Robotic System Installs Fiber Optics In Sewers
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Written by Colby C. Young
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Sunday, 08 March 2009 |
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The city of Mississauga, Ontario, recently served as the testing ground for a new robotic system that can install fiber-optic cables inside sewer systems. The robot, known as the Sewer Telecommunications Access by Robot, or STAR, was developed by Stream Intelligent Networks Corporation, of Toronto.
The robot is remotely navigated through sewer systems to place fiber-optic cable and thus build an underground information infrastructure. Many sewer systems are being wired in this way, but the installation is done by humans and often requires road lane closures and digging. "We are looking to make sewers the information highways of the future," said Steve Spooner, Stream's president and chief executive officer. "You have instant access to every block in the city, so cities will soon be fully wired throughout for high-speed Internet."
Spooner said that STAR has the capability to install cable in one-eighth the time of other installation methods and that the robot is capable of installing 2,400 ft (732 m) of cable per day. STAR is about 6 ft (1.8 m) long and is equipped with five cameras so that the operations can be monitored from a truck. Once the robot is fed into a manhole, it drills holes in the pipe wall and fastens the cable using tie-bolts.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 08 March 2009 )
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