JAPAN RUNS 54-HOURS ROBOT MARATHON

Five robots walking along the red and blue lines of a track on an immaculate floor, but no one waving at them: it couldn’t be a kids playground. In fact, it was the first Robot marathon, held last Thursday in west Japan.

Five miniature robots, each less than 50cm tall, have been “running” for more than 50 hours –the winner clocked 54 hours, 57 minutes, 50.26 seconds – to complete a 26 miles marathon. Instead of a city route, the electrical athletes have competed on a 100-metre track in the Osaka’s Asia-Pacific trade centre. It took them 422 laps to finish the race: irrelevant details, as they are battery charged and can’t feel tired, neither bored.

Picture: Serkan Toto, Technews.am

Organized by the Japanese robot maker Vstone to prove the machine’s durability and manoeuvrability, the “Robo Mara Full” was transmitted on streaming from a camera installed in the head of a racer. Nice idea, but the advertising breaks were the most exciting parts of all the eleven shots uploaded by the company.

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