Photo-illustration: IEEE Spectrum; Roomba image: iRobot In this guest post, Joe Jones, the inventor of the Roomba, argues that home robots will follow computers into the shadows.

How many computers do you own?

If you picked a number close to three (say, laptop, tablet, and smartphone) youre way off. The answer is probably dozens. There are computers in your car, in your appliances, in your thermostat, and maybe even in your light bulbs. Every year the number goes up.

Today, visible computers are just the slimmest tip of the iceberg. Most computers are hidden away, quietly performing their jobs without you even being aware of the work they do for you. Thats as it should be. You have no interest in the computers themselves, you just want certain tasks done.

Cute, social robots currently get a lot of press, but are these engaging devices early emissaries of our robotic future? Are we entering an era where no one would dream of living without a cheerful electromechanical companion? In my view, companion robots offer novelty over utility, but once the novelty wears off, its only utility that people will pay for.

Rather than being front and center, home robots, I believe, will follow computers into the shadows. Why? Because people dont want robots. (I say this despite 30-plus years as a practicing roboticist.) Consumers want a spotless floor; not a machine buzzing around underfoot. Every morning, you want to find your dresser filled with clean clothes; you have no need to socialize with a laundry-bot no matter how exuberant it may be. People want the things a robot can do for them; the robot itself may just get in the way.

Acknowledging that consumers dont love robots the way we do might help roboticists build better products. The robot, I think, should not be an end in itself but instead should be the simplest, most cost effective way to deliver what our customers truly want. Furthermore, if a proposed robot is not the simplest, most cost effective solution to a problem consumers want solved, then we shouldnt build that robot.

In the fairytale of the shoemaker and the elves, the shoemaker awakens each morning to find that his work is done. Discovering how the work was accomplished requires effort on the part of the shoemaker. This, I think, is good inspiration for robot developers.

Home robotics hasnt achieved that happy ideal yet. We can program Roomba to emerge and work when no one is home, but its still necessary to empty the dirt compartment and clean the brushes. My newest robot, Tertill, which is available on Kickstarter, is another step in the direction of invisibilitydelivering a weed-free garden with almost no attention from the gardener.

I look forward to the day when the logistics of home life will simply run smoothly and no one need trouble themselves with the details. Unless they want to.

Joe Jones is co-founder and CTO of Franklin Robotics, which is developing a solar-powered garden-weeding robot named Tertill. Previously, he was co-founder and CTO of Harvest Automation and a senior roboticist at iRobot, where he was the co-inventor of the Roomba vacuuming robot. Follow him on Twitter: @JoeRobotJones

IEEE Spectrums award-winning robotics blog, featuring news, articles, and videos on robots, humanoids, drones, automation, artificial intelligence, and more. Contact us:e.guizzo@ieee.org

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Tomorrows robots will become true helpers and companions in peoples homesand heres what it will take to develop them 29May2014

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The famed MIT roboticist is launching a crowdfunding campaign to bring social robots to consumers 16Jul2014

The inventor of the Roomba tells us about his new solar-powered, weed-destroying robot 6Jul

With an easy-to-use interface based on MIT's Scratch, you can command Cozmo to do complex tasks without any programming experience 26Jun

Clever little cubes automate robotic craft projects for kids 13Jun

Billed as a Replacement for Man, the Hughes Mobot combined strength with a delicate touch 26May

At-home telepresence gets significantly more affordable, although it's still not cheap 13Apr

Giving a Roomba a tail makes it easy for humans to understand its "feelings" 16Feb

One day, robots like these will be scampering up your steps to drop off packages 9Feb

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Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos 13Jan

With an endearing design and a projector in its butt, Mykie is here to help you cook 11Jan

Many of the social robots introduced at CES look similar. Are they all copying Jibo? 6Jan

A Bosch-backed startup introduces a cute little mobile robot 3Jan

For this radio-controlled lawn mower, the garden of tomorrow never arrived 22Dec2016

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Why I Think Home Robots Will Become Invisible - IEEE Spectrum

Robots will carry luggage, assist lost travelers, clean floors and catch shoplifters in Japan's railways.

Traveling can be a pain, especially when lost luggage, delayed flights and confusing train station layouts are the norm.

Japan is hoping to make traveling safer, and maybe even more fun, by adding robots to give a helping mechanical hand at train stations.

East Japan Railwayslast week announced the creation of JRE Robotics Station, a company that will design robots to help travelers navigate train stations and get to their trains on time.

Other robots will be designed to carry luggage -- mainly assisting travelers with disabilities, not merely those who hate to lug around heavy suitcases.

The robots will also be programmed to understand a variety of languages to accommodate foreign visitors. Other robots will be designed to clean floors and otherwise tidy up the train stations.

Security robots that can detect shoplifters are also part of the new initiative. The idea of futuristic RoboCops makes sense considering the railway company also manages a number of hotels and shopping centers in Japan.

But if you want to see this new robotic workforce in action, you may have to wait awhile. JRE Robotics Station has yet to announce when the robots will be in place to servetravelers.

17

The coolest robots from UK Robotics Week 2017

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Robots to haul luggage, and fight crime, in train stations - CNET

The Big Bang happened in Taylor July 7-8 when the Taylor Schools robotics program held its annual invitation of the same name.

In all there were 23 schools from the U.S. and Canada represented.

Joe Horth, the robotics director for the school, said this was a bigger version of the invitational they started hosting last year, but that he would like to see it continue to grow.

The competition was outside of the traditional high school competitive season, but if Horth has his way, that might change in the future as well. He said the school might attempt to host a high school district competition in the future.

The competition was held in the Belle Tire Arena, with the staging held at the other ice arena. The ice surfaces at both arenas are down during the summer months.

Read more here:

Robotics competition held at Taylor Sportsplex - Southgate News Herald

The Second Edition of the award-winning Springer Handbook of Robotics edited by Bruno Siciliano and Oussama Khatib has recently been published. The contents of the first edition have been restructured to achieve four main objectives: the enlargement of foundational topics for robotics, the enlightenment of design of various types of robotic systems, the extension of the treatment on robots moving in the environment, and the enrichment of advanced robotics applications. Most previous chapters have been revised, fifteen new chapters have been introduced on emerging topics, and a new generation of authors have joined the handbooks team. Like for the first edition, a truly interdisciplinary approach has been pursued in line with the expansion of robotics across the boundaries with related disciplines. Again, the authors have been asked to step outside of their comfort zone, as the Editorial Board have teamed up authors who never worked together before.

