Fiber-handling robot and optical connection mechanisms for automatic cross-connection of multiple optical connectors

Masato Mizukami; Mitsuhiro Makihara

doi:10.1117/1.OE.52.7.076116

22 July 2013 Fiber-handling robot and optical connection mechanisms for automatic cross-connection of multiple optical connectors

Masato Mizukami, Mitsuhiro Makihara

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 52, Issue 7, 076116 (July 2013). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.52.7.076116

Abstract

Conventionally, in intelligent buildings in a metropolitan area network and in small-scale facilities in the optical access network, optical connectors are joined manually using an optical connection board and a patch panel. In this manual connection approach, mistakes occur due to discrepancies between the actual physical settings of the connections and their management because these processes are independent. Moreover, manual cross-connection is time-consuming and expensive because maintenance personnel must be dispatched to remote places to correct mistakes. We have developed a fiber-handling robot and optical connection mechanisms for automatic cross-connection of multiple optical connectors, which are the key elements of automatic optical fiber cross-connect equipment. We evaluate the performance of the equipment, such as its optical characteristics and environmental specifications. We also devise new optical connection mechanisms that enable the automated optical fiber cross-connect module to handle and connect angled physical contact (APC) optical connector plugs. We evaluate the performance of the equipment, such as its optical characteristics. The evaluation results confirm that the automated optical fiber cross-connect equipment can connect APC connectors with low loss and high return loss, indicating that the automated optical fiber cross-connect equipment is suitable for practical use in intelligent buildings and optical access networks.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Masato Mizukami and Mitsuhiro Makihara "Fiber-handling robot and optical connection mechanisms for automatic cross-connection of multiple optical connectors," Optical Engineering 52(7), 076116 (22 July 2013). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.52.7.076116

Published: 22 July 2013

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Cited by 4 scholarly publications and 1 patent.

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KEYWORDS

Optical fibers

Connectors

Optical networks

Buildings

Networks

Optical storage

Reliability

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