2025 World Humanoid Robot Games Photo: VCG

The first eight teams competing in the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games have officially moved into the event's dedicated training base in the National Speed Skating Oval, the event's organizers and participating teams confirmed to the Global Times on Monday. 

As preparations for the Games accelerate, the initial teams settling in include teams from Tsinghua University and Beijing Information Science and Technology University, with the latter holding the base's first practice match with the team from China Agricultural University on Saturday.

While robot football competitions have traditionally been dominated by university and corporate R&D teams, this year's training notably includes two high school teams.

Song Shuang, team leader of Beijing National Day School's squad, told the Global Times that although their team has never competed in an open robot football event before, it has participated in underwater robotics and Lego robot football projects.

"High school AI education in China is developing, and as 'embodied intelligence' has become a buzzword, we hope our students take away the mindset of connecting with AI algorithm training for the future," Song explained. "In the past, building robots was about how many degrees a joint should turn. Now, the process from command to result has become a black box - it's an algorithmic training process."

The team has already completed both half-pitch and full-pitch testing of their robots at the base, and with the facility's technical support, they were able to resolve previous communication issues between their robots.

The base is purpose-built for training, and the power supply system and lighting are excellent, said Li Haiyuan, a representative from the team from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. 

"The base creates a simulated environment, and we are treating this opportunity not only as a competition but also a platform for us to communicate with other teams on tech."

The National Speed Skating Oval's humanoid robot training base consists of three main sections: the "Panda Eye" core area, an outdoor football training zone, and scenario-based test areas that connect training with real competitions. In the outdoor football area, newly launched, a temporary tent covering about 1,800 square meters has been set up on a seven-a-side football field. Inside, five football pitches are available for the teams, along with all necessary equipment and technical support.

According to a June 30 press conference, the Games will feature 18 main events across three categories: competitive matches, exhibition performances, and scenario-based challenges. Badminton, basketball, and table tennis will be held as side events.

In the latest update, organizers added three new events with two exhibition performances, including Wushu. For side events, humanoid robot freestyle sparring and group dancing were added.

So far, 30 elite robotics teams from countries including the US, Brazil, and Germany have completed pre-registration. Four international teams - from the Netherlands, Germany, the UAE, and Portugal - have secured spots as part of the first batch and are expected to arrive in Beijing this month for on-site training.

"I actually saw the Dutch and Portuguese teams arrive at the training base last Saturday," Qin Yufei, team leader of the Beijing Information Science and Technology University squad, told the Global Times. 

"We've been competitors for more than a decade - we know each other very well."

Qin explained that despite their long experience, the teams still face common challenges: transferring the precision achieved in wheeled robots and other robot forms to humanoid robots remains a major technical hurdle.

"Our long passes are a real advantage," Qin said. "But our ball possession needs work because neural networks are not deterministic - there's always some margin of error, so the final results have an element of probability. Still, our goal is to win first place."

The Games will be held from August 14 to 17 in Beijing. They are the world's first comprehensive sports event with humanoid robots as the main participants.