No doubt one of the most innovative elements is the inclusion of multimedia content to leverage the valuable written content inside the book. Under the editorial leadership of Torsten Krger, a web portal has been created to host the Multimedia Extension of the book, which serves as a quick one-stop shop for more than 700 videos associated with the specific chapters. In addition, video tutorials have been created for each of the seven parts of the book, which benefit everyone from PhD students to seasoned robotics experts who have been in the field for years. A special video related to the contents of the first chapter shows the journey of robotics with the latest and coolest developments in the last 15 years. As publishing explores new interactive technologies, an App has been made available in the Google/IOS stores to introduce an additional multimedia layer to the readers experience. With the app, readers can use the camera on their smartphone or tablet, hold it to a page containing one or more special icons, and produce an augmented reality on the screen, watching videos as they read along the book.

For more information on the book, please visit the Springer Handbook website.

The Multimedia Portaloffers free access to more than 700 accompanying videos. In addition, a Multimedia App is now downloadable:AppStoreandGooglePlayfor smartphones and tablets, allowing you to easily access multimedia content while reading the book.

Continue reading here:

Second edition of Springer Handbook of Robotics - Robohub

Last July, INGDAN.com and Intel teamed up to create a robotics innovation ecosystem, aimed at promoting technological advancement of the industry, incubation, and professional operations. Founding the first ever "Robotics Innovation Center" in Shanghai, as well as INGDAN.com's new closed ecosystem for resource matching and sharing, strengthened the Company's leading position in the robotics industry -- namely product design, manufacturing, and financing. The ecosystem currently accommodates more than 1,000 robotics companies and 300 upstream suppliers, reached the Company's expectations.

Cogobuy's partnership with Intel was also formed to boost development in the industry. The Company hosted the Intel AI and Robotics Innovative Ecosystem Forum, and a robotics competition, on July 6. The event focused on the future of AI and robotics boom, and showcased Cogobuy's leading position in the robotics ecosystem alliance. Many AI and robotics industry experts, promising company founders, government officials, market leaders, and investors participated in the event. We also witnessed the rise of promising teams in the competition securing growth momentum for the industry.

Mr. Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogobuy Group, said: "After recent calls by Chinese government for a robotics revolution, China's robotics industry is booming. According to the latest forecast from the International Data Corporation(IDC), China will more than double its spending on robotics and related services, from $24.6 billion in 2016 to $59.4 billion in 2020.

Our partnership with Intel to promote robotics innovation will facilitate the industry's overall efficiency and help more companies manufacture their designs. We are proud to have achieved the establishment of the new robotics ecosystem, and together with Intel, we plan to make it the most cost-effective one in China."

About Cogobuy GroupCogobuy Group is the largest e-commerce service platform serving the electronics manufacturing industry in China. Through the e-commerce platform, which includes a direct sales platform, an online marketplace, and a dedicated team of technical consultants and professional sales representatives, the Company provides customers with comprehensive online and offline services across pre-sale, sale and post-sale stages. The Company serves mainly SME electronics manufacturers.

For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.cogobuy.com/

About INGDAN.comINGDAN.com is a platform dedicated to connecting global intelligent hardware entrepreneurs and China-based supply chain resources. The platform provides information on hardware innovation, supply chain data and supply chain demand docking for global IoT innovators and entrepreneurs. It is a one-stop hardware innovation business platform with its core being the "supply chain."

For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.ingdan.com/

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ingdancom-achieves-success-with-intel-on-cultivating-robotics-ecosystem-300485016.html

SOURCE Cogobuy Group

http://www.cogobuy.com/

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INGDAN.com Achieves Success with Intel on Cultivating Robotics Ecosystem - PR Newswire (press release)

By Pamela Constable, The Washington Post

KABUL, Afghanistan When six Afghan teenage girls were denied U.S. visas to enter an international robotics contest in Washington set for later this month, the unexplained decision seemed to be punishing the very ambitions U.S. agencies have long advocated for girls in Afghanistan, where many are denied educational opportunities.

But the story is more complicated than that.

Afghanistan, beset by insurgent violence and economic uncertainty, is suffering from a massive brain drain, according to Afghan and U.S. officials. Scholarship students, academic fellows and teachers who receive temporary visas to visit the United States often vanish into immigrant communities instead of returning home.

The growing phenomenon has made U.S. officials especially wary of approving visa requests even for applicants like the robotics students who may otherwise deserve them if they decide there is a risk the person will fail to return home.

It is sad to say, but some of them do not come back, said Elham Shaheen, a senior official at the Ministry of Higher Education who manages foreign-study policies. He said 10 percent of all Afghans who are awarded temporary visas for academic purposes in the United States or Europe defy immigration rules to remain there permanently.

Female students and faculty members, facing extra frustrations at home, are no exception. Several years ago, Shaheen said, 12 female university lecturers won scholarships to obtain MA degrees in economics in Germany. Of the 12, he said, 11 of them escaped.

American officials here and in Washington have refused to discuss the case of the robotics team, but several pointed out that U.S. law presumes all temporary visa seekers intend to remain in the United States unless they are able to prove they have compellingly strong ties to their country.

Two members of the team, interviewed Thursday from their home city of Herat, said U.S. consular officers had asked about their ties to Afghanistan, whether they had relatives in the United States and whether they intended to return home after the competition.

Youth teams from about 150 countries will face off next week in the FIRST Global Challenge contest, created to promote international student interest in science, technology and math. Only one other team, from Gambia, was turned down.

Each of us gave them written guarantees from two government employees vouching for our return, said Rodaba Noori, 16, a member of the Afghan team that built a ball-sorting robot. This is our country. We have our life and family here, she said. How could we abandon them and not return after the competition?

Obtaining a visa, though, is just the last of many daunting hurdles the female students face in their efforts to advance academically long before they can even dream of traveling abroad.

Afghan families often oppose their daughters attending universities in Kabul or other cities, fearing for their safety and exposure to young men. Agencies that offer domestic scholarships, such as the nonprofit Asia Foundation, often have to negotiate with families or agree to support a male relative who can accompany the girl each semester.

