The Second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing are putting humanoid robots through a series of demanding tasks designed to test their readiness for real-world industrial applications.

This year’s event features a dedicated dexterous-hand competition with eight high-precision tasks, including bean picking, powder weighing and block building. Robots are also challenged to hammer nails, unpack boxes, connect flexible cables and remove bottle caps, testing their precision, dexterity and force control.

The games also highlight the gap between short competitions and long-term industrial use. While robots can achieve highly precise performance in controlled settings, real-world applications require them to operate reliably and efficiently for hundreds to thousands of hours.

Running through Wednesday, the event has attracted 666 teams and 2,056 robots from 16 countries and regions across six continents. It features 51 events spanning competitive sports and scenario-based challenges in factories, hotels, homes, hospitals and other real-world settings.