2025 World Humanoid Robot Games
First Global Edition · Only Team from Shanghai:
SJTU Digital ShanHai Team Shines at the Humanoid Robot Games
Date: August 14–17, 2025
Venue: National Speed Skating Oval, Beijing
From August 14 to 17, 2025,
the "2025 World Humanoid Robot Games"—
the world’s first comprehensive sports event for humanoid robots—
was grandly held at the National Speed Skating Oval ("Ice Ribbon") in Beijing.
As the only university team from Shanghai that passed the qualification review by the organizing committee,
the Digital ShanHai Team of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU)
won first place in its group in the 100m track and field race.
This event gathered 280 teams
from 16 countries across five continents
to compete fiercely in 26 events,
and was hailed by international media as the
"Olympics for Robots."
During the event, Zhang Muye, 、
a 2022 undergraduate student from the SJTU Paris Elite Institute of Technology (SPEIT),
served as the captain of the Digital ShanHai Team.
The team consisted of 6 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students from SPEIT, the School of Mechanical Engineering, and the School of Computer Science.
Zhang Muye (1st from the right) with teammates and the participating robot "Tiangong Wujie"
The Digital ShanHai Club of SJTU
was founded by Zhang Muye as its founding president in the autumn of 2023.
The club was selected into the first batch of pilot support programs
for college student science and technology clubs
by the China Association for Science and Technology.
Zhang Muye’s Interview with the Media
In an interview with the organizing committee and reporters from the Beijing News, Zhang Muye stated: "In this event, our team participated in intense competitions such as the 1500m and 400m races. Before the competition, we conducted in-depth algorithm-level optimization for the participating robots." He further elaborated that each time the robot’s positioning was initialized, the team would readjust parameters and postures based on mechanical installation errors, motor wear, and other factors to adapt to the running scenario. The in-depth optimization of the robot also included iterating the reinforcement learning model and fine-tuning the parameter table.
The World’s First Comprehensive Sports Event for Humanoid Robots
As an international event characterized by "the world’s first, track-leading, and top-tier IP," this year’s games featured high standards, a large scale, and wide participation. It brought together top global forces in humanoid robot R&D and application, building an international platform for the display of scientific and technological achievements and dialogue on the future industry.
The competition attracted top universities such as Tsinghua University and Peking University, as well as leading humanoid robot whole-machine enterprises including Unitree Robotics, Agility Robotics, Fourier Intelligence, and Xinghaitu. International teams came from 15 countries including the United States, Germany, Australia, Brazil, and Japan, covering 127 brands and over 500 humanoid robots, resulting in unprecedentedly fierce competition. The opening ceremony, themed "Intelligent Competition for the Future," was broadcast live in its entirety on CCTV Sports Channel. China Media Group (CMG) released nearly 200 reports on the event, with a total online readership exceeding 150 million.
Competition Preparation
As the only university team from Shanghai, the SJTU Digital ShanHai Team, after receiving the invitation from the organizing committee in July 2025, completed the selection of 6 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral student participants, and confirmed the participating events and robots—demonstrating efficient execution and professional competence.
The team fully relied on the support of platforms including the SJTU Student Innovation Center, Leng Chuntao Robot Innovation Studio, and Embodied Intelligence Science and Technology Innovation Space. Under the careful guidance of teachers Leng Chuntao and Zhu Xiaoxiao, they advanced the preparation work in an orderly manner: purchasing materials required for the competition, replicating the competition venue environment at the Student Innovation Center, and conducting high-intensity, high-efficiency training to make thorough preparations for the competition with a fully committed attitude.
On August 8, 5 team members arrived in Beijing one after another, bringing 12 robots and related supporting equipment. After arrival, they raced against time to conduct on-site preparation work in the competition venue, making comprehensive preparations for the upcoming official competition.
Official Competition
On August 14, the opening ceremony of the competition was grandly held at the National Speed Skating Oval ("Ice Ribbon") in Beijing. As one of the 12 universities participating in the opening ceremony parade, the SJTU team took part in the student phalanx with representatives of the participating robots. Team members made a brilliant appearance with a high-spirited demeanor, demonstrating the outstanding style of SJTU students and winning extensive reports and high praise from dozens of national mainstream media outlets.
The SJTU team participated in a total of 3 competitive events and 1 scenario-based event. In the highly watched "Hotel Scenario Welcome Service" event, the team made a stunning appearance with a self-developed and assembled mobile dual-arm lifting embodied platform, competing alongside top scientific research institutions (such as Beijing General Artificial Intelligence Research Institute) and leading industry enterprises (such as Unitree Robotics). With solid professional knowledge and outstanding competitive ability, the team won a place among the world’s top 8, bringing international honors to Shanghai Jiao Tong University!
Team members sincerely expressed their deep gratitude to the university for its all-round support and to the organizing committee for building a world-class event platform. In an interview, they said: "As the competition date approached, all team members devoted themselves fully to the preparation work, often working through the night to catch up on progress. Despite the heavy tasks and tight schedules, everyone maintained high enthusiasm, immersed in the joy of striving for their dreams. We sincerely hope that such events will continue to develop and improve, providing a stage for more young people with scientific and technological dreams to showcase themselves!"
The Digital ShanHai Club undertakes the important responsibility of promoting the popularization of science and technology education in border areas. In early September, the club will organize a professional team to depart from Shanghai and head to Kashgar, Xinjiang. This voluntary teaching activity, targeting local middle school students and teachers, aims to broaden their scientific and technological horizons and stimulate their interest and enthusiasm for technological innovation through popular science teaching themed on embodied intelligence. Team members plan to bring the cutting-edge technical knowledge and practical experience accumulated in this world-class event from Shanghai to the border areas of the motherland, injecting new vitality into local science and technology education and helping to improve the level of science and technology education in middle schools in border areas.
On the international stage of the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games, the SJTU Digital ShanHai Team demonstrated unyielding fighting spirit and solid technical strength. With their outstanding performance, they fully highlighted the youthful style and professional quality of SJTU students, winning international reputation for the university. Looking forward to the future, we hope that the Digital ShanHai Team will continue to maintain high morale, constantly surpass themselves, and contribute more "SJTU strength" to the cause of technological innovation.
We look forward to more SPEITERS
making headlines
in global science and technology competitions
and showcasing their outstanding talents.