed its C+ and D funding rounds, with a cumulative scale of nearly 1 billion yuan. Investors include Meituan Dragon Ball, Yongxin Capital, Shishan Phase II, and Suzhou Venture Capital, among others. The funds will be invested in expanding production capacity for core components and in scaling up R&D for industrial embodied intelligence.
Smart China reported on October 18 that Dongyi Technology arranged human-versus-robot badminton and table tennis matches, boxing demonstrations, and bilingual Chinese-English guided tours at the 140th Canton Fair, and showcased heavy-load transport, special inspection, and dexterous manipulation solutions at its booth, with services planned to continue until November 4.
From October 12 to 16, 2026, Rokae Robotics showcased its full lineup of industrial robots, flexible collaborative robots, and embodied intelligent robots at the CIIF held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The Zhuxing H-series wheeled humanoid robot has 23 degrees of freedom and integrates dual 7-axis AR humanoid force-controlled arms with the Xuanhe iNex control system; on-site demonstrations included intangible cultural heritage lacquer fan making and bin handling, the latter already deployed at a Schaeffler factory. In September 2026, Rokae's 10,000th humanoid force-controlled arm rolled off the line and was delivered, and the company has established cooperation with more than 80 industry partners.
A DeepMotion badminton robot rallied 1,452 consecutive shots with a human player, earning Guinness World Record certification. According to public reports, the robot can recognize an incoming shuttlecock in about 0.5 milliseconds, swing at 30 meters per second, and smash at over 250 kilometers per hour; its ICRA 2025 paper reports a 94.5% return success rate against a shuttle-launching machine and a 90.7% success rate in consecutive rallies with real people. The system is built on a reusable general-purpose physical motion platform, consisting of a multi-degree-of-freedom racket arm, a mobile chassis, and a self-developed robot brain.
Rokae Robotics made its first appearance at the 2026 China International Industry Fair, presenting the results achieved after the delivery of 10,000 humanoid force-controlled arms. The Zhuxing H series wheeled humanoid robot, equipped with the ROKAE-Brain multimodal model and the Xuanhe iNex control system, has already been deployed in real manufacturing scenarios such as the Schaeffler factory for tasks including bin picking; ROKAE-Brain achieves a task success rate of 95%-99% in vertical tasks such as precision assembly. The Taibai AR series force-controlled arm has seven degrees of freedom, a force-control bandwidth exceeding 30Hz, and a force-control resolution of <0.05N.
STIER has recently won a bid for an intelligent grinding project for core engine components at a globally renowned automotive parts manufacturer. The company will build an AI-enabled flexible intelligent production line for rocker shaft machining that integrates robotic intelligent loading and unloading, automated ground-rail transport, and robotic precision grinding. The solution relies on the SeeV vision system, the NextBrain™ AI brain, and the PolishX flexible force control system to achieve dynamic perception, adaptive control, and closed-loop quality control, supporting automation upgrades and flexible production in the manufacturing of core components.
STIAL Robotics recently won an AI flexible grinding project from a leading company in China's rail transit sound barrier industry. The grinding targets sound barrier columns up to 9 meters long. In the solution, the SeeV vision system uses 3D line laser scanning to extract weld seams, and NextBrain™ AI automatically matches grinding trajectories and force control parameters. The end effector is equipped with the PolishX flexible force control system, achieving contact force control accuracy of ±0.5% FS, capable of removing 2mm weld spatter residue and adapting to changeover between multiple column specifications.
ROKAE's 10,000th humanoid force-controlled arm officially rolled off the line and was delivered on September 29 at its smart manufacturing future factory. The company says it has partnered with more than 80 leading industry partners, and that its force-controlled arms continue to enter real application scenarios. Its humanoid force-controlled product line includes the Xuanji HSA series force-controlled joints with built-in high-precision torque sensors; the Taibai AR series humanoid force-controlled arms, which cover a payload range of 3-20 kg and adopt a humanoid seven-degree-of-freedom and cross-wrist configuration; and the Xuanhe iNex control system, which integrates force control with WBC whole-body motion control.
Why it matters: The piece explains in fairly specific terms the path of transferring a decade of industrial force-control expertise to humanoid actuation units, as well as the product line composition that supports the 10,000-unit delivery.
High-jump star Zhang Guowei visited the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, where he interacted with Tiangong Omni, Tiangong Ultra, and Tiangong 3.0 in running, high-jumping, and tug-of-war experiences; Beijing Humanoid gifted Tiangong Ultra to Zhang Guowei. Tiangong Omni can run at speeds exceeding 10 m/s, while Tiangong Ultra has broken world records 34 times and set a 3.4-meter high-jump record, supported by the Huisi Kaiwu embodied intelligence platform. Its data base covers nearly 6,000 square meters, is equipped with more than 150 robots, has an annual data capacity of up to 180,000 hours, and has delivered nearly 30,000 hours of real-machine data.
Zhijian Dynamics will present its full-scenario embodied intelligent robot i7 Pro and full-scenario service robot iX at IROS 2026 (Booth 228). The i7 Pro will demonstrate carton sealing and packing operations on site, while the iX will showcase teleoperation and WBC whole-body control capabilities. During the conference, there will also be a poster presentation on sub-millimeter-precision CNC lathe operation research and a Tech Talk titled "From Lab to Factory: Analyzing the Challenges of Real CNC Operations for Existing Robot Learning Pipelines."
The embodied tennis robot TENNIIX ULTRA MAX, jointly developed by LimX Dynamics and Inxee Power, debuted at the Billie Jean King Cup Shenzhen Finals, where it rallied live with tennis star Wang Qiang, completing serves, returns, and shot variations including topspin and moonballs. The robot uses the TENNIIX PRO AI tennis training system plus the TRON 2 wheeled-legged chassis, and can move at high speed and stop abruptly while carrying a load of 8 to 15 kg, varying its ball-launch height from 1.2 to 1.6 meters through squatting and rising. Both parties say this moves China's embodied intelligence from technology demonstrations toward mass sports consumer scenarios.
Flexiv announced it is exhibiting at IROS 2026, demonstrating four force-control technologies at Booth 922, with CTO Xiyang Yeh delivering a talk titled "Mastering Contact in Real-World Applications."
Four XMAN-L1 humanoid robots from KEENON Robotics joined dancers on September 10 to complete the Cyber Stage opening performance at the CCTV Finance event during the 2026 Bund Conference in Shanghai, demonstrating motion control and multi-robot synchronization capabilities. The performance combined the Shanghai Conservatory of Music's "Yin Chao" AI music generation model with BIRENTECH's Bili™ 166L computing platform. In a dialogue, CEO Li Tong said embodied intelligence needs patient capital and emphasized safety compliance and commercialization.
Under the guidance of teachers Zhang Wenqiang and Zhao Qing, a Fudan University student team of Wang Jianan, Li Jinghui, and Jiang Kaixun won a team first prize in the business plan special track at the national finals of the 21st China Graduate Electronics Design Contest (held in Wuzhen, Tongxiang, Zhejiang) for their project "Fangwei Dudian: the world's first industrial-grade embodied intelligent advanced power operation and maintenance equipment."
At the second World Humanoid Robot Games, EngineAI's mass-produced small humanoid robot Mini Pi plus competed in nearly ten events, including the 100-meter race, 100-meter obstacle course, high jump, long jump, cheerleading, tai chi, martial arts forms, and street dance, using the same model with no special modifications.