With the starting signal, a quadrupedal walking robot vigorously runs toward Taesan Mountain.
This is the 1st World Robot Climbing Competition held at Taesan Mountain, which appears in the famous poetic verse, "Though Taesan Mountain is high, it is merely a mountain beneath the sky."
The event consists of four categories: a humanoid robot speed race, a multi-legged walking robot speed race, multi-legged robot cargo transport, and terrain reconnaissance.
In the speed category, reporters gasp for breath and quickly fall behind, but the robot continues steadily up the 3,100 steps of varying heights and widths without missing a beat.
A robot from a Unitree subsidiary won this category, completing the course in 43 minutes and 41 seconds, a route that typically takes humans an hour and a half to two hours.
Robots participating in the cargo transport category also stably climbed the slopes while carrying over 10 kg of cargo, such as eggs, bottled water, and instant noodles.
[Liu Yuanchang / China Center for Information Industry Development: The core value of this competition is that it utilizes real-world environments as a natural testing ground for robots. Research teams collect vast amounts of training data from actual tests, providing smarter robot models that can be applied on a much larger scale.]
There has been much criticism that Chinese robots only offer flashy spectacles like kicking or group dances and are far from practical use in daily life, but this event aims to verify their commercialization potential.
The robots featured in this competition are also expected to be utilized in the future for wildfire prevention patrols, geological disaster monitoring, and transporting relief supplies or garbage in mountainous areas.
[Zhao Ameng / Taesan Scenic Area Employee: About 20,000 tons of waste are generated in this scenic area every year. Most of the collection is done manually, and due to complex weather and terrain, transportation costs are high and efficiency is low.]
Taking advantage of this competition, China plans to expand cooperation among robot companies, universities, and research institutes, and attract investment from related businesses.
Reported by Choi Go-un | Video by Lee Seung-yeol | Produced by SBS Digital News
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