Two sources also describe the inventory bot as too slow. One says Meta previously explored using drones as a faster alternative, but ultimately didn’t pursue the idea. Inside the Testbed The Altoona data center campus is often where Meta prototypes new technologies. “What they do here in Altoona, they take to their other sites and put that in place there,” says O’Connor. Since last June, Meta has been trying out a pair of dual-armed Watney robots for some cabling work at one of its Altoona buildings, according to one of the people familiar with the company’s efforts. The robots are supervised by humans and can’t work as fast as people yet, but they show promise
