The 2^nd World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 were held at the National Speed Skating Oval (Ice Ribbon) in Beijing. Associate Professor He KONG, vice dean of the School of Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing and deputy director of the Institute of Robotics Research at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), led the ACT Lab team to win the global runner-up.

The World Humanoid Robot Games is the top competition in the fields of embodied intelligence and humanoid robotics. This year, the event attracted 666 elite teams from 16 countries, with a total of 2,056 humanoid robots competing. As a highly anticipated new addition, the cheerleading competition drew 35 top teams from around the world. In the contest, robots are required to complete a full pompom dance within two minutes, and judges give extremely strict scores based on artistic choreography, execution quality, and overall presentation.

In the finals stage, the “Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics Co., Ltd. (X-Humanoid)–SUSTech–Beijing Dance Academy School of Humanities– Xtellar Robotics Team,” made up of PhD students Xiao REN and Shuqi TU from the School of Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing and first-year AI Innovation class undergraduates Yuhui YANG from the College of Engineering, won the silver medal in the project thanks to their outstanding overall performance. The full-size humanoid robot “Tiangong 3.0” created by X-Humanoid is powered by the core algorithms from Associate Professor He KONG’s research group, enabling it to perform high-frequency, highly dynamic continuous movements with precise rhythm control and flawless execution throughout.

Cheerleading is far more than just “dancing,” it’s a hardcore test of whole-body movement control (WBC), rapid posture adjustment, and hardware limit response for full-sized humanoid robots. In this competition, Associate Professor He KONG led the research team and their partners to tackle four landmark high-difficulty moves: one-handed side flip, back handspring, leg tuck spin, and the Arabesque C-bar. This series of challenging moves was successfully executed on the “Tiangong 3.0,” fully showcasing the deep expertise of SUSTech students in humanoid robot control.