Girls are also at a disadvantage in English and math, because Afghan families are more willing to pay for boys to take private classes. As a result, more girls fail college-entrance exams. To help even the balance, USAID sponsors exam-prep classes for girls, and education officials have established a 30 percent female quota for all in-country scholarships.

There is a chain of barriers for Afghan girls that requires a network of support to overcome, said Razia Stanikzai of the Asia Foundation in Kabul, whose job is to promote Afghan female students participation in science and technology.

Many Afghans, however, view these as male fields, and families may try to steer daughters into nursing or teaching instead. To overcome such stereotypes, Stanikzais program sponsors science fairs at provincial schools, where girls demonstrate projects to fathers and male community elders. We dont want girls sitting at home and being told that science and technology are for boys, she said.

Even students at such elite institutions as the American University in Afghanistan, where the U.S. Embassy has funded more than 400 scholarships for women, face prejudice. Two female information technology students said that in most of their classes, all of the other students were male and that some of their friends and relatives had no idea what they were studying or why.

Some of them tell us to change majors, to do something more acceptable like nursing or arts, said Shamim Ali, 26, whose dream is to start her own IT company. This is a traditional society, and even the concept of IT is strange. People think we are going to become mechanics or electricians and climb up on ladders.

When it comes to studying abroad, there are many opportunities, such as the Fulbright program, which has sent 535 Afghan students among them, 102 women to the United States since 2002. There are also closer international universities in countries such as India, Iran and Bangladesh, which Afghan officials are promoting as cheaper, more comfortable places to study at a time of growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the West.

Yet even accomplished female students can be thwarted by family resistance and competing cultural priorities. Education officials described cases in which applicants for foreign scholarships turned out to be married, pregnant and unable to accept by the time their tickets and visas came through.

One woman in Kabul named Raihana, 27, who obtained a scholarship to study economics in Bangladesh, said her older brother, the senior male in the family, at first refused to let her to go, but her younger and more liberal brother finally persuaded him.

Since my father was dead, he felt he had to take responsibility for me and my safety, the woman said, but the real reason was that he was married and he did not want his wife to study or travel. If I went, she would be jealous and complain.

The members of the robotics team said they, too, encountered initial resistance from their parents not only to travel to the United States for the robotics contest, but also to fly cross-country to Kabul, with its constant news of insurgent bombings, to apply for their visas.

We finally convinced them, and in the end they were very happy, but it was a difficult path, said Yasamin Yasinzada, 16, who said her dream is to be a pioneer in robotics and set an example for other girls. She said it was much easier for boys, because they are allowed to travel, but it helped that our coach was going with us.

Despite her disappointment at being turned down to visit the United States, where the robot will now appear at the competition without its creators, Yasinzada said she still hopes to study abroad.

The specific place doesnt matter, she said. I just want to learn, interact, see other ways of life, come back home and put it all into practice.

Read more here:

For Afghan girls' robotics team, US visa denial was last of many hurdles - The Denver Post

In 2016, the European Union co-funded 17 new robotics projects from the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for research and innovation. 16 of these resulted from the robotics work programme, and 1 project resulted from the Societal Challenges part of Horizon 2020. The robotics work programme implements the robotics strategy developed by SPARC, the Public-Private Partnership for Robotics in Europe (see the Strategic Research Agenda).

Every week, euRobotics will publish a video interview with a project, so that you can find out more about their activities. This week features CYBERLEGs++: The CYBERnetic LowEr-Limb CoGnitive Ortho-prosthesis Plus Plus.

Objectives

The goal of CYBERLEGs++ is to validate the technical and economic viability of the powered robotic ortho-prosthesis developed within the FP7-ICT-CYBERLEGs project. The aim is to enhance/restore the mobility of transfemoral amputees and to enable them to perform locomotion tasks such as ground-level walking, walking up and down slopes, climbing/descending stairs, standing up, sitting down and turning in scenarios of real life. Restored mobility will allow amputees to perform physical activity thus counteracting physical decline and improving the overall health status and quality of life.

By demonstrating in an operational environment (TRL=7) from both the technical and economic viability view point a modular robotics technology for healthcare, with the ultimate goal of fostering its market exploitation CYBERLEGs Plus Pus will have an impact on:

Society: CLs++ technology will contribute to increase the mobility of dysvascular amputees, and, more generally, of disabled persons with mild lower-limb impairments; Science and technology: CLs++ will further advance the hardware and software modules of the ortho-prosthesis developed within the FP7 CYBERLEGs project and validate its efficacy through a multi-centre clinical study; Market: CLs++ will foster the market exploitation of high-tech robotic systems and thus will promote the growth of both a robotics SME and a large healthcare company.

Partners SCUOLA SUPERIORE SANTANNA (SSSA) UNIVERSIT CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN (UCL) VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL (VUB) UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI (UL) FONDAZIONE DON CARLO GNOCCHI (FDG) SSUR (OSS) IUVO S.R.L. (IUVO)

Coordinator Prof. Nicola Vitiello, The BioRobotics Institute Scuola Superiore SantAnna, Pisa, Italy nicola.vitiello@santannapisa.it

Project website http://www.cyberlegs.org

Watch all EU-projects videos

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New Horizon 2020 robotics projects, 2016: CYBERLEGs++ - Robohub

When six Afghan teenage girls were denied U.S. visas to enter an international robotics contest in Washington set for later this month, the unexplained decision seemed to be punishing the very ambitions U.S. agencies have long advocated for girls in Afghanistan, where many are denied educational opportunities.

But the story is more complicated than that.

Afghanistan, beset by insurgent violence and economic uncertainty, is suffering from a massive brain drain, according to Afghan and U.S. officials. Scholarship students, academic fellows and teachers who receive temporary visas to visit the United States often vanish into immigrant communities instead of returning home.

The growing phenomenon has made U.S. officials especially wary of approving visa requests - even for applicants like the robotics students who may otherwise deserve them - if they decide there is a risk the person will fail to return home.

"It is sad to say, but some of them do not come back," said Elham Shaheen, a senior official at the Ministry of Higher Education who manages foreign-study policies. He said 10 percent of all Afghans who are awarded temporary visas for academic purposes in the United States or Europe defy immigration rules to remain there permanently.

