China News Service, Guangzhou, September 29 (Reporter Cheng Jingwei) Yang Jun, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, said in Guangzhou on the 29th that in order to promote the rapid development of science and technology and industries in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, the Guangdong Provincial People's Government decided to hold the International Humanoid Robot Basketball Challenge (RBA) in Guangzhou in mid-to-early April 2027.
The Information Office of the Guangdong Provincial People's Government held the first press conference of the International Humanoid Robot Basketball Challenge (RBA) on the same day. Yang Jun introduced at the meeting that Guangdong is taking promoting the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation as an important starting point, increasing the supply of high-quality science and technology in response to national and regional strategic needs, and supporting the "three new things" represented by robotics, artificial intelligence, and innovative drugs to accelerate the formation of emerging pillar industries.
Press conference scene. Photo by reporter Cheng Jingwei
Guangdong's plan to hold the International Humanoid Robot Basketball Challenge (RBA) is a concrete practice to build an industrial science and technology innovation center with global influence. Through "technology platform, industry singing", on the one hand, it will deepen the collaborative innovation of industry, academia and research, promote international technology exchanges and cooperation, and comprehensively promote the breakthrough of robots in core technologies such as high-dynamic motion control, environment perception, autonomous decision-making and team collaboration; on the other hand, it will expand application scenarios, accelerate the industrialization process of artificial intelligence-related technological achievements, and inject new impetus into the high-quality development of Guangdong's artificial intelligence and robotics industry.
Yang Jun said that in terms of competition setting, after fully considering the current development level of humanoid robot technology at home and abroad, and after extensive and in-depth research, the competition focused on breakthroughs in the core technology of humanoid robots, and set up two competition categories, competitive competition and exhibition competition, that are both technically challenging and entertaining. Among them, the competitive competition mainly focuses on basic basketball actions such as shooting the ball, passing and receiving, and shooting, and has five events: fixed-point free throw shooting, mobile three-point shooting, human-machine cooperative passing and receiving, in-situ dribbling endurance race, and dribbling and obstacle avoidance layups. The exhibition competition does not have fixed actions and fixed routes. Participants will arrange their own fancy basketball moves and formation changes to fully demonstrate the robot's comprehensive basketball skills such as dribbling, passing, shooting, turning the ball, throwing and catching, and dance rhythm.
In terms of requirements for participating robots, competitive robots must have a humanoid body structure, consisting of a head, torso, arms and feet, with all parts connected to the torso, and the feet as the only walking actuators; in terms of athletic ability, they must have the ability to walk upright on both feet, and be able to autonomously complete fall recovery actions. There are no restrictions on the lower body structure of the freestyle basketball exhibition robot. All participating robots must be equipped with handles and emergency stop buttons with emergency auxiliary operation functions as standard.
In terms of award setting, there are single championship, second, third and MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards in competitive matches, and first, second and third place awards in exhibition matches. In addition, there are special awards such as the Best Technical Innovation Award, Best Team Collaboration Award, and Best Popularity Award, as well as a certain number of participation awards in competitive matches and exhibition matches.
This competition is open to the world. Domestic and foreign enterprises, universities, scientific research institutes, innovation teams and other social organizations can register individually or jointly in teams. (over)
