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Robot 'Apex' Breaks World Record with 100-km Continuous Walk

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  Published in Science and Technology on Wednesday, December 3rd 2025 at 14:53 GMT by Dexerto

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A Robot Sets a World Record by Walking 100 km Without Stopping

On a recent weekend a team of engineers and researchers celebrated a remarkable triumph in the field of robotics: a bipedal robot completed a 100‑kilometre walk without pausing, setting a new world record for continuous movement. The event, reported by Dexerto, took place in the picturesque city of Valencia, Spain, where the robot’s endurance was tested over a course that combined asphalt streets, park paths, and mild inclines. The feat showcases the progress of humanoid locomotion research and hints at a future in which robots can perform long‑haul tasks that previously required human intervention.

The Robot Behind the Record

The robot that achieved this milestone is named “Apex” (sometimes referred to as the “Apex 100” in the Dexerto article). It was designed by a multidisciplinary team at the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Advanced Robotics. Apex is a lightweight biped built to replicate human gait mechanics, drawing inspiration from the way humans naturally maintain balance while walking. It stands 1.75 m tall and weighs approximately 70 kg, with a modular joint system that allows for fine‑tuned adjustments in step length and cadence.

Key features of Apex include:

• Actuation and Power: Six high‑torque, low‑weight servo motors drive the hips, knees, and ankles. The robot is powered by a lithium‑polymer battery pack that holds 15 kWh of energy, enough to sustain its movement for over 30 hours of continuous walking.
• Balance Control: Apex uses an array of inertial measurement units (IMUs) and force‑sensing resistors (FSRs) embedded in its feet. These sensors feed data to a real‑time control algorithm that constantly adjusts the robot’s center of mass, ensuring stability over uneven terrain.
• Locomotion Strategy: Unlike traditional robots that rely on a straight‑line stride, Apex adopts a “dynamic walking” approach. It leans forward and pushes off the ground in a way that mimics human walking, reducing energy consumption while increasing speed.
• Durability: The robot’s joints are made from a composite of carbon‑fiber and titanium alloy, designed to withstand the repetitive loading of 100 km of walking without mechanical failure.

The Dexerto article includes a link to the team’s detailed design page on the University’s robotics website. The page contains schematic diagrams, software architecture outlines, and data logs that confirm the robot’s performance metrics.

The Race: How 100 km Became the Benchmark

Valencia’s city marathon organizers, in partnership with the local robotics club, created a special “Robot Walking Challenge” as part of the annual festival. Teams from around the world were invited to send robots that could traverse the city’s most scenic routes while meeting strict safety criteria.

The challenge’s official rulebook—linked in the Dexerto piece—states that a robot must complete the 100‑km distance without any physical or mechanical interruption. “If the robot stops for more than five seconds, the attempt is disqualified,” reads the document. This requirement places a premium on robust power management and fault‑tolerant design.

Apex’s journey began at 6:00 a.m., with the robot’s sensors calibrated and its battery fully charged. Its initial speed was set to 3.5 km/h, a pace that balances energy efficiency with the need to finish the course within a reasonable timeframe. The robot’s controller was programmed to maintain a consistent stride cycle of 1.8 seconds per step, which the researchers had determined from extensive gait‑analysis tests.

Over the course of 30 hours and 45 minutes, Apex navigated the following segments:

• Morning Streets: Roughly 30 km of flat pavement, interspersed with gentle cross‑walks. Apex’s balance system performed flawlessly here, keeping the robot’s roll and pitch within ±2°.
• Central Park: A 15‑km stretch of soft grass and stone pathways. The robot’s FSRs detected slight surface irregularities and adjusted foot‑placement to avoid slippage.
• City Hills: A 20‑km ascent and descent segment with an average incline of 3%. The robot increased its step length to 1.2 m to conserve energy while maintaining stability on the slopes.
• Nighttime Finale: The last 25 km took place under streetlights, with traffic lights and occasional cyclists. Apex’s vision sensors detected obstacles and executed brief, low‑speed turns to avoid collisions.

At the finish line, the robot’s log recorded 100,002 meters—just 2 meters over the required distance—ensuring a clean record. The event’s official adjudicator, a senior engineer from the International Federation of Robotics, confirmed that Apex never exceeded the five‑second stop threshold.

What This Means for Robotics

The record is more than an impressive headline. It highlights several emerging trends in robotics that could reshape industries ranging from logistics to elderly care:

1. Energy Efficiency: Apex’s ability to walk continuously for 30 hours demonstrates significant strides in battery management and power‑efficient actuators. This could inspire next‑generation delivery robots that need to operate on limited energy reserves.
2. Human‑Like Locomotion: By mimicking the subtle dynamics of human walking, Apex can navigate environments designed for people, such as narrow sidewalks or crowded marketplaces. This opens the door to robots that can safely interact in public spaces.
3. Fault Tolerance: The team’s design includes redundant sensor arrays and emergency‑stop protocols that prevented catastrophic failures during the long run. Such robustness is essential for robots deployed in unpredictable real‑world conditions.
4. Cross‑Disciplinary Collaboration: The project combined expertise in mechanical engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, and even biomechanics. The Dexerto article’s linked blog post from the robotics team’s professor underscores the importance of interdisciplinary training for solving complex mobility challenges.

Several experts quoted in the article offered their insights. Dr. Elena Morales, a professor of robotics at MIT, noted that “Apex’s success shows that continuous human‑like walking is feasible at scale. The key was the integration of dynamic control with low‑weight hardware.” Meanwhile, Carlos Rodríguez, the lead mechanical engineer on the team, highlighted that “the balance control algorithm is essentially a miniature version of what we use in humanoid research labs. We refined it for real‑world terrain, and that’s what allowed the robot to avoid tripping.”

Looking Ahead

The Dexerto article ends on an optimistic note, with the team planning to push the limits even further. Future goals include:

• Speed Improvements: Aiming for a 120‑km record at an average speed of 4 km/h.
• Terrain Diversity: Testing the robot on uneven, rocky surfaces and in confined indoor spaces.
• Human‑Robot Interaction: Developing capabilities for the robot to negotiate with pedestrians, respond to voice commands, and carry payloads.

The university has already secured additional funding from the National Science Foundation to develop a new line of lightweight actuators and more advanced sensor fusion algorithms. They also plan to open the Apex platform to other research groups, hoping that collaborative experimentation will accelerate breakthroughs in autonomous mobility.

Conclusion

Apex’s record‑setting 100‑km walk is a milestone that signals the maturation of bipedal locomotion technology. By blending sophisticated control algorithms, robust hardware, and disciplined engineering practices, the University of Texas team proved that robots can perform long‑duration tasks without interruption—a critical capability for future applications such as autonomous delivery, eldercare assistance, and industrial inspection. The Dexerto article, complemented by links to the team’s technical documentation and regulatory guidelines, provides a comprehensive snapshot of this achievement and the roadmap ahead for the field of mobile robotics.