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During surgery, the da Vinci robot is docked over the patient and the instruments still typically enter through the abdomen, through much smaller incisions than a traditional laparotomy, which opens up the belly. The surgeon sits at a nearby control panel in the operating room where they can maneuver cameras and instruments with a range exceeding the human hand.

Zuniga's team then began work on the device. James Pierce, a doctoral student in UNO's biomechanics program, said they scrapped the grasping hand featured in Zuniga's original design, known as the Cyborg Beast. Zuniga, who started the work at Creighton University, estimated that his team has made about 2,000 of them. He put instructions for making the 3D hand online -- free for anyone to use -- several years ago. The device can be built with 3D printing technology for about $50 in materials.

"Killer robots that make life-or-death decisions on the basis of anonymous data sets, and completely beyond human control, are already a shockingly real prospect today," Maas said. "Fundamentally, it's about whether we control the technology or it controls us."

Not to be outdone, Panasonic Corp.-- also a major Olympic sponsor -- showed off its "power assist suit." When worn, the suit offers support to the back and hip area and allows for heavy objects to be lifted with less effort. Panasonic said 20 of the suits will be used at the Olympics and could help guests with their luggage and with other lifting chores.

"This means we can find this content before anyone reports it."

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics organizers launched their ambitious Robot Project on Friday, unveiling two of the robots designed to assist supporters, workers and athletes at the Games.

Automotive chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp last week said it would suspend production at some plants for up to two months as it braces for China's growth to slow further. In recent months, other big companies such as factory-robot makers Yaskawa Electric Corp and Fanuc Corp; Mitsubishi Electric Corp, trading house Mitsui & Co and toilet giant Toto Ltd have blamed China as they cut profit forecasts.

The idea is eventually to allow customers like DB Schenker, which has already begun using Einride's truck on Swedish roads, to be able to monitor a fleet of such trucks from a control room and a person there to be able to switch any truck that encounters an obstacle to remote control and navigate it safely.

The newspaper says a grand jury in New York has subpoenaed information from at least two companies known for making smartphones and other devices, citing two unnamed people familiar with the request. It reports that both companies had data partnerships with Facebook that gave them access to the personal information of hundreds of millions of users.

But U.S. officials have stood by their decision to keep the Boeing aircraft operating. The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement Tuesday that reaffirmed officials' trust in the safety of the jet, saying the aviation authority hasn't found any issues that would trigger an immediate grounding of the aircraft. The statement was released following a Dallas Morning News report that claimed pilots previously alerted U.S. officials about concerns regarding the model's autopilot system. In a separate report, the Times said Boeing's chief executive also personally called President Donald Trump to express his confidence in the jets.