{"id":298057,"date":"2026-09-23T17:03:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T17:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/watch-a-robot-dog-run-a-marathon-faster-than-the-average-human\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T17:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T17:03:20","slug":"watch-a-robot-dog-run-a-marathon-faster-than-the-average-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/watch-a-robot-dog-run-a-marathon-faster-than-the-average-human\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch a robot dog run a marathon faster than the average human"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-click-position=\"inline-link\">\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">Hot on the heels of humanoid robots <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/the-humanoid-robot-olympics-is-as-ridiculous-as-it-is-impressive\/\">besting Usain Bolt\u2019s record<\/a> in the 100-meter sprint is a marathon-running dog bot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">The quadrupedal machine, named RAIBO2, ran the full 26.2-mile <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/a-humanoid-robot-beat-the-human-half-marathon-record-at-a-beijing-race-but-what-did-it-actually-prove\/\">marathon course<\/a> in a single battery charge, finishing in four hours, 19 minutes and 52 seconds\u2014slightly ahead of the human average.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">The feat shows how far researchers have come in making these bots energy-efficient. \u201cWhat matters is energy consumed per unit of distance,\u201d explains the study\u2019s lead author Choongin Lee, a roboticist at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea. To make their robot able to complete a marathon without needing a recharge, Lee and his team identified all the areas where walking robots waste energy.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by<!-- --> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/getsciam\/\">subscribing<\/a>. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">About two thirds of a robot\u2019s energy budget is lost as heat in the motors and their drive electronics, the researchers found. The rest goes into friction in the gears, feet that slip and the jolt of each footfall.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image-Xxchw\" style=\"--w:1280;--h:720\" data-block=\"contentful\/image\"><iframe title=\"Sangju marathon: RAIBO2&#039;S run\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m580M1_VLgk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">Lee\u2019s team tackled each issue one by one: The researchers cut the weight of each leg, designed low-resistance motor boards and spent the freed-up mass budget on a bigger battery, combined with motors that produced the same torque for less current. RAIBO2\u2019s walking style was trained through simulation with reinforcement learning, in which the control algorithm was rewarded for setting the robot\u2019s feet down softly and for not allowing it to slip or overheat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">On top of that, RAIBO2 was designed to recuperate and recharge the battery on downhill stretches. The robot is described in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-026-11102-5\">study<\/a> that was published in <i>Nature <\/i>on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">The result of all this tinkering is that the robot needs less energy to carry a kilogram over a distance of one meter than the average human runner. RAIBO2 travels roughly three times farther per charge than other quadrupedal robots, with a projected range of around 40 miles.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image-Xxchw\" style=\"--w:1280;--h:720\" data-block=\"contentful\/image\"><iframe title=\"RAIBO2 outdoor experiments\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/81QQGvmqTXg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m impressed with their ability to combine efficiency with speed and mobility in a quadruped,\u201d says Sarah Bergbreiter, a mechanical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not involved in the study.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">Katie Byl, an engineer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who also was not involved in the work, points out that the humanoid robots that were recently seen racing in China needed several battery swaps from a support team jogging alongside. \u201cIt\u2019s akin to a \u2018mobile pit crew,\u2019\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">Still, Lee\u2019s robot required human help during the marathon. \u201cRAIBO2 is basically running blind,\u201d Byl explains. The robot carried a camera but no software to interpret the road. A human operator had to steer it remotely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-block=\"sciam\/paragraph\">Adding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/why-humanoid-robots-are-learning-everyday-tasks-faster-than-expected\/\">more autonomy <\/a>will cost power, Lee says. To minimize the loss of energy-efficiency an added electronic brain would cause, Lee\u2019s team is currently working on smaller onboard networks and sensors. \u201cThis way the robot can become more capable without a large increase in power consumption,\u201d Lee says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"\">\n<h2 class=\"subscriptionPleaHeading-DMY4w\">Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism<\/h2>\n<p class=\"subscriptionPleaText--StZo\">Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That\u2019s why I and the journalists here at <i>Scientific American<\/i> hope you\u2019ll join our community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"subscriptionPleaText--StZo\">When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you\u2019re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You\u2019re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our <i>Science Quickly<\/i> podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"subscriptionPleaText--StZo\">Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you\u2019ll consider joining us as a subscriber<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/watch-a-robot-dog-run-a-marathon-faster-than-the-average-human\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hot on the heels of humanoid robots besting Usain Bolt\u2019s record in the 100-meter sprint is a marathon-running dog bot. The quadrupedal machine, named RAIBO2,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":298058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}