[SAPS] - Gqeberha Flying Squad members clamped down on criminals involved in illegal abalone activities and robbery suspects in two unrelated incidents.

Ecuador's stability was recognised in 2018, as the South American country attracted its highest level of investment since 2004.

QUITO, ECUADOR — Ecuadoran Vice President Veronica Abad was suspended Saturday for 150 days after being accused of “unjustified abandonment” of her duties. It comes during a public rift between Abad and President Daniel Noboa that could have implications for Ecuador's February elections. Abad's suspension without pay came at midnight, her lawyer Dominique Davila told The Associated Press. Davila called the move “extremely serious” and claimed it may not have any legal backing. Abad was accused by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of not following an order in September to temporarily transfer her from Israel — where she also serves as ambassador — to Turkey due to the conflict, arriving eight days after the order. Abad had argued that she was not “properly prepared” for the trip to Turkey and that Ecuador's government suggested “that I leave my children in Israel to go to Turkey alone.” The move comes at a time of deep tensions between Abad and Noboa who, despite running the government together, have clashed for years, establishing a sort of feud, the origins of which are unknown. In August, Abad filed a legal complaint accusing Noboa and other officials of gender-based violence. The suspension was the second sanction against Abad in less than a week. Abad was also fined $8,500 on Tuesday by Ecuador’s Electoral Disputes Tribunal for early election campaigning in 2023, when she was a candidate for mayor of Cuenca. The vice president has previously cited the Israel case and other incidents as government measures to pressure her to resign, while the president has called her “disloyal.” Davila said the suspension was the latest attempt to push Abad out, calling it a “trick to prevent the presidential succession” and something they planned to appeal. Abad’s fate has special importance for Noboa, who hopes to run for reelection in February 2025 and will have to request a leave of absence to carry out the campaign, according to experts. In that case, Abad would take over the presidency. But with the recent sanctions, the pathway to her taking the reins would be blocked, according to constitutional lawyer Andre Benavides. The expert said that while the suspension lacks strong legal backing, any appeals process to reverse the 150-day suspension would take longer than the suspension period.

The Quad Committee of the House of Representatives, composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights, and Public Accounts continued its joint inquiry into the extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration's drug war on Wednesday, November 13. 

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

IROS 2024: 14–18 October 2024, ABU DHABI, UAE

ICSR 2024: 23–26 October 2024, ODENSE, DENMARK

Cybathlon 2024: 25–27 October 2024, ZURICH

Humanoids 2024: 22–24 November 2024, NANCY, FRANCE

Enjoy today’s videos!

Not even ladders can keep you safe from quadruped robots anymore.

[ ETH Zürich Robot Systems Lab ]

Introducing Azi (right), the new desktop robot from Engineered Arts Ltd. Azi and Ameca are having a little chat, demonstrating their wide range of expressive capabilities. Engineered Arts desktop robots feature 32 actuators, 27 for facial control alone, and 5 for the neck. They include AI conversational ability including GPT-4o support which makes them great robotic companions.

[ Engineered Arts ]

Quadruped robots that individual researchers can build by themselves are crucial for expanding the scope of research due to their high scalability and customizability. In this study, we develop a metal quadruped robot MEVIUS, that can be constructed and assembled using only materials ordered through e-commerce. We have considered the minimum set of components required for a quadruped robot, employing metal machining, sheet metal welding, and off-the-shelf components only.

[ MEVIUS from JSK Robotics Laboratory ]

Thanks Kento!

Avian perching maneuvers are one of the most frequent and agile flight scenarios, where highly optimized flight trajectories, produced by rapid wing and tail morphing that generate high angular rates and accelerations, reduce kinetic energy at impact. Here, we use optimal control methods on an avian-inspired drone with morphing wing and tail to test a recent hypothesis derived from perching maneuver experiments of Harris’ hawks that birds minimize the distance flown at high angles of attack to dissipate kinetic energy before impact.

[ EPFL Laboratory of Intelligent Systems ]

The earliest signs of bearing failures are inaudible to you, but not to Spot . Introducing acoustic vibration sensing—Automate ultrasonic inspections of rotating equipment to keep your factory humming.

The only thing I want to know is whether Spot is programmed to actually do that cute little tilt when using its acoustic sensors.

[ Boston Dynamics ]

Hear from Jonathan Hurst, our co-founder and Chief Robot Officer, why legs are ideally suited for Digit’s work.