Female students and faculty members, facing extra frustrations at home, are no exception. Several years ago, Shaheen said, 12 female university lecturers won scholarships to obtain MA degrees in economics in Germany. Of the 12, he said, "11 of them escaped."

American officials here and in Washington have refused to discuss the case of the robotics team, but several pointed out that U.S. law "presumes" all temporary visa seekers intend to remain in the United States unless they are able to prove they have compellingly strong ties to their country.

Two members of the team, interviewed Thursday from their home city of Herat, said U.S. consular officers had asked about their ties to Afghanistan, whether they had relatives in the United States and whether they intended to return home after the competition.

Youth teams from about 150 countries will face off next week in the FIRST Global Challenge contest, created to promote international student interest in science, technology and math. Only one other team, from Gambia, was turned down.

"Each of us gave them written guarantees from two government employees vouching for our return," said Rodaba Noori, 16, a member of the Afghan team that built a ball-sorting robot. "This is our country. We have our life and family here," she said. "How could we abandon them and not return after the competition?"

Obtaining a visa, though, is just the last of many daunting hurdles the female students face in their efforts to advance academically - long before they can even dream of traveling abroad.

Afghan families often oppose their daughters attending universities in Kabul or other cities, fearing for their safety and exposure to young men. Agencies that offer domestic scholarships, such as the nonprofit Asia Foundation, often have to negotiate with families or agree to support a male relative who can accompany the girl each semester.

Girls are also at a disadvantage in English and math, because Afghan families are more willing to pay for boys to take private classes. As a result, more girls fail college-entrance exams. To help even the balance, USAID sponsors exam-prep classes for girls, and education officials have established a 30 percent female quota for all in-country scholarships.

"There is a chain of barriers for Afghan girls that requires a network of support to overcome," said Razia Stanikzai of the Asia Foundation in Kabul, whose job is to promote Afghan female students' participation in science and technology.

Many Afghans, however, view these as "male" fields, and families may try to steer daughters into nursing or teaching instead. To overcome such stereotypes, Stanikzai's program sponsors science fairs at provincial schools, where girls demonstrate projects to fathers and male community elders. "We don't want girls sitting at home and being told that science and technology are for boys," she said.

Even students at such elite institutions as the American University in Afghanistan, where the U.S. Embassy has funded more than 400 scholarships for women, face prejudice. Two female information technology students said that in most of their classes, all of the other students were male and that some of their friends and relatives had no idea what they were studying - or why.

"Some of them tell us to change majors, to do something more acceptable like nursing or arts," said Shamim Ali, 26, whose dream is to start her own IT company. "This is a traditional society, and even the concept of IT is strange. People think we are going to become mechanics or electricians and climb up on ladders."

When it comes to studying abroad, there are many opportunities, such as the Fulbright program, which has sent 535 Afghan students - among them, 102 women - to the United States since 2002. There are also closer international universities in countries such as India, Iran and Bangladesh, which Afghan officials are promoting as cheaper, more comfortable places to study at a time of growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the West.

Yet even accomplished female students can be thwarted by family resistance and competing cultural priorities. Education officials described cases in which applicants for foreign scholarships turned out to be married, pregnant and unable to accept by the time their tickets and visas came through.

One woman in Kabul named Raihana, 27, who obtained a scholarship to study economics in Bangladesh, said her older brother, the senior male in the family, at first refused to let her to go, but her younger and more liberal brother finally persuaded him.

"Since my father was dead, he felt he had to take responsibility for me and my safety," the woman said, "but the real reason was that he was married and he did not want his wife to study or travel. If I went, she would be jealous and complain."

The members of the robotics team said they, too, encountered initial resistance from their parents - not only to travel to the United States for the robotics contest, but also to fly cross-country to Kabul, with its constant news of insurgent bombings, to apply for their visas.

"We finally convinced them, and in the end they were very happy, but it was a difficult path," said Yasamin Yasinzada, 16, who said her dream is to "be a pioneer in robotics and set an example for other girls." She said it was "much easier for boys, because they are allowed to travel, but it helped that our coach was going with us."

Go here to see the original:

For Afghan girls' robotics team, US visa denial was last of many hurdles - Chicago Tribune

Kevin Knoedlers robot had a mission: After a Martian habitat was damaged by a dust storm, the robot had to align an antenna, deploy a solar panel, walk up stairs to the habitat, and find and repair a leak.

Not only did the 1990 North Platte High School graduates robot took home the top prize in a virtual-reality competition it completed its mission on the first run. In addition to a $50,000 bonus for the clean run, Knoedler won $125,000 for first place in the late June competition.

But tinkering with robots isnt Knoedlers profession. Knoedler is a stay-at-home father. He moved to Newbury Park, California, after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with his bachelors degree in engineering. He worked in programming before taking on his role as a stay-at-home dad 10 years ago, while his wife, a chemical engineer, works in the semiconductor industry. His children are 8 and 11.

Knoedler said his interest in the robotics competition was somewhere between a hobby and based on my previous work.

The Global Space Robotics Challenge aimed to engage citizen solvers, according to a NASA press release. NASA officials hope that someday, robots can arrive on missions ahead of astronauts and set up habitats and life support systems. Eventually, robots may even begin preliminary scientific research, according to the release.

When the competition was announced last August, 400 teams from 55 countries pre-registered. Ninety-two competed in the qualification round, and the top 20 advanced, each earning $15,000.

Knoedler said that as a high school student in North Platte, he didnt jump into programming.

It was more just learning the basics, he said. Math. Science. How to study, how to learn.

Regardless, Knoedler gives credit to his teachers in North Platte for igniting the spark.

Knoedler said a big chunk of his prize money will go to taxes. Hell use the rest of it for future robotics projects and for his childrens college savings fund.

Knoedler has seen his kids show a little interest in robotics already.

Its hard to say at this point, he said.

See the rest here:

Stay-at-home dad takes top prize in robotics contest - North Platte Telegraph

From delivery drones to automated cars, robots are on the rise -- and that includes bots you can have sex with, thanks to the growing number of companies working to bring artificially intelligent sex dolls to the masses.

The Foundation for Responsible Robotics, which calls for "accountable innovation for the humans behind the robots," sees sexualized robots creeping up on the horizon, so it put together a comprehensive report on the subject. It's a fascinating read, covering evolving societal attitudes, ethical implications and sociological concerns.

