The 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games will be held at the National Speed Skating Oval (Ice Ribbon) from August 22 to 26. Among the highlights are the dance competitions, which will be further divided into three categories: street dance, cheerleading, and dancesport. The robots will showcase more impressive routines with significantly higher levels of complexity.

A scene from a dance competition at the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games

[Photo via the Organizing Committee]

Highlights

According to the official list of events, this year's Games will consist of two major divisions: Competition Events and Scenario-based Events. Dance competitions fall under the Competition Events.

This year, the highly anticipated dancesport will make its debut as a duet event, in which each team will consist of only two humanoid robots and compete in either waltz or samba. Modeled on the human dancesport system, the event requires the two robots to execute synchronized movements in close formation, maintain standard postures of their torsos, arms and legs, and perform smooth and coherent routines to fully demonstrate partner dance techniques.

Dancesport is both visually engaging and technically demanding. The two robots in each team must autonomously identify each other's positions and coordinate seamlessly without human intervention. The distance between them must be precisely controlled at all times. Behind this lies a demanding technical challenge involving multi-robot visual perception and trajectory coordination algorithms.

The street dance competition requires humanoid robots to demonstrate multi-degree-of-freedom coordination involving the wrists, ankles, waists and abdominal areas. The robots are expected to replicate the subtle hand, head and lower-body movements of human dancers. High-difficulty moves are also among the highlights.

The charm of cheerleading lies in teamwork. Multiple robots will carry out fully autonomous performances in synchronization without remote human control. The autonomous switching of formations is achieved through their coordination.

Scoring Rules

How are the robot dance performances scored? Nine judges will score the routines. The highest and lowest scores are removed before the average of the remaining scores is worked out. For this year's cheerleading, the chief judge will have the authority to deduct points from the average score to determine the final result.

Overall, robot dance competitions are scored using criteria based on human dance movements. All competitions require robots to operate fully autonomously with no remote human intervention. Scores are determined from three aspects: motion control, multi-robot coordination, and artistic choreography.

Reminder:

So far, registration is only open to media outlets. Please scan the QR code below to register.

Ticket information for the general public will be announced in due course. Stay tuned for updates!

(Source: Beijing Daily)