Xingzhe Taishan humanoid robots, developed by Jinan-based Yobotics, won the lightweight tug-of-war title at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Aug 25, giving Shandong province its first gold medal at the event.

The event featured 51 sports including 1,301 events, drawing 666 teams with 2,056 robots from 16 countries.

Tug-of-war made its debut as an official event at this year's games, putting the robots' joint torque, structural strength, traction, and motion-control capabilities to the test. In the two-on-two event, the team that first pulls the rope's center marker across its own boundary within two minutes wins, while the robots must remain within the designated area and independently adjust their posture, balance, and force output.

Each Xingzhe Taishan robot stands 1.38 meters tall and weighs 39 kilograms, qualifying it for the under-40-kilogram category. The development team began intensive training in late June, collecting data on human tug-of-war movements to train the robots' autonomous control. The team eventually developed a side-on, lunging stance to help the robots maintain balance while generating force.

The victory builds on the robots' performance at last year's games, when one completed a 1,500-meter race after breaking an arm.

Over the past year, Yobotics has further improved the robots' motion-control, sensing, and visual systems, enabling them to move beyond simply completing tasks to making autonomous decisions and real-time adjustments.

Xingzhe Taishan humanoid robots, developed by Jinan-based Yobotics, win the lightweight tug-of-war gold at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Aug 25. [Photo/WeChat account: shandongzhengshi]