Facebook has designed a robot that can install fiber on traditional power lines, as shown in this rendering.
The robot’s code name is Bombyx, which is Latin for silkworm, and pilot tests with the machine begin next year.
The robot rests delicately atop a power line, balanced high above the ground, almost as if it’s floating. Like a short, stocky tightrope walker, it gradually makes its way forward, leaving a string of cable in its wake. When it comes to a pole, it gracefully elevates its body to pass the roadblock and keep chugging along.
This isn’t a circus robot. Facebook developed the machine to install fiber cables on medium-voltage power lines around the globe. The aim is to make it cheaper for internet service providers to build out their networks using super-fast and reliable fiber connections. Installing fiber is a pricey endeavor, limiting where it can be deployed. If the cost of installation goes down, says Facebook, so too does the cost of service for the end user.
Continue reading… “Facebook built a new fiber-spinning robot to make internet service cheaper”
