Kathmandu, Aug. 24 -- Humanoid robots in helmets and boxing gloves traded punches and kicks, tumbling to the floor and scrambling back up - among the highlights of last year's Humanoid Robot Games. A five-a-side football match between robot teams from China's Tsinghua University and a German squad was another crowd favourite.

The second edition of the games, which opened Saturday, pushes the experiment further, with new events designed to test what humanoid robots can actually do in the real world. More than 30 categories have been added this year, including martial arts, street dance, tug-of-war and weightlifting. While some events last year were staged in mock or simulated environments, this year's robots are being tested in real setti...