[ Agility Robotics ]

I don’t think “IP67” really does this justice.

[ ANYbotics ]

This paper presents a teleportation system with floating robotic arms that traverse parallel cables to perform long-distance manipulation. The system benefits from the cable-based infrastructure, which is easy to set up and cost-effective with expandable workspace range.

[ EPFL ]

It seems to be just renderings for now, but here’s the next version of Fourier’s humanoid.

[ Fourier ]

Happy Oktoberfest from Dino Robotics!

[ Dino Robotics ]

This paper introduces a learning-based low-level controller for quadcopters, which adaptively controls quadcopters with significant variations in mass, size, and actuator capabilities. Our approach leverages a combination of imitation learning and reinforcement learning, creating a fast-adapting and general control framework for quadcopters that eliminates the need for precise model estimation or manual tuning.

[ HiPeR Lab ]

Parkour poses a significant challenge for legged robots, requiring navigation through complex environments with agility and precision based on limited sensory inputs. In this work, we introduce a novel method for training end-to-end visual policies, from depth pixels to robot control commands, to achieve agile and safe quadruped locomotion.

[ SoloParkour ]

A Swiss-engineered robot can climb ladders, showing why it's at the cutting edge of autonomous robotic solutions for harsh industrial settings.

… Junior Asia/ Oceania Davis Cup and Fed Cup final qualifying event. The … players selected for the Junior Davis Cup include Dev V. Javia, Sandeep … Gogoi (reserve). The Junior Fed Cup team includes Anisha Kashyap, Bhakti … Junior Asia/ Oceania Junior Davis Cup will begin in Kuching, Malaysia ….

RSI said single-player Star Citizen campaign was "feature complete" a year ago.

We're getting a new cockpit-focused Star Wars flight game this October! While visions of the classic LucasArts simulators X-Wing and TIE Fighter do barrel rolls in our heads, we should temper our expectations.

ParalympicsGB name three sets of brothers in their boccia, judo and powerlifting squads for the 2012 Games

Ecuador midfielder Marco Angulo dies just over a month after being seriously injured in a car crash.

El Litoral prison is notorious for its deadly confrontations between members of rival gangs.

Legislation has been enacted in Ecuador to introduce new taxes on companies and wealthy individuals, to fund government efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The long arm of law has caught up with perpetrators of a quadruple murder committed 26 long years ago in Ladakh's Kargil district.

Ecuador international Marco Angulo has passed away on Monday, having been in a hospital since October 7, after the midfielder was involved in a car accident.

Nearly 70 shops dealing with food-based business inspected; flash inspections conducted considering the crowd turnout for Kerala State School Kalolsavam

Police in Thane, Maharashtra register case against poll squad members for extorting money from flower merchant

The US-India Clean Energy Partnership and Quad Provide Overlapping Pathways to Produce Clean Energy The US-India Clean Energy Partnership and Quad Provide Overlapping Pathways to Produce Clean Energy

Star Wars: Squadrons is a game about becoming a pilot in the Star Wars universe. There's plenty of iconic starfighters featured in the game, and developers Ian Frazier and Shadi Mallak sit down with WIRED to break down each and every one of them. How did the developers take these legendary designs and translate them to a video game? Ian and Shadi explain exactly how they did it.

Frech made her first WTA singles final last July in Prague but this was her maiden WTA 500 final and first on hard courts

It would be prudent for India to proceed with care in its dealings with China on the one hand and with its Quad partners on the other

National Bureau of Economic Research

Marketline

This will strengthen the Indian Navy’s foothold in Lakshadweep, and strengthen India’s surveillance posture in the strategically located islands and critical sea lanes of communication

This investment is part of BFL’s $1 billion fundraising goal and aims to support India’s climate goals while promoting financial inclusion

“Shriram Properties will embrace the new era under the banner SPLNxT to reposition the brand; enhance focus on mid-market and mid-premium segments, and accelerate growth”

India cancels intra-squad match with ‘A’ side in Australia tour for more net practice, focusing on Test series preparation

The Athletics Federation of India announced the squad on July 4 with no surprises, including all those who have either achieved the qualifying standard or made the cut through world rankings.

Rahul Dravid’s contract expires at the end of June, says he has no plans to re-apply for the position

The three-match one-day series will be held in Puducherry on September 21, 23 and 26, and India will be led by Uttar Pradesh's Mohammad Amaan

Injured Marsh will miss IPL

Uncapped McSweeney to open with Khawaja in India series