Autonomous humanoid robot teams compete in China's soccer tournament

In Beijing, the final leg of the Robo League robot football (soccer) tournament featured four teams of fully autonomous humanoid robots competing without any human intervention. The championship was won by THU Robotics from Tsinghua University, who defeated the Mountain Sea team from China Agricultural University 5:3. Each team had three humanoid robots playing in two 10-minute halves, relying on AI, sensors, and optical cameras to detect the ball and navigate the field with over 90% accuracy. Despite some limitations such as dynamic obstacle avoidance, the robots demonstrated the ability to walk, run, kick, and make split-second decisions autonomously, marking the first fully autonomous AI robot football match held in China. This tournament serves as a precursor to the upcoming 2025 World Humanoid Robot Sports Games, scheduled for August 15 to 17 in Beijing, which will showcase 11 humanoid sport events modeled on traditional human competitions, including track and field, gymnastics, soccer, and synchronized dancing.