Theentire report's worth a look, but here are seven key takeaways.

The report cites a number of studies on whether people would have sex with a robot, and points to a wide range of responses. For instance, 9 percent of respondents to a Huffington Post survey expressed interest in the idea; another survey found 66 percent of men and about half as many women would want to give sexbots a go. Still another poll found that 86 percent of respondents believed a robot would be able to satisfy their sexual desires, suggesting potential for the market to grow as attitudes toward sex robots evolve.

The report also examines what future relationships with sex robots might look like, and draws comparisons to professional sex workers, many of whom say, according to the report, that high-paying clients often want to drink, socialize and do drugs together to form the pretense of a relationship in addition to having sex.

While the technology needed to make sex robots into drinking buddies is likely a long way off, the report points to men who say they've formed emotional connections with inanimate dolls. These sorts of "fictive relationships" are a little like imaginative play, the report says, and social acceptance of these kinds of relationships will be needed for more people to feel comfortable entering into them.

In another of the many surveys cited in the report, respondents were asked if sex robots were an acceptable substitute for prostitutes. On a scale of one to seven, with one being unacceptable and seven being acceptable, the survey results averaged out to a perhaps surprisingly high six. This, coupled with the fact that bordellos of inanimate sex dolls are already on the rise in Asia, leads the authors of the report to conclude that sex robot brothels might be a logical next step.

The report points out that there's no question creating humanoid sex robots based on pornographic representations of female anatomy objectifies women. Still, it asserts much of sexual societies already feed off of that sort of objectification, and goes on to suggest sex robots could ultimately serve more to reinforce existing mindsets than to create new ones. There's not a lot of research here, though, especially with regard to under-represented communities.

The authors of the report and the scholars they cite are fairly unified in the belief that the advent of sex robots could lead to greater social isolation. One big factor: Sex robots are easy to have sex with, and people who use them could be put off by the additional communication and social interaction that goes into a traditional sexual experience. They also express concern that sex robots could desensitize users to intimacy and empathy.

9

RealDoll wants to build you a sexbot

The report goes on to discuss the potential therapeutic value of sex robots for people with social disorders or physical disabilities or even the elderly. There's some history to draw from here -- namely nursing homes that use semi-robotic dolls to provide companionship for their residents, including patients suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. Still, there are ethical questions with regard to dolls like these, even before you bring sex into picture. Some authors argue they infantilize the elderly, and others question whether those suffering from mental disabilities can truly provide informed consent.

The report cites controversial suggestions that sex robots could ultimately be used to stem the rise of sexual assault, rape and pedophilia by providing people predisposed to those acts with a non-human outlet. In addition to questioning the legality of such dolls (specifically those that depict children), the report's authors express skepticism about the proposed benefits, and even question whether they could actuallyencourage harmful behavior.

It's Complicated: This is dating in the age of apps. Having fun yet? These stories get to the heart of the matter.

Tech Enabled: CNET chronicles tech's role in providing new kinds of accessibility.

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Sexbot brothels? What we might see in an era of sex robots - CNET - CNET

Finding value in the technology space looks incredibly hard at the moment and the tech heavy Nasdaq sits on its all-time high. In such an environment and with the bull market entering its 9th year after the Global Financial Crisis, it becomes harder and harder to find value. What I would search right now is structural growth stories with very strong market positions. I believe Teradyne (TER) fits my criteria. Structural growth is coming predominantly from exposure to robotics and to the increasing use of sophisticated microchips in many applications (automotive and assisted driving above all). At the same time, the market position appears very solid: in testing equipment, Teradyne holds approximately 50% of the market, with small market share gains over the past few years. In robotics, the company holds a 60% share of the cobots market.

Company description

First, let me give you a brief description of the markets in which the company operates: testing equipment and robotics.

On the first front, the focus is on semiconductor testing, but it also includes wireless and computer storage testing. In a nutshell, we are talking about large machines that test the functionality of hardware components for laptops and smartphones and also semiconductors for a wide variety of other applications (including the automotive sector). This explainer video from the company may help in understanding what we are talking about:

On the robotics side, the company bought Universal Robots (UR) of Denmark in 2015. Unlike traditional automation robots, UR offers collaborative robots (also known as cobots). These are much smaller than traditional robots, have force-limited joints that allow them to be operated alongside humans, are extremely flexible in performing different tasks, and can be programmed by a shop floor operator with a few easy moves. These characteristics make them affordable for small enterprises (a cobot can have a cost of around $100,000 or less rather than millions for a typical high-end robotic machine), and the payback is generally less than 12 months.

Stock performance in the last few years

I believe that looking at the chart of Teradyne shares since the financial crisis provides some very interesting information on the different growth stages:

TER data by YCharts

The first phase (20092011) coincided with the launch and extraordinary growth in the high-end smartphone market, coupled with a still decent computer equipment market. The stock quadrupled during this period. Between 2011 and 2016, shares stopped growing altogether in the context of a flat underlying market. Even though the number of smartphones and semiconductors in general increased, so did the testing capacity of the machines. This increase in equipment productivity, coupled with some in-house, cheap testing solutions developed by low-end smartphone manufacturers, led to an overall stagnant market. The third phase started in late 2016, with shares finally breaking out of the range and the company beating earnings and raising guidance more than once. This may just be the beginning, and several growth drivers seem to be supporting the trend.

The growth drivers

First of all, we have some rapidly expanding markets. Automotive is a very interesting growth story. Microchips used in the auto industry need to go through very extensive testing due to the high performance and extended lifespan required. At the same time, cars are becoming more and more connected (think assisted/autonomous driving and electric vehicles), with many high-end electronic and computer-based options now becoming widely available on low cost/high volume models. The slide below, from a recent Infineon (OTCQX:IFNNF) presentation, shows the range of sensors that are currently marketed in the automotive division and how their presence will dramatically increase over the next few years:

Source: Infineon investor presentation June 2017

Another factor to take into consideration is the ever-increasing complexity of app processors. Added complexity means extended testing times and a reduction in the productivity gains that prevented the testing equipment market from growing over the past few years (more limited parallel testing potential).

