Lightning, one of more than 100 robots running the Beijing E-Town, avoided a serious mishap and crossed the finish line in a record 50 minutes, 26 seconds.

A humanoid robot standing approximately 127 cm (about 4 ft 2 in) tall and built in China can now rally a tennis ball back and forth with a human partner, returning forehand shots at a 90.90% success rate during controlled real-world tests.

Robot umpires are coming to the big leagues this year. The Automated Ball/Strike System will be introduced in the form of a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each call, which can be appealed to the computer.