Q: What is a FOBOT?

The name FOBOT stands for 'Fibre Optic Break Out Tray'. This extremely simple product is usually just a tray for housing and organising incoming fibre to display each core of the fibre cable neatly as a row of connectors (similar to a patch panel.)

The purpose of a FOBOT is simply to terminate, patch, and organise incoming and outgoing fibre. Have a look at the picture below. It is a top view of a fully terminated fibre tray. The incoming fibre (for this example, we will say a 12 core fibre) comes into the tray from the rack at point A. The outer sheath of the fibre cable is removed and the glass cores are exposed. These are spliced* at point B to pigtails** which have a pre-terminated connector on the end. The pigtails (with the pre-terminated connector) are plugged directly into the through adaptor*** at point C. This means the fibre cores from the incoming cable are easily identified and organised, and can be patched out to other devices.

Don't be too concerned just yet with how the fibre is terminated, or the products that are associated with a termination. This articles intention is to show you that a FOBOT is a simple device. Think of it like a GPO (general power oulet). The bare cores of the electrical cable cannot be connected directly to your toaster, TV, or lamp, but rather, the electrical cable is terminated to a wall plug which is ready for a device to be plugged in or out of it. FOBOTs are just that: a point where the incoming fibre cable is terminated to a standard fibre optic connector so it can be patched to a device.

Definitions:

*Spliced - The joining of two linear materials. A.K.A. the joining of two fibre cores.

**Pigtails - Lengths of single fibre cores pre-terminated with a connector on one end.

***Through Adaptors - Double-sided female connectors used for connecting two fibre cables together.

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