The third growth driver can be found in robotics and the increasing range of applications for cobots. This market is currently very small (around $200 mln worldwide) but growing at around 50% per annum and expected to grow at similar levels over the next few years. I am always skeptical about these very high growth markets as I remember the disaster in 3D printing stocks. Here is what I like about this sector: there is a much broader range of applications for all sorts of industries, a simple setup process but, most importantly, a very clear and easy to measure payback period, as cobots substitute manual work. I also like Universal Robots dominant market share in cobots (around 60%), a market that they effectively invented. But more importantly, UR is aggressively working on the creation of a broad ecosystem of third party hardware and software to adapt cobots to perform more and more industry specific tasks and is rapidly expanding its global distribution network. I believe these efforts will help the company maintain a solid position in a rapidly expanding market.

The financials and valuation

In the most recent quarter, Teradyne announced results that beat guidance and expectations and provided guidance for the second quarter that was higher than consensus. The company also increased its view on the size of the overall market for testing equipment even from its recent January estimate. What I find particularly encouraging is the breadth of the revenue/orders beat with automotive, mobility, image sensor, and memory all driving orders higher in the quarter and Universal Robots increasing sales 117% yoy. Surely, Universal Robots still represents a small part of the business (around 8% of total sales in Q1), but with sales growth of 117% yoy in the quarter and new orders up 150% yoy, we can expect this division to become sizable and soon capable of moving the needle.

The company has plenty of liquidity, with net cash of more than $1 bn (17% of the market cap) on the balance sheet and a plan to distribute more than $250 mln during 2017 through dividends and buybacks. From a valuation perspective, the stock is trading on 15.7x consensus 2017 earnings. This is not significantly above the average forward P/E of the past few years even though growth expectations have increased over the last 12 months.

Conclusions

Over the past 12 months, the stock appreciated significantly and is up roughly 50%. I generally find it very difficult to recommend an investment in a stock that has already seen such a significant growth, and, to be honest, I wish I discovered Teradyne earlier. That said, Teradyne still trades at a significant discount to Nasdaq on consensus P/E (15.7x vs. 19.5x) despite clear signs that we may be close to a shift in growth expectations in the industry. Risks are those typical of high growth technology industries, with price deflation and an increasing competition in robotics being the most significant. However, I believe the solid level of market share in both semi test equipment (50%) and cobots (60%) will certainly help Teradyne reap the benefits of a re-acceleration in growth that doesn't seem to be fully appreciated by investors.

Disclosure: I am/we are long TER.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Teradyne: Robotics And Assisted Driving Will Drive Growth - Seeking Alpha

The Waccamaw Neck Branch Library hosted a new camp this summer for students to gain hands-on experience in robotics and programming.

Sixteen students ages 9 to 16 signed up for LEGO Robotics Camp and were split into pairs to build and program their own robots.

Children's librarian Amy King said she tried to keep the numbers down so students could have the chance to program on their own.

"This is a more advanced program," King said. "We wanted students to be able to get their hands on a robot."

Students at the camp included newbie programmers and seasoned pros, including two-year library robotics team veteran Ellie Keesee.

"My favorite part of the camp is programming," Keesee said. "The camp teaches us a lot about it."

King and computer programmer Amanda Blair assisted the students throughout the camp. King and Blair also both volunteer to coach robotics during the school year; King at the library and Blair at Socastee Elementary School.

The library received the camp's robots through an eco literacy grant, and King said she hopes to use this new technology to help build robotics programs at schools in the area.

The library has been home to its own robotics team for two years, but is now looking to play more of a supporting role for Georgetown County schools.

"There's a huge learning curve when you start a team," King said. "New programs can be difficult to learn. We want to reach out and help coaches and students with robotics."

The Georgetown and Carvers Bay branch libraries will also be hosting robotics camps in the coming weeks to expose students to computer programming.

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Camp sparks kids' interest in robotics - South Strand news

TEL AVIV, July 6 (Reuters) -

* Mazor Robotics, an Israeli maker of guidance systems for spine and brain surgeries, said on Thursday it expects to report record revenue of $15.4 million for the second quarter, up from $8.3 million a year earlier.

* During the second quarter, the company received 19 system orders, of which 16 were for the Mazor X system from U.S. customers. In addition, the company received orders for three Renaissance systems.

* "Our second quarter performance reflects the market's enthusiasm for the Mazor X system and demand continues to grow," said Ori Hadomi, Mazor's chief executive officer.

* The company intends to report its financial results for the second quarter on Aug. 1. (Reporting by Tova Cohen)

* Has capital resources to fulfill ongoing commitments, obligations, to assume funding requirements between now and end of 2017 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

* Yokogawa Electric's group operating profit probably jumped 18% on year to around 6 billion yen in the April-June quarter - Nikkei

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Israel's Mazor Robotics sees record Q2 revenue - Reuters

Dive Brief:

School leaders and administrators must be careful that the introduction of new technology is not a burden to teachers, as it could have detrimental effects for both educators and students. In a recent survey, educators expressed pessimism on how ed tech is used in their schools, with only 13% reporting that new tech would help advance learning experiences for students. Many teachers felt there was a likelihood that the introduction of such tech to classrooms would include extensive out-of-pocket costs for teachers.

Therefore, it is important for administrators to consider applying tech that can help, rather than hinder, educators. Robotics and AI technology offer a unique ability to proffer some form of classroom instruction, which could be of great assistance to educators managing classrooms with a high number of students. For example, students making great strides in a given subject may be able to challenge themselves through the use of AI-assisted tech. This would free educators to offer more extensive human interaction to students who are struggling with the given subject matter.

Utilizing robotics tech in K-12 classrooms to assist early learners in math can pay off in dividends later in their educational career. Recent news from California indicates that many students must take remedial math courses to qualify for community college. While there are successful models of remedial instruction, it can still be a strain on institutions and students, often causing enrollees to drop out before receiving a diploma. With research showing that early childhood education generally offers robust returns on investment, and specifically that early mathematics learning can be essential for students future understand and proficiency in mathematics, robotics and AI offer an additional tool for educators to utilize one that can be particularly immersive and engaging for younger students.

