Novel robot moves things without touching them Pak anti-terrorism court adjourns hearing against Hafiz till Jan 29

GENEVA: Scientists have designed a robotic gripper that uses sound waves to move small and fragile objects, without touching them.

The prototype robot developed by the researchers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland comprises of two semispheres, and resembles a pair of headphones.

The spheres are connected to a circuit board carrying microchips. A small sphere hovers between the two semispheres, held up by ultrasound waves.

“This phenomenon is known as acoustic levitation,” said Marcel Schuck, a fellow at ETH Zurich.

He is developing a method that makes it possible to lift and manipulate small objects entirely without touching them.

This is particularly relevant in situations where damage to small components costs money, such as in the watchmaking or semiconductor industry, the researchers said.

Conventional robotic grippers are prone to damaging fragile objects. To counter this, soft, rubber-like grippers can be used, they said.

Although these cause no damage, they are easily contaminated, like a well-used rubber eraser. Additionally, these soft robotic grippers only offer limited positioning accuracy.

LAHORE: An Anti-terrorism Court in Pakistan on Monday adjourned till January 29 the hearing against Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and his close aides in terror financing cases after their lawyers couldn't complete arguments.

Saeed, the chief of outlawed Jamaat-ud-dawah (JUD), and his close aides - Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Ashraf, Abdus Salam, Yahya Mujahid and Abdur Rehman Makki - were brought in the Lahore's AntiTerrorism Court (ATC) in high security.

"The hearing continued for more than five hours in which Saeed's lawyers - Advocates Naseeruddin Nayyar and

Imran Fazal Gull - presented their arguments declaring their client innocent. The court adjourned the hearing till January 29 as his lawyers could not complete their arguments," a court official said.

In a separate case of terror financing against JUD spokesperson Yahya Mujahid and its senior leader Abdur Rehman Makki, the court held the hearing which continued for four hours or so.