Most Read: Paralympian Walks With Robotic Exoskeleton, Nvidia Accelerates Humanoid Robot Development

Here are the most-read stories on IoT World Today this week:

Paralympian Tennis Player Carries Olympic Torch with Robotic Exoskeleton

French Paralympian Kevin Piette, who has been paraplegic since he was 11 years old, made history as he carried the Olympic torch through Yvelines last week using a robotic exoskeleton. 

The 36-year-old wheelchair tennis player walked the streets near Versailles as the flame made its way to Paris, showcasing innovative mobility technology developed by Wandercraft.

"By carrying the Olympic Torch, Piette inspires people to get involved in sport and promote innovation for the disabled," the International Olympic Committee said on its website.

The exoskeleton is designed to help people with mobility issues walk again. The battery-powered device supports the wearer's legs and uses sensors to detect movement intentions. A hand controller allows users to adjust speed and direction.

Piette is among the first people to test Wandercraft's new Atalante personal exoskeleton system, which is slimmer, lighter and more agile than their medical rehabilitation models.

Learn more about Wandercraft’s robotic exoskeletons >>>

Nvidia Unveils AI Tools to Accelerate Humanoid Robot Development

Nvidia has unveiled a suite of AI models and services to help robotics developers accelerate the development of humanoid robots.

Related:Hybrid Quantum-Classical Computing Tapped for Industrial R&D

At the annual Siggraph event held in Colorado, Nvidia announced a host of new solutions to help manufacturers and developers “build the next generation of humanoid robots.”

Among the offerings are new versions of Nvidia NIM, a suite of microservices designed to provide pre-built containers for AI tasks.

The MimicGen NIM microservice generates synthetic motion data based on recorded teleoperated data from spatial computing devices like the Apple Vision Pro.

The Robocasa NIM microservice generates robot tasks and simulation-ready environments in OpenUSD, enabling robotics developers to create 3D testing environments.

Find all the robotics solutions unveiled by Nvidia at Siggraph 2024 >>>

Cyberattack Behind Microsoft’s Latest IT Outage

Nearly two weeks after the CrowdStrike outage, Microsoft faced another major IT failure due to a cyberattack.

The disruption affected Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Azure, and took down Microsoft’s video game services, including Xbox Live and Minecraft. Users were also unable to access emails on Outlook for almost 10 hours.

Microsoft confirmed the outage was caused by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, where systems are intentionally overwhelmed by network traffic to cause them to crash.

Related:HealthEquity Data Breach Affects 4.3M Customers

Microsoft said the DDoS attack triggered the company’s protection mechanisms, which, due to an implementation error, “amplified the impact of the attack rather than mitigating it.”

Microsoft has since rolled out a fix, though some downstream services took longer to recover.

Read more about Microsoft’s latest IT outage >>>

Air Taxi Maker Plans Service for UAE; 125 Pre-Orders

A Spanish electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle maker has partnered with a private aviation operator to develop an electric taxi service in the United Arab Emirates.

As part of the deal, Crisalion Mobility received pre-orders for 10 of its Integrity eVTOLs from Air Chateau, which plans to use the flying vehicles as part of its advanced air mobility (AAM) efforts.

The Air Chateau air taxi order, announced at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024, brings Crisalion’s pre-orders to 125, according to Crisalion.

The agreement is Crisalion’s first commercial partnership in the private aviation market and the Middle East.

Learn more about the air taxi partnership >>>

Ghost Robotics Acquired by Korean Defense Firm for $240M

Korean aerospace and defense company LIG Nex1 has acquired a majority share in quadrupedal robot developers Ghost Robotics, considered a Boston Dynamics competitor.

LIG Nex1 has acquired a 60% controlling stake in the Philadelphia-based robotics firm for $240 million, valuing the company at $400 million.

The companies plan to combine their expertise and resources to further develop autonomous robotic solutions.

Ghost Robotics will be able to leverage LIG Nex1's defense technologies and manufacturing facilities to scale the production of its Vision 60 and Spirit 40 robot dogs.

Find out more about the deal and the future of Ghost Robotics >>>