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Robotics and AI tech can revolutionize classroom ed - Education Dive

UK Robotics Week 2017, which took place at the end of June, culminated in a showcase of some of the coolest robots from around the world.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The parts for this prosthetic hand are manufactured by a company called Steeper in Leeds, England.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Pistons activate the fingers so that the user can grip items.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

This robotic arm is being used to help rehabilitate stroke victims and to assist children with cerebral palsy.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Users manipulate the arm to play games and complete challenges, which help retrain links between brains and muscles.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

This shape-shifting metamorphic worker robot was designed by King's College London.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

It can change its form to navigate difficult or dangerous environments.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

One potential use: reconnaissance missions in disaster situations.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Prosthetic hands are increasingly sophisticated. This one, created by Queen Mary University London, is made from soft materials.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Each finger is controlled individually by air pressure and can mimic the movements of a human hand in real time.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

This is a robotic endoscope created by researchers at the University of Leeds.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

It's cheap, compact and portable and can be used by non-specialist medical staff to look for cancer in the stomach and esophagus.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

This is Lucie, one of several of her kind currently undergoing trials in offices around the UK.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

She's learning about human environments and activities as part of a project being run by the University of Leeds

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

MiRo is an adorable companion robot designed by Consequential Robotics.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

It's affectionate and sweet, but can also provide vital help to elderly people in the home.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

As well as being able to detect falls, MiRo can remind people to take medicines.

Photo by: Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The most beautiful phone ever has one wildly annoying issue

The Samsung Galaxy S8's fast speeds and fantastic curved screen make it a top phone for 2017, but the annoying fingerprint reader could sour your experience.

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The coolest robots from UK Robotics Week 2017 - CNET

I guess the global robotics contest isnt so global after all. The United States has reportedly denied five Gambian high school students visas, consequently prohibiting them from accompanying their invention to a prestigious international competition taking place in the U.S.

According to Al Jazeera, the Gambian students are the second team that was refused entry into the U.S. to attend the FIRST Global robotics event that is taking place in the nations capital from July 16 to 18. An all-girls team from Afghanistan was also denied.

Moktar Darboe, the director for Gambias ministry of higher education, research, science and technology, told Al Jazeera that the team made up of high school students ages 17 to 18, were very disappointed.

They put in so much effort into building this, and now, after all the sacrifice and energy they put in, they have been left disheartened, Darboe said.

The robot the teens created is a ball sorting machine, and will be sent off to the U.S. without them, with the Gambian American Association representing them at the event. The teens will have to watch the event over Skype.

As Al Jazeera notes, the FIRST Global Challenge is open to students ages 15 to 18 across the world, with 158 countries, including 40 African countries, being represented. Currently, only the teams from Afghanistan and Gambia have had their visas denied.

Darboe said that they were given no explanation for the refusal, and were denied shortly after their interview at the U.S. embassy in the capital of Banjul in April. The students had to pay $170 each for their visa application.

We were only told we did not qualify and that we could try again, Darboe said. Their parents had to sacrifice a lot to pay this fee.

Fatoumata Ceesay, the teams programmer told the news site that the team overcame working in less than ideal conditions, working hard day and night, with little guidance over the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Gassam said that she was disappointed that she would not be able to represent her home country and show the world [that] yes, we can do it

But were not giving up, despite the challenges we face, we still continue to work hard, she said. Next year it will be somewhere else, so I think next year we have hope to get there.

Read more at Al Jazeera.

Originally posted here:

Gambian High School Robotics Team Denied US Visa For Global ... - The Root

Another new entrant has joined the field of those offering self-driving tech to consumer carmakers but this one likely has a bit more experience than most. Virginia-based Torc Robotics has been working on autonomous vehicle tech since 2007, when it finished third in the DARPA Urban Challenge, and it has applied autonomy in a range of commercial, industrial and military applications.

Now Torc is setting its sights on the consumer car market, with a self-driving car project based on its decade of experience, with more than 1,000 miles logged of autonomous driving in recent tests using two modified Lexus RX vehicles. These have been active on roads since February 2017, driving in all weather conditions according to Torc, and equipped with Torcs in-house localization, mapping, navigation and object detection/tracking systems.

One of Torcs test vehicles performed a demonstration long-distance drive, making the 1,000 mile round trip from their Virginia HQ to Fords Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit a symbolic debut voyage to the heart of U.S. car country and the birthplace of the original Model T.

Why now for the automotive push? Torc CEO Michael Fleming told me that the time is finally right, both in terms of the state of available technology, but also in terms of the appetite for autonomous products from consumer automakers which werent always as eager to develop and invest in self-driving.

What weve found is that were some other markets that were early adopters to this technology, and there wasnt a great deal of interest in the automotive industry coming out of the DARPA Challenge, explained Fleming. Google is really the early adopter of this technology, with some key folks from the Carnegie Mellon and Stanford teams from 10 years ago, and theyve done some great marketing, and theyve been on the forefront of this technology in the automotive space.

Fleming clearly gives Google a lot of credit in terms of its role popularizing autonomous driving and making it a more familiar, comfortable subject for public discussion. But I wondered if Googles own efforts to build a comprehensive self-driving system (now under Alphabets Waymo) might not inhibit Torcs ability to operate in the same market.

Our role is more of an enabler, Fleming said. We work with OEMs, tier 1s and tier 2s in the automotive space, taking our 10 years of experience and working with these organizations, outlining their road map moving forward. This is fairly new technology to a lot of the players in the automotive space, but this is something weve been doing every day for the last 10 years, and weve tried just about every combination of technology, so we knows what works and what doesnt work.

Torc can act as a sort of guide helping players new to the space navigate the hype that is omnipresent in autonomous driving tech, Fleming says. But in addition to roadmapping, Torc also aims to integrate its own platforms with those of clients and partners bringing commercially viable self-driving tech to market. In other words, it sees itself as one of a number of partners working together, which fits with the current model being embraced by most automotive OEs.

Fleming says we can expect to hear more from Torc on the autonomous car front in the coming months, including updates regarding its technology and partners. Its early days yet for its consumer automotive business, but it does possess a rare thing in the burgeoning market: experience.

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Torc Robotics unveils self-driving system for consumer cars - TechCrunch

Some of the robots climb hills and others tell jokes.

Students at the Virginia Robotics and Cyber Academy used their new coding skills to program robots to do a variety of activities.

