BEIJING, China – August 2026 — JAKA's lightweight humanoid robot, JAKAπ, took part in the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, marking another milestone in the robot's rapid development since its public debut in June 2026.

For JAKA, the Games were more than a competition. They served as a rigorous real-world testbed for advancing humanoid motion, balance, human-robot interaction and environmental adaptability.

JAKAπ participated in multiple events, including the 100-meter sprint, Tai Chi, street dance and static high jump. More importantly, the competition gave JAKA engineers and university partners continuous opportunities to test, tune and iterate the robot under real-world physical conditions.

From the Competition Arena to Real‑World Environments

Humanoid robots are often evaluated through visible indicators such as speed, jumping ability and dynamic movement. While these metrics matter, JAKA believes the long‑term value of humanoids lies in their ability to operate reliably beyond controlled laboratory demonstrations.

JAKAπ is built as a lightweight humanoid platform targeting four core use cases: academic research and education, commercial services, entertainment and interaction, and elderly care and companionship. Its 1.22‑meter body and flexible kinematics make it well suited to scenarios where space constraints and deployment efficiency are important considerations.

The Games therefore served as a practical validation ground for technologies that can eventually enable these broader real‑world applications.

Prior to the competition, JAKAπ had already undergone real‑world outdoor field trials. At a professional football stadium in China, multiple JAKAπ units performed coordinated movements on an open‑air pitch under variable environmental conditions. That showcase validated multi‑robot coordination, motion control and system performance outside lab‑controlled conditions.

JAKA treats these public deployments not as one‑off demonstrations, but as part of a continuous engineering cycle: deploy, test, learn and improve.

Bringing Universities and Young Developers into the Development Process

University‑industry collaboration formed another key pillar of JAKA's overall participation at the Games.

JAKA took part with its own in‑house team, while partnering with Northeastern University (China), Ningbo University, Guangzhou University, Anhui Polytechnic University and Shanghai Zhongqiao University. In total, seven teams competed using JAKAπ platforms, entering events including sprinting, Tai Chi, street dance, commercial services and emergency rescue.

Many student participants were new to humanoid robotics, gaining hands‑on experience with robotic hardware, motion control and application development. JAKA's engineering team provided ongoing technical guidance, alongside iterative improvements to its SDK and developer toolchain to help lower development barriers.

This open‑development approach supports JAKA's broader vision: making embodied‑intelligence technology more accessible to students, researchers and innovators, while creating more opportunities for the next generation of robotics developers to work with physical robotic systems.

Built Around Flexible Motion and In-House Technology

JAKAπ features 27 active degrees of freedom, enabling a wide range of human-like movements. Its compact form is powered by self-developed APEX joint modules and proprietary motion-control technologies, balancing agility with physical stability.

The robot's development builds on JAKA's more than ten-year experience in collaborative robotics. JAKA develops its core joints and control technologies in-house, drawing on the experience of tens of thousands of collaborative robots deployed worldwide. This accumulated expertise provides a foundation for adapting motion-control technologies to new robotic platforms and applications.

This in-house development approach is particularly important for humanoid systems, where locomotion performance is closely connected to the surrounding environment. Motion strategies developed for a competition may require further adaptation for stages, public venues, research laboratories and future service deployments.

Engineering work surrounding the Games therefore covered not only individual movement skills, but also gait optimization, balance control, human-robot interaction and end-to-end hardware-software system refinement.

Building the Next Chapter of Embodied Intelligence

JAKA's participation in the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games underscores its approach to humanoid development: validate technology in real-world conditions, innovate through open collaboration, and deliver practical value.

Every deployment — from sports venues and technology expos to university laboratories and robot competitions — brings unique challenges in perception, motion control, human-robot interaction and system reliability.

The experience gained through these real-world deployments will continue to inform the development of JAKAπ and JAKA's embodied-intelligence technologies. Together with universities, developers and industry partners, JAKA aims to move humanoid robots beyond demonstrations toward viable real-world solutions.

The competition may end in the field. For humanoid robotics, real work continues beyond it.

About World Humanoid Robot Games
The World Humanoid Robot Games (WHRG) is a competition featuring humanoid robots. It was first held in Beijing in August 2025. Hosted at the National Speed Skating Oval, the event brought together humanoid robot platforms, research teams and technology developers across a range of competitive and application-oriented challenges.

About JAKA Robotics
JAKA Robotics is a global provider of collaborative and intelligent robotic solutions, committed to advancing embodied AI and next-generation intelligent robotics. With tens of thousands of robots deployed across nearly 100 countries and regions, JAKA continues to develop intelligent robotic technologies that enable smarter, more autonomous manufacturing worldwide.