Overview
- Honor’s autonomous ‘Blitz’, which finished Sunday in 50 minutes 26 seconds, was named the winner after event rules added time to a faster remote‑controlled run.
- The remote‑controlled Blitz crossed first in 48:19, then received a penalty that adjusted its result to about 57 minutes under the race rulebook.
- The field jumped from roughly 20 teams last year to more than 100 entries, and organizers said about 40 percent of the robots navigated the route on their own.
- Robots and humans used parallel, fenced lanes, yet many machines still stumbled or hit barriers, with several falls, swaps of disabled units, and one Blitz slamming a side rail near the finish.
- Researchers described the 21 km run as a practical trial that exposes weak points like battery life, motor wear, heat control, on‑board perception, and real‑time fault handling, while observers pointed to service, eldercare, and rescue as likely early uses.