The five-day robotics academy, through the Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities, served 24 high school-age students from across Virginia. It took place at the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired in Henrico County last Monday through Friday, serving students with disabilities ranging from blindness and low-vision to autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities.

Christopher Freeman, a recent graduate of Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County, programmed his robot to perform stand-up comedy.

Freeman, who is interested in information technology as well as animation, said he knew nothing past basic Java coding prior to entering the academy.

They teach you step by step how to (make the robot), said Freeman, adding that he enjoyed the hands-on approach at the academy.

Students were selected to participate in the program based on their knowledge of math and science. However, students were not required to be competent in computer coding.

Students worked from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., with lunchtime dedicated to listening to speakers from Capital One who discussed career opportunities in information technology.

At a Friday celebration, instructors talked to parents about ways students can prepare for good jobs, while students showed off their robots.

Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities hosts academies throughout the year to help individuals from across Virginia gain experience in fields such as technology and manufacturing.

Virginia received a $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2015 to help residents with disabilities gain skills and qualify for high-demand, high-quality jobs. It was one of four states to receive federal funding for this project. The others were Kentucky, Georgia and Nebraska.

We want to try to close the skills gap and create a pipeline of young adults with disabilities who are interested in working in the advanced manufacturing and information technology fields, said Emily West, project manager for Career Pathways.

The academies give the students a chance to see if they have the interest and aptitude in advanced manufacturing or information technologies, she said.

The five-year grant allowed the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to partner with the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired to create the Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities.

The robotics academy curriculum was developed by the National Integrated Cyber Education Resource Center in Bossier City, La., which is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to create and distribute free cyber and engineering curricula to public schools across the country.

We are using content that was pulled from our high school material, said Charles Gardner, curriculum development specialist at the National Integrated Cyber Education Resource Center. These kids are learning exactly what their traditional high school peers are learning.

However, the format in which they learn differs from the standard. The material is presented in a less visual manner, relying more on motion and sound than sight.

We are hoping that the adaptations that we have made here for people with disabilities to participate can be generalized to other camps across the commonwealth so young people with disabilities can participate, said Raymond Hopkins, commissioner of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired.

Students use speech software, allowing them to listen to the computer to understand what is happening on the screen.

As a result of grant funding, students took their specifically designed computers, as well as the robots they created, home with them at the culmination of the academy.

Students created and programed each Gobot individually. The robots functions were mostly sound-based, so students could learn together during programming stages.

It has not just exceeded our expectations; it has exceeded their expectations, said Hopkins of the robot academy.

All the teachers and students are great, Freeman said. I would recommend (the academy) to anyone if I could.

The Virginia Robotics and Cyber Academy is the first information technology and cyber technology academy hosted by Career Pathways. Programs are three to five days. Many involve manufacturing work.

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Virginia Robotics and Cyber Academy helps teens with disabilities gain technology skills - Richmond.com

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By Jalil Ahmad Rezayee | HERAT, Afghanistan

HERAT, Afghanistan Two Afghan girls refused visas to the United States for a robot-building competition said on Tuesday they were mystified by the decision, as the contest's organizers said teams from Iran and Sudan as well as a de facto Syrian team had gained visas.

The unusual story of the Afghan all-girl team of robotics students emerged as the United States grapples with the legality of President Donald Trump's order to temporarily ban travel from six Muslim-majority countries.

Afghanistan itself is not on the list and Team Afghanistan's robot, unlike its creators, has been allowed entry to the United States. Asked by Reuters on Tuesday why the girls were banned, a U.S. State Department spokesperson cited regulations prohibiting the agency from discussing individual visa cases.

So the six team members will watch the ball-sorting machine compete in Washington D.C. via video link during the July 16-18 event from their hometown of Herat, in western Afghanistan, according to the FIRST Global contest organizers.

"We still don't know the reason why we were not granted visas, because other countries participating in the competition have been given visas," said 14-year-old Fatemah Qaderyan, part of the team that made two journeys to the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul to apply for their papers.

"No one knows about the future but ... we did our best and we hope that our robot could get a position along other robots from other countries," Qaderyan said.

Most of the female team members were either infants or not yet born at the time of the U.S.-backed military intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 that toppled the Taliban regime whose ultra-hardline interpretation of sharia (Islamic law) banned girls from school, women from working outside the home and all females from leaving home without a male relative.

More than 15 years later, around 10,000 U.S. and allied international troops remain in Afghanistan to support an elected government in Kabul that constitutionally guarantees women's rights but is increasingly losing ground to a Taliban insurgency that now controls or contests some 40 percent of territory.

"CLEAR INSULT"

Qaderyan's teammate from Herat, 17-year-old Lida Azizi, was less forgiving of the U.S. visa decision. "All of the countries can participate in the competitions, but we can't. So it's a clear insult for the people of Afghanistan," Azizi said.

FIRST Global's president, Joe Sestak, said in a post on the organization's Facebook page that he was "saddened" by the U.S. decision but the Afghan team would be able to connect with the competition via a live Skype video link.

"That is how we must now honor our fellow teammates, those brave girls from Afghanistan," he said.

He added that the teams of 156 countries including from Iran and Sudan, which are on Trumps list of countries whose citizens are banned from entry had received their visas.

"The support of the U.S. State Department (including its embassies) has been simply nothing short of amazing," Sestak said in the post, adding that one other team, from Gambia, had been also denied visas.

Also approved for visas was "Team Hope," a group of Syrian refugees, he said.

Syria is among the Muslim-majority countries named in Trump's executive order prohibiting all citizens from entry for 90 days. The other countries, apart from Iran, Syria and Sudan, are Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

In a June 26 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court revived parts of Trump's March 6 executive order that had been blocked by lower courts. The highest court let the ban go forward with a limited scope, saying that it cannot apply to anyone with credible "bona fide relationship" with a U.S. person or entity.

(Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; writing by Kay Johnson; editing by Mark Heinrich)

RIO DE JANEIRO Gun violence is on the rise in Rio de Janeiro, with the sound of firefights echoing daily across Brazil's seaside city as drug gangs battle each other and police officers patrolling slums.

WASHINGTON The U.S. government has sought to intervene in Apple's appeal against an EU order to pay back up to 13 billion euros ($14.8 billion) in Irish taxes, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

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Denied US visas, all-girl Afghan robotics team to watch their creation compete via Skype - Reuters