Guangdong invites global humanoid robots to basketball competition

The government of Guangdong province is inviting domestic and international humanoid robots to compete in a basketball game to be held in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, in April next year.

Developers from around the globe are welcome to bring their humanoid robots to the competition, said Yang Jun, deputy director of the provincial department of science and technology, at a news conference on Tuesday.

The International Humanoid Robot Basketball Association, or RBA, will include competitive and performance matches. The competitive side will be based on fundamental basketball skills, such as dribbling, passing, and shooting. Events in this category include free throw shooting, moving three-point shooting, human-machine coordinated passing, stationary dribbling endurance, and a dribbling obstacle course with a layup.

Given the technological challenge for such a competition and the rapid development in the field, some rules and tech requirements for the game will be upgraded, taking into account the inputs from signed-up teams. The full handbook for the game will be issued at a later news conference for the event.

The RBA is intended to deepen synergy among industrial, academic, and research sectors. It is also meant to promote international exchange and cooperation in technology to facilitate breakthroughs in robotic technology and expand the application scenarios for robotic and artificial intelligence technologies, according to Yang.