A traffic police robot is seen directing traffic at the second humanoid robot half-marathon run held in Yizhuang, Beijing, on April 19, 2026. Photo: CMG

Along the race route of the Beijing E-Town half-marathon run, a Beijing traffic police robot made its first official appearance, directing participants on the course, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Sunday. The robot is set to be piloted for duty at the city’s road intersections, with functions to be gradually refined and expanded.

The robot was deployed at the second turn not far from the starting point, where it directed runners to turn left through hand signals and voice prompts, CMG said.

The Beijing traffic police robot unveiled at the event is capable of directing traffic with standard hand signals, promoting road safety and guiding traffic, according to the report. It will be further upgraded to support functions such as professional Q&A, traffic violation detection and road condition inspection, enhancing urban traffic management, the news report said.

As of press time, results for the robot half-marathon served by the traffic police robot had been announced, with three teams from Honor sweeping the top three positions. 

Their net times were 50 minutes and 26 seconds, 50 minutes and 56 seconds, and 53 minutes and 01 second, respectively, all surpassing the men’s half-marathon world record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon in March this year, according to CMG’s another report.

Notably, all robots fielded by the three teams were autonomously navigating robots.


Global Times