A Chinese robot has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for walking 100 kilometers in three days, the longest distance ever traveled by a humanoid machine on foot.
Standing 1.69 meters tall and standing on its own two legs, the AgiBot A2 left the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou on the evening of Nov. 10 and crossed highways and streets to arrive in Shanghai's historic Bund district on Nov. 13, the company that publishes the Guinness Book of World Records announced.
Shanghai-based AgiBot, which built the bipedal robot, said the machine "traversed a variety of surfaces ... while always respecting road traffic rules" during its non-stop 106,286-meter circuit, which was certified Thursday as the first feat of its kind.
Promotional videos show the black and silver A2 slowly but surely making its way along roads to reach Shanghai.
This A2 robot was devised for tasks such as customer service, while it is equipped with a 'conversation' function and can read lips.
Global technology companies are investing colossal sums in so-called natural artificial intelligence, which incorporates the laws of physics and can evolve into the human world.
According to the forecasts of the bank Morgan Stanley, by 2050 the world may have more than one billion humanoid robots.
The Chinese government is encouraging domestic enterprises to develop such robots, hoping to become the world leader in this industry.
In August, Beijing hosted the first world humanoid robot games, where more than 500 "athletes" competed in a variety of activities, such as basketball, dancing or even cleaning hotel rooms.
