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 photo taken during a dance competition from the inaugural Games

[Photo via the Organizing Committee of the World Humanoid Robot Games]

Highlights

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

This year will introduce the highly anticipated dancesport competition. Each team will consist of two humanoid robots, competing in either waltz or samba. Modeled after human dancesport competitions, the event requires 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.

Highlighting visual appeal, dancesport also entails great technical difficulty. The two robots in each team must autonomously identify each other's positions and coordinate seamlessly without human intervention. Maintaining precise control over the distance between the two robots relies on advanced multi-robot visual perception and trajectory coordination algorithms.

The street dance competition requires humanoid robots to demonstrate multi-degree-of-freedom coordination of their wrists, ankles, waists and torsos. 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 changes in formations are 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, based on the rules, deduct points from the average score to generate 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:

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

(Source: Beijing Daily)